Officers

Eamon Del Giacco ~ Co-president

Eamon graduated from Colgate University in 2005, where he majored in English.  After graduating he went on to work for the Boys and Girls Club in Alexandria, Virginia.  He is interested in education and poverty issues.  He is in the Management, Finance, and Leadership concentration.

Melissa Wabnik ~ Co-President

Melissa is a 2nd year MPP student specializing in social policy.  Prior to coming to Maryland, she taught high school English in New Orleans, and after Hurricane Katrina, she substitute taught in her hometown of Commack, New York.  She completed her B.A. in political science at the University of Connecticut.  Her policy interests are focused on K-12 education and urban youth.  Outside of the policy world, she loves to cook, paint(badly), and read.  She is currently completing a Maryland Municipal League internship with the City of Bowie, working on local community development issues.
 

Sarah Von Esch ~ Secretary

Sarah is a second year MPP student with a dual specialization in Social Policy and Management, Finance, and Leadership.  Originally from Binghamton, New York, she received her BA in Political Science from the University of Delaware where she was your typical college activist.  Sarah is working hard at her summer internship in DC and becoming involved with political campaigns in the area.  In her spare time, Sarah's hobbies include arts and crafts (jewelry anyone?), reading, following current events, and saving the world. 
 

Andy Blohm ~ Treasurer

 Andy, a native of Bowie, MD is a second year international development policy student, gentleman, and scholar. Before coming to MSPP, he spent five years earning a four-year degree at the University of Florida (International Economics). He enjoys watching Gators win championships and brewing beer when he's not spending 12 hours a day on campus. He's interested in the intersection of economics and natural resource use. What's next for this up and comer? Perhaps more student loans, only time will tell.
 

Elizabeth McNicol ~ Service Chair

Elizabeth is an environmental policy student, and native to the College Park area.  Before joining the program, she attended Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied environmental policy and philosophy.  Right now she is enjoying the wilds of New Jersey, where she is working on climate change issues for a NJ State Senator.
 

Mike Erhardt ~ Social Chair

Michael Erhardt, born February 18, 1965 in Los Angeles, California, is an influential Grammy Award-winning American record producer, hip hop producer, rapper, actor and record executive. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records.  In his spare time (when not spinning the phat beats), Mike is an international development student at MSPP.
 

Janine Fisler ~ Representative

Janine is a second year MPP student concentrating in environmental policy. She was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area and is a 2004 graduate of Penn State with a B.S. in Earth Science. Apparently addicted to Big Ten football, she also received an M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Michigan. She's really excited to see what the working world is like, and is working with the National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center this summer.  In her free time, Janine enjoys running, being outdoors, traveling the world, and above all Steelers and Penn State football!
 

Mary Ellen Kustin ~ Ex-Officio Representative, GWIPP President  

Mary Ellen Kustin is pursuing a master's degree in environmental policy and a master's degree in conservation biology and sustainable development. She originally hails from Columbia, South Carolina where she completed a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 2006. During her first year at the School of Public Policy she has worked as a graduate assistant to the Center for Integrative Environmental Research (CIER) and has been active in the Ecological Economics Student Group (EESG) and Graduate Women in Public Policy (GWIPP). She is looking forward to serving GWIPP with a talented team of officers in the fall. By the completion of her public policy degree, Mary Ellen is hoping to communcate strictly through the use of acronyms.
 

Ivan Dario Valencia ~ Ex-Officio Representative, Diversity Committee