About - Earthrise Media
About
Our Story
Earthrise, the most famous photograph taken from space, did more than change the way we look at the planet. It changed the way we see ourselves.
All great stories do this, to some degree. The most persuasive climate stories today cause us to reflect on our role on this planet. They expose destruction. They offer hope. They help us see things from a different point of view.
At Earthrise, we provide a unique perspective on addressing global environmental change through the use of data and design.
We see a future where people everywhere are engaged in digital environmental products, and they’re moved to take informed action for a better world.
Who We Are
At our core, we’re data scientists, designers, and developers with expertise in sustainability and environmental change. We make things that matter.
Smart, unconventional, and full of moxie, we’re independent thinkers motivated to effect change. We buck the rules—not because they don’t apply to us, but because we’re driven to find better ways.
Fundamentally, we believe that data and design are key to saving the planet.
Advisors
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Lori Garver
CEO, Earthrise Alliance; Deputy Administrator, NASA; General Manager, ALPA
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Cady Coleman
NASA Astronaut; Former US Air Force Officer; Global Explorer in Residence, ASU
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Steve McCormick
Former CEO of The Nature Conservancy; Former CEO of The Moore Foundation
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Andy Revkin
Journalist; Environmental Author; Director of the Initiative on Communication and Sustainability at The Earth Institute of Columbia University.
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Megan Smith
CEO shift7; Former U.S. Chief Technology Officer; Former VP at Google[x]
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Glen Low
Former Principal Bain & Company; Lecturer Haas, UC Berkeley
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Jonathan Baillie
Former Chief Scientist at National Geographic
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Andy Karsner
Managing Partner, Emerson Collective; Space Cowboy at Google[x]; Former Assistant Sec for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at DOE
Team

Dan Hammer
Managing Partner
Dan is a data scientist — he once had a great idea, but turned it into a "dad joke." He was the inaugural winner of the Pritzker Environmental Genius Award; a Climate Fellow at X; a National Geographic Fellow; a Presidential Innovation Fellow at NASA; and a Senior Policy Advisor in the Obama White House. Dan was the Chief Data Scientist at the World Resources Institute, where he co-founded Global Forest Watch. He received his PhD from UC Berkeley in environmental economics, where he was a Fellow at the Berkeley Institute of Data Science and received the top young alumnus award.

Stephen Downs
Managing Partner
Stephen can make the Code of Federal Regulations read like a chapter from Harry Potter — he takes complicated and half-baked products and makes them seem effortlessly usable. He was previously the Managing Director of Ruder Finn Interactive, a leading creative agency, where he led digital product initiatives for the NFL, PepsiCo, and Johnson & Johnson. Stephen was also the Director of Digital Strategy for the University of California System, and Director of Product at TSG Consumer Partners.

Edward Boyda
Managing Partner
Ed subsists on electricity and ideas. Real food gives him heartburn. Ed graduated from Harvard with a degree in Physics but then went to Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in English Literature. He received both his masters and doctorate from UC Berkeley in Physics. Ed taught the NASA quantum computer to find trees in California in satellite imagery, and he was a professor of physics. His publications in Reuters, The Guardian, and many other outlets have received critical acclaim, including honors from the Webby Awards and the Malofiej International Infographic Gold Medal.

Caleb Kruse
Sr. Associate
Caleb’s curiosity may one day cure cancer. He tinkers his way into truly amazing projects, guided by an unnatural wisdom and fueled by an interest in just about everything. He was the former Machine Learning Manager at Leap Motion, a hand tracking technology company. Caleb was also a National Geographic Explorer, where he drove an ice cream truck across the country, talking to people (especially kids) about conservation. He graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Oceanography.

Hutch Ingold
Sr. Associate
Did you ever build models out of Balsa wood when you were a kid? Hutch didn't. Hutch built his models out of wrought iron. Hutch now builds digital infrastructure that won’t fail. He was the Interim President and led engineering for Planet Labs (Federal), a small sat company that, through acquisition, delivered satellite imagery to the US Federal Government until it was rolled up into the mothership. He was the CTO of Boundless and a software engineer at Booz Allen and Northrop Grumman. Hutch holds a Bachelors in Natural Sciences from Harvard.

Maria Edwards
Maria can nail jello to a tree. She is our resident cat herder and ensures that both our products and our teams are able to deliver on our clients' wildest hopes and dreams. Previously she worked at the National Geographic Society supporting a wide range of complex global programs with brilliant analyses and phenomenal insights.

Zoe Statman-Weil
Associate
Zoe sees something wrong and fixes it — with code. Incarceration, climate change, basketball. It hasn’t totally worked yet, but she also spent 6 years knitting a sweater. She certainly won’t drop climate change. Zoe was previously a data engineer at Premise Data and Impact Observatory. She is the President of BayGeo, a local Bay Area organization dedicated to bringing together geospatial and mapping enthusiasts. She holds a BA from Carleton College and an MS from San Francisco State University.

Krishna Karra
Sr. Associate
One time, Krishna made something that wasn’t beautiful. One time. Krishna is a rare bird — a machine learning engineer and a data journalist. He has designed algorithms and data stories for the New York Times, ProPublica, and Descartes Labs, including a NYTimes online feature that plotted the colors of America’s landscape against political party affiliation. Krishna holds a Masters in electrical engineering from University of Southern California with a focus in signal processing, machine learning and applied math.

Christopher Ren
Senior Associate
Chris has informed us that holding a PhD in photonic systems from Cambridge is not a cover — and that he is, in fact, not Cyclops from the X-Men. We don’t believe him, and have asked him to kindly keep his glasses on at all times. Chris is a machine learning engineer that previously worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory on remote sensing and artificial intelligence. Once, he taught a computer to paint snow on landscapes with a generative adversarial network, which turned out to be beautiful — even peaceful. Chris holds a PhD from Cambridge and a Masters in Physics from the University of Manchester.

Mason Grimshaw
Mason is a data scientist for all the right reasons — family, justice, and sports. He was raised on the Rosebud Reservation as Sicangu Lakota in South Dakota, and was the grandson of a rancher and a mechanic. Mason chose data science as his craft. He graduated from MIT with a Bachelors and Masters in data analytics. Mason has been profiled in the New York Times for being a talented data scientist and a generally good person. It doesn’t sound newsworthy — but it definitely is. He also runs a community called Indigenous in AI, with the intention of expanding knowledge of artificial intelligence and data science in Native American communities.

Bronwyn Agrios
Bronwyn is as rare and valuable as a unicorn — a product leader in the world of space-based imagery. She currently runs the platform development for Climate TRACE on behalf of Earthrise. Bronwyn was previously Head of Product and Co-Founder at Astro Digital, a satellite infrastructure company with roots in agriculture monitoring, and a Fellow at National Geographic. Bronwyn was also a product manager and strategic business advisor for Esri and Planet Labs.

Jisoo Lee
Jisoo makes the magic of David Copperfield look like childs play. With a cool head and an eye on what’s innovative, Jisoo brings a diverse toolkit of creative capabilities to breath life into solutions that transition organizations from where they are now to where they need to be tomorrow. Jisoo has graduate degrees in both Design and Technology, as well as 3D animation. She has led creative initiatives for Pepsico, Mountain Dew, Citi, MetLife, Mondelez, Samsung, HomeDepot, Pfizer, and ESPN.

Jose Valenzuela
Jose thought about the button that delighted you during your last online transaction so that you left, well, delighted and not frustrated. As a UX designer, Jose translates human factors into design solutions that address needs. Jose has led design teams for big brands, creative agencies and academic institutions. Most recently, Jose led UX design at Bloomberg, improving some of the most influential business tools on the planet.

Scott Quill
If the pen is mightier than the sword, don’t let Scott on an airplane. Scott translates our excitement into prose that lands with even the greatest cynic. He uses his power to support healthy people and a healthy planet, having written for Men’s Health, Outside, and Esquire. Scott has also been a brand strategist for Google, Adidas, and Exos. Also — his last name is Quill. That’s like an ice cream man named Mr. Cone.

Bryce Cracknell
Bryce would be too cool for school if he weren’t so smart. He’s certainly too cool for us. Bryce is an award-winning social impact producer from North Carolina. He has led social impact campaigns for narrative and documentary features and television shows including John Lewis: Good Trouble and Just Mercy. He was a Manager at Participant Media, a Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Scholar, and a graduate of Duke University where he earned a B.A. in Public Policy.