CPA Staff

Lauren Heine
Science Director/Partner
Dr. Lauren Heine applies green chemistry, green engineering and design for the environment for sustainable business practices. Lauren works closely with the USEPA Design for the Environment Program to facilitate the development of DfE Screens for Safer Chemicals. She co-authored the Green Screen for Safer Chemicals, a tool for benchmarking chemicals based on inherent hazard and currently serves on the California Green Ribbon Science Panel. She is co-chairing the buyers tool development subcommittee for Wal-Mart’s Sustainable Value Network for Chemical Intensive Products.   She co-founded the Oregon-based, Zero Waste Alliance and was a Fellow with the American Association for the Advancement of Science in the Green Chemistry Program at the US EPA. From 2003-2007, Lauren served as Director of Applied Science at Green Blue Institute where she initiated and developed CleanGredients™, a web-based chemical information platform, developed in partnership with the US EPA’s Design for the Environment Program. Lauren publishes on green chemistry metrics, alternatives assessment and science-based multi-stakeholder processes. Recent publications include a textbook entitled, Introduction to Environmental Engineering 3rd ed. into which she integrated sustainable development, cradle-to-cradle design, green chemistry, green engineering and sustainable materials management concepts. Lauren earned her doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University.

Beverley Thorpe
Communications Director/Partner
Beverley has researched and promoted clean production strategies internationally since1986 and was a co-founder of the United Nations Environment Programme for Cleaner Production. She was the first Clean Production liaison technical expert for Greenpeace International on chemical and waste issues and during this time initiated the first English language campaigns against PVC plastic and PVC waste and helped achieve a global ban on ocean incineration of hazardous wastes. In 2001 she worked with the US farming community and produced videos and reports to highlight the risks of GMO crops. Her work to advance Extended Producer Responsibility policy catalyzed the uptake of this zero waste strategy in the USA and she is co-author of Clean Production Action’s toolkit on producer take-back. Her current focus is the promotion of Green Chemistry within government policy and company practices and she continues to train, teach and publish materials that advance clean production strategies internationally. Beverley received her degree in Geography from Leicester University, UK and is a regular guest lecturer at Lund University, Sweden. She is a current board member of the Green Chemistry Network in the UK, Story of Stuff in the US and Greenpeace Canada.

Mark Rossi
Research Director/Partner
Dr. Rossi is responsible for leading CPA’s research efforts to identify and develop new tools and strategies that advance green chemistry and sustainable materials. He is the co-author of numerous publications  including CPA’s Green Screen for Safer Chemicals,  Healthy Business Strategies for Transforming the Toxic Chemical Economy and new Plastics Scorecard. Mark coordinates and chairs the Business-NGO Working Group (BizNGO) - a unique collaboration of companies and NGOs who promote safer chemicals and sustainable materials through innovative tools, resources and policy initiatives. He facilitated the development and release of the BizNGO Guiding Principles for Chemicals Policy: four short, sharp, visionary principles that reflect best business practices. Mark is a co-founder of the Sustainable Biomaterials Collaborative (SBC), a network of organizations spurring the introduction and use of biomaterials that are sustainable from cradle to cradle. He is a co-author of the SBC’s Sustainable Bioplastic Guidelines and the BioSpecs - Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Specifications for Compostable Biobased Food Service Ware. Mark is a member of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act Advisory Committee and a Research Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he advances chemical alternative assessment methods for governments and companies. His PhD is in Environmental Policy from MIT.

Alexandra McPherson
Management Director/Partner
As Management Director since 2001 Alexandra has established a program and fundraising plan that grew CPA’s budget and cultivated a world-class professional staff. She also directs CPA’s programmatic work within the electronics sector and for the past six years has established strategic partnerships with multi-national companies, international NGOs, academia, and governments to advance innovative design in electronic products. She has coordinated and co-authored numerous CPA publications, including Greening Consumer Electronics: the move away from Bromine and Chlorine, a precedent setting research report that demonstrates the viability of engineering safer chemicals use throughout the global electronics supply chain. She currently sits on the board of EPEAT, a standard setting body for the electronics industry. Previously, Alexandra directed the clean production work for Great Lakes United, a bi-national organization in the USA and Canada where she helped develop the Clean Car Campaign to promote a broader environmental plan for the auto sector. In addition she has worked for Greenpeace USA and the National Environmental Trust on climate change policies and the need for investments in renewable energy technologies. Alexandra earned her BA in Communication from the University of New Hampshire in 1996.