2025 Population Health Innovation Summit

Founder and CEO of Forensic Weather Consultants, Howard Altschule has been a certified consulting meteorologist for more than a decade and leads one of the largest and most reliable weather expert firms in the country.

Using official weather records, high-resolution Doppler radar data and other data, Altschule and his team determine what the weather conditions were at specific incident and accident locations and provide expert reports, affidavits, depositions, and trial testimony. His company has been retained on more than 9,300 insurance claims and lawsuits around the country and internationally. As one of the most experienced forensic meteorologists in the nation, he has testified more than one hundred times in various courts. Altschule was previously appointed to the New York State Governor’s Panel on Homeowner Insurance Coverage.

He speaks frequently about forensic meteorology at conferences and seminars. At the Population Health Innovation Summit, he will discuss forensic meteorology and extreme weather event examples related to climate change.

Altschule is the recipient of the coveted Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) designation from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), which is the highest certification a consulting meteorologist can receive. Altschule is also the former secretary and board of director of the Association of Certified Meteorologists and has been a member of the AMS for decades.

Outside of work, Altschule gives back to the community. For more than three decades, he has served as a member of local volunteer fire departments reaching the ranks of lieutenant, captain, and president and worked as a part-time deputy emergency manager with a sheriff’s office. He founded and is the chairman of the non-profit Harky’s Heroes for Kids, which provides social, financial, and community support to kids in need.

Capital Region Chamber Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Jason Benitez is responsible for assisting businesses and organizations embark on and advance their DEI journeys as well as furthering the chamber’s strategic mission relevant to DEI. These efforts collectively help to cultivate inclusive economic opportunity for all who call the Capital Region home. Benitez believes that our fullest potential is realized when DEI are the standards we use to strengthen and impact our businesses and communities.

Benitez previously worked for more than 15 years in higher education at the University at Albany, SUNY Schenectady, and Union College, where he served as associate dean of diversity and inclusion. Benitez’s efforts at Union helped the college garner recognition with the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award (HEED), given by Insight into Diversity, for six consecutive years. In 2022, the Business Council of New York State awarded the Capital Region Chamber with the statewide Chamber of the Year award, specifically citing the chamber’s DEI efforts as a notable accomplishment.

Benitez has served on the national board of directors for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives and as chair of their DEI Sub-Division. He is a board member for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York Chapter. He also serves on the board of trustees for WMHT, the Capital Region’s local PBS station. Benitez earned his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and certificate of advanced study from the University at Albany. He lives in Slingerlands, NY, with his wife and two children.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-benitez-64a269b3/

Gabriella M. Cebada Mora is the division director for environmental stewardship and planning at the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation (NYS Parks).

Cebada Mora’s career with NYS Parks began as a seasonal employee in 2010, when she was responsible for water quality sampling with the agency’s beach monitoring program on Long Island. Two years later, she relocated to the Albany, NY, office to assist with managing the agency’s water quality program. While working for NYS Parks, she has held various environmental roles including ocean and great lake ecologist, environmental analyst, and assistant division director. In 2022, she was promoted to division director after completing a yearlong work assignment with the New York State Governor’s Office.

Cebada Mora earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations and her Master of Science degree in resource management and conservation. Prior to her work at NYS Parks, she worked with several environmental organizations and lived overseas in Costa Rica and Croatia. She currently serves as the chair of the City of Albany Sustainability Commission to help foster environmental conservation efforts and a greener future in Albany, NY.

Manny Cerniglia is the co-founder and CEO of Flyhound, a New-York-based startup dedicated to supporting public safety agencies in their mission of finding people in emergencies.

Flyhound uses advanced drone technology to help locate missing people, especially in emergencies like natural disasters. As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of weather events, Flyhound’s rapid response capabilities can save Iives, reduce health risks for those affected, and help increase communities’ resiliency in the wake of disaster.

Whether missing persons, victims of natural disasters, or criminals endangering communities, Flyhound helps find people much faster than traditional methods, saving lives, time, and money.

Prior to Flyhound, Cerniglia co-founded a travel adventure startup and held positions at AT&T helping build the smartphones that have become ubiquitous in daily life. His decade of experience in telecommunications helped integrate smartphone and drone technology for rapid response in rescue missions.

Abbey DeRocker is the team lead and director of New York Energy Research and Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) large-scale renewables group. She is responsible for executing multifaceted programs that aid in the development and effective operation of large-scale renewable generation resources to satisfy New York’s renewable energy and environmental goals. Under her leadership, NYSERDA has awarded agreements for more than 100 large-scale renewable energy facilities including solar, onshore wind, and hydroelectric facilities, totaling 8.5 gigawatts of new renewable capacity and more than $9.8 billion in investments.

During her tenure at NYSERDA, she has overseen the design and implementation of the renewable energy standard, a key component of New York State’s nation-leading advancement of renewable resources under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and Clean Energy Standard.

For more than 20 years, DeRocker held public and private sector leadership roles in the energy sector. Prior to joining NYSERDA, DeRocker served in various management roles with Southern California Edison (SCE). She led the implementation of major initiatives including the enterprise risk management program, greenhouse gas trading, and acid rain program trading with a focus on energy trading, finance, operations, and risk. Prior to moving to Los Angeles, DeRocker served as the manager of the valuation review group for the commodities division of Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York. In her last role, she led the North American Electricity, North American Natural Gas, Emissions and Global Oil Liquids valuation teams. DeRocker holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with a concentration in environmental science from Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. A proud native New Yorker, DeRocker is a mom to two girls and does her best to train them in her role as a level 100 NYSSRA/USSA alpine ski coach.

Alok Disa serves as senior advisor within the Clean Transportation program at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). For more than a decade, he has found opportunities in environmental and climate policy to accelerate the transition to cleaner and more sustainable transportation. Disa currently plays a key role in the Authority’s efforts to identify and overcome market barriers. He plays a key role on the team working to transition more than 45,000 school buses to zero-emission by New York State’s 2035 deadline.

Before joining NYSERDA, Disa worked for Earthjustice’s Northeast Regional team, where he focused on decarbonizing New York’s transportation sector. As part of that work, he pushed for electrification of diesel-emitting trucks and bus fleets. He is a long-time advocate for environmental justice. Disa holds a master’s degree in environmental policy from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. He also holds dual bachelor’s Degrees from the University of Pittsburgh, one in mathematics and another in history and political science.

For more than two decades, Kevin Lanahan has worked in the energy industry. He has deep expertise in identifying emerging policy issues and collaborating on advocacy campaigns. Lanahan is vice president, external affairs & corporate communications at New York Independent System Operator (NYISO). In this role, he leads NYISO’s Government Relations, Stakeholder Services, Member Relations, Regulatory Affairs, Media Relations, and Corporate Communications departments. Prior to working at NYISO, Lanahan held positions that involved both strategic vision and leadership at Con Edison, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and National Grid.

Lanahan holds Bachelor of Arts degrees from the State University of New York at Oneonta in both English and political science. He also earned a Master of Business Administration degree from Norwich University. Lanahan’s continued education also included graduating from Harvard Business School and completing Con Edison’s Executive Management programs.

James Lima is the founder and president of James Lima Planning + Development, a leading urban strategy consulting firm. Since 2011, his firm has guided and advised high-impact, place-based initiatives across North America, including numerous district-scale, citywide, and regional climate resilience strategies.

Lima’s recent work includes flood mitigation, coastal protection, and equitable community development projects along 10 miles of the Lower Manhattan waterfront, as well as in the Bay Area communities of San Rafael, East Palo Alto, and Sunnyvale. Additional projects include planning for Boston’s largest climate-resilient park and downtown riverfront revitalization initiatives in Memphis, TN; Jacksonville, FL; Baton Rouge, LA; and Charleston, SC. Throughout their work, Lima and his team are committed to driving transformative initiatives that create more vibrant, equitable, and resilient places for all.

Previously, Lima was former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s appointee as founding P

president of the public entity overseeing Governors Island in New York Harbor. He also served as senior vice president for special projects at the NYC Economic Development Corporation, and as assistant commissioner at the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Lima earned his Bachelor of Arts in architecture and urban studies and Master of Science in Real Estate Development (MsRED) at Columbia College, where he has more recently served as adjunct assistant professor. He is a frequent speaker at Urban Land Institute and other conferences, has served on advisory panels throughout North America, and has lectured internationally on urban redevelopment.

For more than two decades, Neil Muscatiello has worked in epidemiology. He serves as the director of the Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology in the Center for Environmental Health at the New York State Department of Health. He is also the principal investigator on the CDC-funded Climate Ready States and Cities Initiative grant, which supports climate and health adaptation projects.

Muscatiello’s current activities include studying the impacts of heat and wildfires on health, participating in the State’s climate initiatives, and encouraging climate and health adaptation work among New York’s local health departments.

He earned both his Master of Science and his doctoral degree in epidemiology from the University of New York at Albany. Muscatiello completed his Bachelor of Science in health science at the State University of New York College at Cortland.

Dr. Matthew A. Nystoriak is an associate professor at the Masonic Medical Research Institute (MMRI) with a distinguished background in cardiovascular research. His work focuses on the mechanisms that regulate blood flow to the heart, how blood vessels function, and how metabolism influences circulation, particularly related to aging.

The Nystoriak Lab studies how various environmental factors affect heart health, function, and the risk of disease. By exploring how the environment and climate impact the heart on a cellular level, Nystoriak and his team help us better understand the connections between environmental exposures and cardiovascular disease, and what can be done to mitigate negative effects.

Nystoriak’s research, supported by the National Institute of Health, American Heart Association, and Federal Drug Administration, also examined how things like tobacco exposure and poor sleep impact heart health. He has helped uncover how changes in the body’s energy use and oxygen levels affect blood vessel function, which could lead to new treatments for heart disease. In addition to his research, Nystoriak is dedicated to mentoring the next generation of scientists and serves on national scientific review committees and editorial boards.

Nystoriak earned his bachelor’s degree in biology and his PhD in pharmacology at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine in Burlington, VT. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Washington and University of California, Davis. He has also spoken at several prominent scientific gatherings.

Joseph Pfeifer has taught senior leaders worldwide about crisis leadership, disaster management, critical decision-making, cross-sector collaboration, organizational resilience, and crisis communication for extreme events. He has an extensive professional background in these areas from serving in leadership roles with the New York City Fire Department. He is currently an adjunct associate professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where he teaches a capstone course on climate change security to examine climate risk, adaptive preparedness, disaster response, humanitarian assistance, and community resilience.

Pfeifer was the former acting fire commissioner and first deputy commissioner of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). In this role, he oversaw 17,000 personnel and managed the department’s day-to-day administration, including fire and EMS operations. During his career, Pfeifer responded to some of the most significant events in NYC’s history. He was the first chief at the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11, commanded the largest residential fire during Hurricane Sandy, and managed other extreme events.

Prior to this, he served as FDNY’s chief of counterterrorism and emergency preparedness,
where he promoted intelligence sharing and interagency response. He also founded and directed FDNY’s Center for Terrorism and Disaster Preparedness.

Pfeifer has used his emergency preparedness expertise to sit down and talk with government officials, including presidents, prime ministers, governors, mayors, military generals, and community leaders. He has testified before the U.S. Congress and spoken at the United Nations about the threats cities will face in the future. As a leading professional in crisis leadership, he has appeared in primetime news interviews and documentary films.

Pfeifer is also a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he teaches several executive education programs on crisis leadership and directs research teams to examine the preparedness and response of international cities to major events. Additionally, he is a senior fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, teaching cadets at the U.S. Military Academy.

Pfeifer has written extensively and is the author of The New York Times bestseller Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir of 9/11. He earned master’s degrees from the Harvard Kennedy School, the Naval Postgraduate School, and Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception.

National Grid’s Director Marie Schnitzer, serves as New York distributed generation ombudsperson, and as a liaison with customers, colleagues, and regulators for technologies that generate electricity at or near where it will be used, such as solar panels and combined heat and power. Distributed generation projects can benefit the environment when they reduce the amount of electricity that must be generated at a centralized power plant/grid. Schnitzer oversees projects that are up to five megawatts, which represents large-scale energy capacities within the power industry.

Schnitzer also leads the NYS Interconnection Policy Working Group on behalf of the NY Joint Utilities, which helps guide policy issues for interconnection within New York State while attending to climate change, extreme weather, and environmental conditions. Grid interconnection ties a network of local grids together at a synchronized frequency, which allows the exchange of energy from local grids with surplus power to those having a demand higher than what they can produce locally. Schnitzer also oversees internal efforts at National Grid to improve the interconnection process.

She has spent more than 25 years in the renewable and sustainable energy industries, which span energy storage, non-wires alternatives, utility scale wind and solar, fuel cells, and hydrogen generation. She earned her Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering from Clarkson University and a Master of Business Administration from the College of Saint Rose.

Chelsea Sherrod has been a sports reporter and host at SportsNet New York (SNY), home of the New York Mets broadcasts, since 2006. She hosts shows and reports on New York and tri-state area professional sports teams like the New York Mets, Yankees, Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Knicks, and Nets. She was SNY’s UConn sideline reporter for the past two seasons (2023-2025).

Prior to joining SNY in December of 2022, Sherrod worked at the New England Sports Network (NESN) as a reporter and host after working as a weekend sports anchor at WKTV in Utica, NY.

Sherrod earned her bachelor’s degree in visual communications from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT, where she played for four years of NCAA Division III women’s basketball. She also completed her master’s degree in strategic communications and public relations from Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, CT. Sherrod also attended the Connecticut School of Broadcasting, where she received a certificate in broadcast training.

Born and raised in Bridgeport, CT, Sherrod is proud of her hometown roots. She loves her family and loves all sports, especially soccer and basketball. Her true passion is the growth and development of women in all aspects of sport.

Rachel Tiede is an Emmy award-winning anchor/meteorologist for WNYT/NewsChannel 13 in Albany, NY. She anchors Live at 5, Live at 5:30, Live at 9, and Live at 11 weeknights. Tiede also forecasts the weather for NewsChannel 13 Live at 9 weeknights.

Previously, Tiede anchored and reported for FOX17 in Nashville, Tenn. She covered several major stories, including anchoring four hours continuously, unscripted, after a Christmas Day RV explosion. Tiede also reported from the field for multi-day, continuous coverage of the deadliest tornado Nashville had seen in decades, earning an Emmy Award for her work.

She was also a morning reporter for FOX17 and an anchor/multimedia journalist/producer at NewsWatch 12 in Medford, Ore. While in Oregon, Tiede reported, produced, and anchored breaking news broadcasts covering several devastating wildfires, including the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., which burned 153,000 acres and 18,000 structures. She traveled to Paradise after the fire, and spent several days reporting live on the devastation, solo as a multimedia journalist.

Tiede received a Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Texas Christian University (TCU) and graduated magna cum laude and with honors from the Bob Schieffer College of Communication in 2017. She minored in kinesiology, was part of the John V. Roach Honors College, and graduated as a Leadership Scholar.

In January 2021, Tiede decided to pursue meteorology, and in August 2023, she graduated from Mississippi State University with a Bachelor of Science in broadcast and operational meteorology. Beyond work, she is a former member of TCU’s women’s chorus and Tae Kwon Do club, as a First-Degree Black Belt.

Augusta Williams, ScD, MPH, is an assistant professor at SUNY Upstate Medical University in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Williams currently works at the intersection of public and occupational health, sustainability, and climate change. She serves as the assistant director of the Central New York Children’s Environmental Health Center and was formerly a heat safety technical expert at the Occupational Health and Safety Administration. Williams’ doctoral and post-doctoral training were completed in environmental health at Harvard University. She earned her Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University and completed her Bachelor of Science in biology and atmospheric sciences from Hobart and William Smith.