Professor Victor B. Flatt returned to the University of Houston in 2017 as the Dwight Olds Chair in Law and the Faculty Director of the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources (EENR) Center. He also holds an appointment as a Distinguished Scholar of Carbon Markets at the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute.

Professor Flatt is a recognized expert on environmental law, climate law, and energy law. His research focuses on environmental legislation and enforcement with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act and NEPA. He is co-author of a popular environmental law casebook, and has authored more than 40 law review articles.

Professor Flatt is currently on the Advisory Board of CE3, a member of the ABA’s Section on Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources Law Congressional Liaison Committee, and a member scholar of the Center for Progressive Reform.

Professor Flatt holds bachelor of science degrees in chemistry and math from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from Northwestern University.

William J. ( John) Berger cofounded Sunnova Energy Corp. in 2012 and serves as chief executive officer. Prior to Sunnova, Berger cofounded and served as CEO of SunCap Financial, a residential solar power service company.

Before SunCap, he cofounded Standard Renewable Energy, a top-10 installer of renewable energy and energy-efficient products and services for residential, commercial and government customers. Berger also cofounded and served as managing partner for Contango Capital Partners, LP, a venture capital firm focused on renewable energy and energy technology companies.

He began his career in 1996 as an analyst for Enron Corp., including serving as director for Enron Energy Services. Berger graduated cum laude from Texas A&M University with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2003.

Joel Mickey is the Senior Director of Wholesale Market Design and Operations for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Prior to joining ERCOT, Mickey worked as a staff consultant at a software development firm specializing in energy trading and risk management systems for restructured electric and gas markets. After graduating from a power line installer program, he joined Houston Lighting and Power (now CenterPoint Energy and Reliant), where he worked for 15 years in various positions including underground network tester, system controller and staff consultant.

Mickey is currently a board member on the North American Energy Standards and College of Computer and Electrical Engineering at the University of Oklahoma steering committee.

Mickey holds bachelor of science degrees in economics and political science from Houston Baptist University.

Heather Payne is Assistant Director and Fellow of the University of North Carolina School of Law’s Center for Climate, Energy, Environment and Economics (CE3). Payne also teaches environmental law, international environmental law and property law at the school, where she graduated with a law degree in 2011.

Before joining CE3, she served as clerk for Judge Martha Geer on the North Carolina Court of Appeals; she also worked in the private sector for nine years before attending law school.

In addition to her work at CE3, she serves on the board of directors of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority. Payne holds a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.