Board of Directors

Chelsea Brunner-Bourne

Chelsea Brunner-Bourne

Executive Director

Chelsea Brunner is currently a physical science teacher in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has taught for 6+ years at K-12 and university levels across the globe—including New York City and Japan. While Chelsea has taught a wide range of topics in geology, her specialty is meteorites. Chelsea holds two master’s degrees, one in Geochemistry from the University of New Mexico and the other in Science Education from Columbia University. She is passionate about Earth science and spent several years working in one of the world’s largest gold mines as an underground ore control geologist.

Ben Choi

Ben Choi

Chair

Ben Choi is currently a masters student studying electrical engineering at Stanford University. Students interested in gaining the student perspective on USESO or peer-to-peer advice on studying/resources should not hesitate to reach out via email. Ben competed at the 11th IESO in 2017.

Aisha Owusu

Aisha Owusu

Board Member

Aisha Owusu is the Assistant Dean of Student Services in the College of Atmospheric and Geographical Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. Previously a Career Development Advisor for Sponsors for Educational Opportunity, she supported high-performing students of color in preparing for the challenges and rewards of Corporate America. Aisha's role as a Health and Climate Consultant for the World Meteorological Organization and World Health Organization involves improving climate data quality, accessibility, and use for sound health policy. holds a master's degree from Columbia University's Earth Institute.

Ida Hempel

Ida Hempel

Board Member

Ida, Vice President at Galvanize, a climate-focused global investment firm, has extensive experience in investing and scaling high-impact climate solutions. She previously worked at Generation Investment Management, where she co-founded the Just Climate investment platform and contributed to climate-related financial disclosure efforts. Prior to Generation and Galvanize, Ida was a venture investor at the Emerson Collective and part of the new product business development team at Tesla. Ida holds an MBA and MS in Environment & Resources from Stanford University and a BA in Applied Math and Economics from Harvard University. Ida competed in the 1st IESO in 2007.