Michael Whitaker, PhD | Principal
PhD, Civil Engineering - University of Colorado Denver;
B.S. / M.S. with distinction, Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Michael Whitaker is a Principal at Symbiotic Engineering, LLC, focusing on greenhouse gas management and quantifying sustainability initiatives, with experience in conducting life cycle assessments. Mike co-founded Symbiotic Engineering with Mark Reiner and shares operational control while also directing the company’s greenhouse gas management and sustainable real estate development and quantification programs. He is trained in the protocols for preparing verifiable greenhouse gas inventories for public registries and has experience developing greenhouse gas inventory management tools and emission reduction strategies for private organizations and public entities. Mike has conducted life cycle assessments of transportation systems, transportation fuels, and power generation systems both domestically and internationally. His work is focused on using internationally accepted methodologies and life cycle systems thinking to quantify energy, emissions, and material flows and to develop implementable action items that enhance the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of clients. Mike has worked closely with a variety of clients including city officials, municipal utilities, transit agencies, universities, multi-national companies, governmental laboratories, real estate developers, and small businesses.
Mike currently serves as the technical lead for the development, customization, and implementation of the Carbon City, Carbon Neighbors, CarbonCo, and Carbon-State platforms. He is trained in The Climate Registry protocols and directly oversees the implementation of proper emission factors, calculations, and report generation within Symbiotic Engineering’s tools and custom program portals. He also is in charge of outreach and program development, serving as the lead for initial contacts with potential new partnering communities and organizations. Prior to co-founding Symbiotic Engineering, Mike completed his PhD in sustainable urban infrastructure development at the University of Colorado, Denver.
Experience Highlights
- Managed and conducted the quantification of real estate development impacts and the likely effects of sustainability initiatives on economic, environmental, social, and political metrics.
- Trained in the application of verification standards for greenhouse gas emission inventories.
- Volunteered as a subject matter expert for the development of a certification exam for individual greenhouse gas verifiers.
- Served as the technical lead for development of Symbiotic Engineering’s quantification tools.
- Developed a suite of greenhouse gas reduction action items for the transportation sector of a major U.S. city and analyzed their economic and environmental implications.
- Conducted life cycle assessments of the greenhouse gas impacts of electrified urban rail and transit bus systems in the U.S. and India and of biodiesel production from Jatropha in India
- Analyzed technological options for enhancing urban environmental sustainability in China, South Africa, and Tanzania while a fellow at the National Academy of Sciences.