Samuel A. Van Vactor, Ph.D., President
Dr. Van Vactor has extensive economic expertise in the energy industries. He has over twenty years of experience developing energy-related projects for government agencies and private businesses. He has managed the development of large data storage and retrieval projects at the International Energy Agency of the OECD in Paris and for Texaco, Arco, BP, and Exxon in the United States. He has authored numerous books and articles on energy issues. He has a B.S. from the University of Oregon, an M.S. from the University of Washington, did research at the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, Darwin College. Dr. Van Vactor has appeared as an expert witness in cases on gasoline marketing, crude oil transfer pricing, electricity market structures, and the natural gas industry. Dr. Van Vactor can be reached by e-mail at sam@econ.com.
Ronald D. Ripple, Ph.D., Academic Associate
Dr. Ripple, a former Vice President at EII, organized and conducted a full range of energy market analyses focused on providing strategic planning and litigation support to clients in the public and private sector. He still acts in an advisory capacity to EII staff. Dr. Ripple specializes in risk and project-feasibility analysis and natural gas and oil market analysis. He is presently an Associate Professor of Economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He recently served as the Official Recorder for the Asia Pacific Gas (APGAS) Forum in both 2005 and 2006. On leave from EII from 1994 to 1996, Dr. Ripple spent a year and a half at the East-West Center in Honolulu, HI, where he conducted research on oil and natural gas markets. The primary focus of his research was on the dynamic markets of the Asia-Pacific and on trade flows between the U.S. and these markets. He was also the Coordinator of the Program's Pacific Islands Energy Project. Before coming to EII, Dr. Ripple received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon; taught economics at the University of Portland and University of Oregon; was Principal Economist at The McDowell Group; and was an Economist for the Office of the Governor of Alaska. Dr. Ripple has appeared as an expert witness in petroleum anti-trust and natural gas regulatory cases, and has authored numerous publications, papers, reports and book contributions.
Karsten Neuhoff, Ph.D., Economist
Dr. Karsten Neuhoff, an associate of EII since 2001, received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 2003 and received his Master’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics in 2000. He has acted as one of the principal investigators in the Sustainable Electricity Policy Research Project for Cambridge University since 2003, and has taught classes in Microeconomics and Industrial Organization at Cambridge over the last two years. Dr. Neuhoff has authored numerous publications and presentations – over 17 in the last two years alone – and has also been active in policy, contract, and market analysis of the natural gas, oil, and electricity industries in the U.S., the E.U., and the U.K. since 2000. One of his papers won the Best Student Paper Award at the annual conference of the International Association of Energy Economics in 2003.
IRI's Published Periodicals and Reports
David J. Ramberg, Vice President for Publications and Economist
David Ramberg joined Dr. Van Vactor's consulting business in 2001 after having lived and worked in a variety of places such as Nagoya, Japan and Buenos Aires, Argentina. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of IRI’s publications: the Energy Market Report, a daily newsletter on statistics and developments in the US wholesale power market, and Pacific West Oil Data, a monthly compendium of topical data related to the Pacific Rim crude oil and petroleum product markets. At Economic Insight, he also writes and edits research reports and provides analytical and data support for consulting projects and litigation proceedings. He has provided expert testimony to city planning commissions regarding developments in the petroleum industry and has authored reports, including one on risk management practices in the natural gas industry. Fluent in several languages including Japanese, Spanish, and Portuguese, Mr. Ramberg received a B.A. with Honors in 1995 in Economics and International Studies from the University of Washington. He can be reached by e-mail at david@econ.com.
Robert Mullin, Economist/Reporter
Robert Mullin joined Insight Research in 2005 after receiving a Master of Economic Science from University College Dublin in Ireland, where he studied the economic and legal currents underpinning market integration and trade liberalization, particularly within the framework of the EU. His previous work experience includes a three-year stint as editor for a business issues multimedia web site, as well as positions in marketing research and communications in the high tech industry. At Insight Research, Robert is primarily responsible for covering developments and movements in eastern U.S. power markets for the Energy Market Report. He also engages in consulting services for Economic Insight. He can be reached at robert@econ.com.
Ehud Ben "Eddie" Abadi, Economist/Reporter
Ehud Ben Abadi began working with Insight Research in August of 2006 after leaving the field of education to pursue a career in consulting. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Ehud received his B.A. degree from the University of Rochester in Economics in 1998 and is currently working on his Masters Thesis with the University of Oregon. His main interests and areas of specialty have centered around the fields of political economy, international trade, and industrial organization. After working as a data analyst, and as a mathematics instructor, Ehud is currently responsible for reporting on the day-to-day movements of the Western wholesale power market at the Energy Market Report, along with providing support for consulting projects for Economic Insight. He can be reached by e-mail at eddie@econ.com.
S. Kris Van Vactor, Economist/Reporter
Samuel Kristopher Van Vactor is a graduate of the University of Oregon with a B.S. in Economics. His experiences include project management, subcontracting, and supply chain and database management. For the Energy Market Report, Kris acts as a general substitute reporter for both the eastern and western bulk power markets, as well as providing customer service and marketing assistance to Insight Research. For Economic Insight, Kris is an associate consultant for various projects. While living in China, Mr. Van Vactor studied Mandarin Chinese at the Beijing Institute of Language and Culture. He can be reached by e-mail at kris@econ.com.
