Welcome, Ani & Peter!

The Energy Challenge team is growing! We’d like to welcome Ani Kasch, LED Program Assistant, and Peter Dempsey, Lead LED Installer, to our team. Here’s a little bit more about these wonderful folks who are helping to ensure our Free LED program runs smoothly. Be sure to say hello when you talk to Ani, or meet Peter at your home!

Ani has taught experiential environmental education, made maps, served coffee, instructed people of all ages in conservation and community living, pulled in 100-pound halibut, and collared endangered squirrels for a living. And now she is excited to continue spreading love for the world by encouraging use of LED lights! She fully supports bicycle travel in all ways, especially commuting. If she can’t get there by bike, she is much less likely to go! When not at the Environmental Center you can find her out on her mountain bike, getting vertical on rocks at Smith, pickling beets, and attempting to build a bench out of a broken down wooden pallet.

Peter recently joined The Environmental after a spectrum of private sector jobs including sole proprietor of a motorcycle accessory company. Peter received a B.A. in Economics with a minor in History from UC Davis. He has also taught High School Social Studies which is one of his passions. He is a teacher at heart, which is one of the reason he loves the Environmental Center and the education its staff provides. He has lived all over the country – but after living in San Francisco for 10 years, Peter and his wife, Patty, moved to Bend to raise their two children in 1989. When he isn’t working, Peter loves camping, fishing and enjoying all Central Oregon has to offer.