Lisa Emerson is the financial manager for the RIPE Project. She is also the vice president of operations for SC4, Inc., a bioenergy start-up company. Lisa received her bachelor’s degree in accounting from Illinois and also holds a license in intellectual property and technology commercialization from the University of California School of Law. She has managed departmental funds in excess of $5 million and over 400 grants while working her previous job with the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at Illinois. Lisa has extensive experience in grant management, budgeting, forecasting, purchasing, human resources, business development, and information systems. Lisa also has a background in project management, developing and implementing short- and long-term strategic business plans, and team building. She received her certificate in group facilitation skills from Community at Work.