Our Team
Nicolas Casabianca
Machine Learning Engineer
Nicolas is a machine learning engineer at Terrafuse. He is focused on using machine learning to enhance weather forecast spatial resolution and also works on modeling to predict wildfire risk. He is excited to work with Terrafuse to bring innovative solutions to market that help mitigate the effects of climate change. Nicolas holds a BS in Fundamental Mathematics, an MS in Applied Mathematics, and an MS in Machine Learning from Paris-Saclay University in Paris, France.
Hunter Connell
Co-founder and CEO
Before Terrafuse AI, Hunter worked at Ajax Strategies, where she invested in early stage climate technology companies, seven of which have since exited including three public offerings. She also served on the philanthropy team at Energy Innovation supporting nonprofits focused on decarbonization. Prior to that, Hunter designed solutions for climate change adaptation and habitat restoration as an environmental engineer. Hunter studied business at The Wharton School and Environmental Science at UCLA.
Jing Li
Sr. Machine Learning Engineer
Jing is experienced with building physically-based climate system models. At Terrafuse, she works on developing end-to-end machine learning models for wildfire risk score prediction. She is passionate about bringing physics to machine learning techniques for climate science and leveraging these techniques to address the increasing risks of climate change. Jing holds a master's degree in Atmospheric Science and Computer Science from UC Davis.
Ashray Manepalli
Machine Learning Engineer
Ashray works on machine learning, computational mathematics, and statistics. He loves to think about innovative solutions to complex problems in the field of climate science, such as Terrafuse’s groundbreaking wind downscaling and forecasting models. In his free time, Ashray experiments with designing and building complex systems such as speakers and drones with 3D printing. Ashray holds a degree in C.S. from UC Berkeley.
Jack Seagrist
Product Manager
Jack is a Product Manager at Terrafuse, where he helps bring advanced climate intelligence solutions to life. He is excited about being part of an innovative company at the forefront of climate technology. Prior to Terrafuse, Jack spent several years at Accenture Federal Services assisting clients to leverage technology to achieve their business goals. Jack holds an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University.
Elaine Yang
Data Engineer
Elaine is a meteorologist by trade and with over 10 years of experience is also a seasoned data and software engineer. At Terrafuse, she works closely with machine learning engineers as a data engineer. Previously, she was the lead engineer designing and developing the forecast system for the Weather Underground and worked as a principal engineer for the Weather Company and IBM.
In Memoriam:
Dr. Adrian Albert
We remember Dr. Adrian Albert for his humble, compassionate leadership as Terrafuse AI’s founder before his tragic passing. Adrian was kind to the core- a beloved mentor, friend, and colleague. He had an unwavering dedication to climate impact, unparalleled work ethic, and positive outlook on life. He was an avid outdoorsman who loved to backpack and spend time in nature any chance he could. He made all of us laugh with his dry wit and zany musings. The Terrafuse AI team is dedicated to making his legacy a success.
Advisory Board
Dr. Daniel Feldman
Advisor
Dan is an atmospheric scientist by training. His research focuses on remote sensing, mountainous hydrology, and atmospheric modeling and forecasting. He leads research projects for the U.S. Dept. of Energy, for NASA, and for the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program. Dan works at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and holds a B.S. in Environmental Engineering Science from MIT and a Master's and PhD in Environmental Science & Engineering from Caltech.
Dr. Mustafa Mustafa
Advisor
Mustafa is a physicist by training, and his research focuses on adapting and advancing state-of-the-art deep learning to solve applied problems, with a focus on physical sciences domains. His current research interests include: generative models, self-supervised learning, deep learning at (HPC) scale. He currently works in Software Engineering at Waymo. Mustafa holds a BS in Physics from the University of Jordan and a PhD in Physics from Purdue University.
Dr. Gireesh Shrimali
Advisor
Gireesh is the Head of Transition Finance Research at Oxford University. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at Stanford University and a Director at Climate Policy Initiative. He has taught at Johns Hopkins University as well as the Indian School of Business. His research is on the catalytic role of finance in getting to the 2C climate target. He also focuses on ESG issues, such as climate risk and net zero transitions. He holds a PhD from Stanford University, an MS from the University of Minnesota, and a BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology. Prior to his academic career, he has over nine years of industry experience.
Board of Directors
Hunter Connell
Board Member
Before Terrafuse AI, Hunter worked at Ajax Strategies, where she invested in early stage climate technology companies, seven of which have since exited including three public offerings. She also served on the philanthropy team at Energy Innovation supporting nonprofits focused on decarbonization. Prior to that, Hunter designed solutions for climate change adaptation and habitat restoration as an environmental engineer. Hunter studied business at The Wharton School and Environmental Science at UCLA.
Chrysanthe Gussis
Board Member
Chrysanthe is an investor and advisor to early stage climate tech companies. She has extensive experience in finance, structuring, legal, operational and business strategy, and scaling of high volume, high growth businesses. She also has deep relationships in the banking and clean economy sectors. She was previously an executive at SolarCity for 8 years, where she helped make solar energy accessible by developing scalable, lower-cost financing during a period of consistent year-over-year doubling in growth. Chrysanthe holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the University of Michigan.
Eugene Kirpichov
Board Member
Eugene is an expert in large-scale data processing and machine learning infrastructure, as well as catalyzing big-tech talent en-masse to the climate technology space - the first dedicated movement of its kind. Eugene was previously a Staff Software Engineer working on Google's cloud technologies, data processing and machine learning infrastructure, before leaving to focus full-time on the urgent climate crisis. He founded and runs Work On Climate, a non-profit focused on making climate work mainstream among professionals, with 7,500+ members and growing.
Our Investors and Partners
In addition to venture backing, we are proud to be supported by these incredible organizations: