Yonatan Chesler

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Work
Since 1996, Yonatan has worked for the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. He primarily provides technical support but also participates in several local green initiatives.  These include energy efficient building and energy policy seminars, and the upcoming dedication of Israel’s first large-scale PV solar-panel field.

Education
Yonatan has a BA in History and an MFA in Technical Theatre, both from the University of Connecticut. Upon moving to Israel, he studied at the WUJS-Arad Program for seven months. The course is an intensive study of the region’s history, cultures, current events, and religions. Yonatan continued his education at the Arava Institute, combining his interests in the environment, politics and social justice. He recently attended the Crossing Borders Climate Change Course at Krogerup Højskole in Denmark, which provided focus and opportunities to get more involved in efforts to learn about and to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Areas of Interest
Ecological economics, population issues, powerdown/peak oil/energy resources.  Climate change from a public policy/public action standpoint. Political will vs. real necessity.  Combating "greenwash" as well as poorly informed good intentions leading to bad policy.

Personal
Yonatan was born and raised in the colorful mixed deciduous forests of Southern New England, although he has been living in Israel since 2002. He enjoys hiking and traveling, exploring different cultures and sharing stories, and languages.  He can say “I don’t want it” in Turkish (that came in handy in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar), “I dance like an elephant” in Russian, Arabic and Hebrew;  and he can count to 100, yet regrettably be unintentionally coarse in Hungarian.