Aleia McCord manages W2E‘s educational programs and microbiology research activities. She is a PhD candidate in the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies Environment and Resources program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Aleia studies the sustainability of micro-scale biogas systems in East Africa. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from Grinnell College (2003) and from 2003 – 2005 she served in the Peace Corps in Ghana as a natural resource management volunteer.