Dr. Thomas Ballatore is co-founder and director of the Lake Basin Action Network, a global, nonprofit organization of environmental professionals dedicated to empowering people in developing countries in the use of geospatial technologies for lake conservation. Previously, he was a tenured associate professor at the Japan University of Economics and the lead researcher at the International Lake Environment Committee. Thomas has over 20 years experience working in Asia and Africa and has served as a consultant for organizations such as IUCN, JICA, UNDP, USAID, and the World Bank. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Engineering from the University of Tokyo as well as a B.A. in Political Science, a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His honors include being awarded the Japanese Monbusho Fellowship and the US Department of Defense Engineering Alliance for Global Education Fellowship. He is also active in education in his local community and has served two terms as the first American PTA President of a Japanese public school.