Jordan's primary contribution during his six months as a MAP Fellow at Winrock was his role as a bioenergy analyst in a US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) biofuels project in the Caribbean and Central America. This project involved evaluation of public policies and private sector developments in ethanol and biodiesel in selected countries and included country visits to El Salvador and Haiti for high-level government meetings and discussions with private sector project developers. Jordan was a key author of the project's final report, which recommended biofuels project feasibility studies and technical assistance opportunities to the US government. He also helped present the results of the biofuels study at the 2007 Caribbean and Central America Action (CCAA) conference in Miami to representatives of selected countries' governments, the Inter American Development Bank, the UN Foundation, the Organization of American States, and the US Department of State.

As a member of Winrock's Ecosystems Services team, Jordan also carried forest carbon field work for projects in California and Arizona. These projects required collection of forest data used in statistical models to estimate carbon stocks. Other projects included development of a biomass energy tool designed to model cash flow from generation facilities, GIS analysis of the effects of palm oil plantations on land cover in Borneo, and proposal preparation for a biodiesel and biomass cogeneration feasibility study in Indonesia. Jordan also attended the 2007 Conference of Parties (COP) for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali, Indonesia, to see first hand how the negotiation and consensus building process works in the UN's climate change arena and to assess current developments in international carbon policy and markets.

"My involvement as a bioenergy analyst in a US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) biofuels project in the Caribbean and Central America yielded some great results. I was able to be a part of high level meetings with the governments of Haiti and El Salvador on biofuels developments in those countries, and helped present the results of our study at this year's Caribbean and Central America Action (CCAA) conference in Miami to representatives of the country governments, the Inter American Development Bank, the UN Foundation, the Organization of American States, and the US State Department, including Condoleezza Rice's energy advisor Greg Manual."

"The value of having a MAP Fellow is to bring a fresh perspective to our development initiatives, add to our technical capabilities, and increase our ability to expand the analysis within existing projects and consider related issues that can add depth to our work.. This helps Winrock carry out its mission to apply the best science, technology, and economics to improve rural livelihoods, further natural resource management, and address the challenges of global climate change and sustainable energy supply.

The value to the Fellow, we believe, is professional development, the opportunity to work with and learn from Winrock colleagues representing a range of technical expertise, and the opportunity to take on substantive responsibility in real-world projects where the Fellow can see his/her efforts contribute to sustainable energy and environmental improvements."