Board of Directors

Ralph S. Baker

Ralph Baker is CEO and Chairman of the Board of TerraTherm, Inc. A founder of TerraTherm, Dr. Baker serves as Business Development Manager, Technology Manager, and assumes corporate responsibility for Quality Assurance. He serves as chief spokesperson for the company, making frequent presentations to groups around the U.S. Previously, he served as Technical Director at ENSR Consulting and Engineering, a $170-million environmental firm with approximately 1,400 people at 70 offices in 17 countries. Dr. Baker served as lead technologist for the company's worldwide in-situ remediation practice, and played a key role on dozens of major projects for government and industry involving a wide range of innovative and conventional remediation technologies.

Baker previously founded and operated an environmental consulting firm in Maine for 10 years. He earned a Ph.D. in soil physics from the University of Massachusetts, an M.S. in soil chemistry from the University of Maine, and a B.S. in natural resources conservation from Cornell University.  Dr. Baker serves on the Board of Directors of the Nashua River Watershed Association, an organization dedicated to advancing land and watershed protection and environmental education in the Nashua River watershed of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Greg Betterton

Greg Betterton is a partner in the law firm of Betterton & Tyler and is Managing Director of Bison Capital, LLC. Mr. Betterton has broad experience in private equity investing and serves in both director and advisory capacities in a variety of companies.

Mr. Betterton received a Master of Laws in Taxation from the University of Florida, a Juris Doctorate from Western New England School of Law, and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

John M. Bierschenk

John Bierschenk is the President and General Manager of TerraTherm, Inc. A founder of TerraTherm, he serves as the President and Chief Financial Officer, and assumes responsibility for developing standard operating procedures, managing projects and contracts as well. Previously, he served as the Manager of Remediation at ENSR Consulting and Engineering, a $170-million environmental firm with approximately 1,400 people at 70 offices in 17 countries. Mr. Bierschenk was responsible for developing a design-build capability for the soil and groundwater remediation market sector and played a key role in this new business area. The department included 70 people in four business units. In addition, he was responsible for improving profitability for three under-performing business units.

Mr. Bierschenk served as General Manager for Oil Recovery Systems (ORS), a division of Groundwater Technology, Inc. The $12-million stand-alone division employed 90 people with responsibility for the design, manufacture and sales of soil and groundwater remediation equipment world-wide.

He earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Regis College, Colorado, and a B.S. in Geology from the University of New Hampshire.

Robert J. Crowley

Mr. Crowley has been associated with the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) since its inception in 1978, and was elected President of MTDC in November, 2002. Prior to that, he was its Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. Mr. Crowley is one of the most experienced venture capital investors in early-stage technology companies in the region. He is a key member of the team that built the success of MTDC.

Mr. Crowley is a former Chairman of the MIT Enterprise Forum, which is the leading university/business partnership designed to nurture entrepreneurship among technologists. He is also a former Chairman of the Smaller Business Association of New England (SBANE). He currently serves as Chairman of SBANE's Educational Center. He is also a Director of National Small Business United (NSBU), a Washington, D.C. small business advocacy group. He is a past director of a number of former MTDC portfolio companies including Optical Micro Systems, Inc. Aspen Technology, Inc., MultiLink, Inc., Pacer Infotech, Inc., and Endogen, Inc.

Mr. Crowley has spent most of his professional life in finance, initially as a commercial lender with Shawmut Bank and then as President of the Neponset Valley Bank & Trust Company, and, for the last 25 years, as a venture capital investor with MTDC. He earned a BA from Fairfield University and an MBA from Boston College.

Jeffrey L. Powell

Mr. Powell is the President and CEO of CASTion Corporation, a wastewater treatment technology company that provides turn-key water treatment solutions to industry. Prior to joining CASTion, he worked for 14 years at Thermo Electron Corporation where he was founder and CEO of Thermo Retec, a $140 million publicly traded subsidiary of Thermo.   Mr. Powell managed divisions engaged in soil remediation, nuclear waste management, fluids recycling and environmental engineering and consulting.

Prior to joining Thermo Electron, Mr. Powell spent the first 10 years of his career at Midland-Ross Corporation. He holds a bachelors degree in engineering from the University of Toledo and a M.S. in Management from Florida Institute of Technology.