Staff

Ken Erickson
CEO

Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Kansas
Certificate of Public Broadcasting Management, The Wharton School, U. Penn.

Ken has worked as an applied anthropologist since the mid 1980's, leading teams in policy, design and consumer research for many global consumer and retail firms. He has published on team ethnography, refugees, greeting cards, meat processing and radio broadcasting. He can speak English, Spanish, Mandarin, and some Vietnamese, and may be found in the company's Beijing field station, or in Los Angeles, or sometimes in Santiago, Chile, where he teaches a graduate seminar for Adolfo Ibáñez University. Ken is a Fellow of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

Hai Nguyen
Director of Design Development

M.F.A. Design Development, The Ohio State University

Hai is our industrial designer, also skilled in qualitative, quantitative, and design research. Our design expert, he is experienced in sustainability issues and environmentally friendly products. His specialization is in waterless toilets. Besides being an ethnographer and designer, he also manages research logistics for U.S. and international projects. He is our connection to Vietnam and is fluent in English and Vietnamese.

Jo Yung
Director of Asian Operations

M.A. Anthropology, Chinese University of Hong Kong

Jo is experienced in social sector policy and consumer research in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and the U.S. She specializes in women's studies, consumption, consumer behaviors, fashion and identity, and research methodology. Jo is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English. She excels at linking research with the needs of product and service design. She is based in Beijing and Hong Kong, and she's been way out west in China, and just about everywhere else that you can get to in the Middle Kingdom.

Ramanathan Haridoss
Coordinator of Indian Operations

M.Phil. Future Studies
M.L.S.

Rama is an outstanding fieldwork organizer and works frequently in designing evaluation projects for NGO's in the Chennai and Pondicherry region. He is a frequent teacher at Pondicherry University's programs in economic development and anthropology. He is familiar with both FMCG and cottage-industry worlds and the retail value chain. Rama is based in Pondicherry, India.

Tessa Jones
Director of Photography, Videographer, Ethnographer

A.A. Videography and film, College of Southern Nevada

Tessa works as the on-call video editor for KSL-Salt Lake City but we keep her away from that calling. She is an outstanding fieldworker, videographer, video editor, and enfant terrible, but in a good way. Tessa has managed international video teams and has conducted fieldwork in many different locations in the US and other countries. In addition to the practical blend of art and technique at PacEth, Tessa is also an experimental video artist who has produced several experimental films.

Sean Hamilton
Operations Manager

B.S. Biology, University of California, Irvine

Sean holds down the PacEth fort when the ethnographic and design warriors are away. He is also the company controller and benefits coordinator, assisting with fiscal, personnel, and logistical aspects of all our work. In other words, the boat won't move--or even float--without Sean.

Michael Molinyawe
Corporate Secretary

A.A. Physical Therapy

Michael is both the corporate secretary responsible for our legal filings and good status with the State of California's Secretary of State's office and our advisor on issues of disability and mobility. He takes care of accounts receivables from time to time, and helps us with pre-project recruiting when time allows.

Monica Bursztyn
Design Researcher/Business Developer

A.A. Fashion Merchandising, International University of Art and Design

Designer and consumer researcher, Monica is interested in how consumer trends invigorate urban cultures, and how new design ideas emerge. This has taken her to focus on creative alternatives in developing products and services. Presently, Monica is living in Santiago, Chile where she studies the cultures of consumption, and works with new WEB 2.0 concepts to transform, develop, and communicate a new design approach in Latin America.