Executive Director’s Report – Celebrating Aprovecho’s 50th Anniversary

Executive Director’s Report – Celebrating Aprovecho’s 50th Anniversary

I’ll always remember my first moments at Aprovecho 26 years ago. I had just graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, newly aware of the realities of household energy poverty, and had completed my first solo cross-country road trip to Oregon to work with a small group of folks who would become world leaders in clean cooking. As I arrived, Dean came rumbling down the driveway in his blue pickup and greeted me with his signature joyful warmth. He showed me to the rotegrity dome where I’d start my first experiments, the outdoor biomass-fueled kitchen where fellow interns would cook our food, and the forest clearing where I pitched my tent and shared the space with a few giant banana slugs.

At the time, I had no idea I would still be here decades later—now celebrating 50 years of an organization that has touched lives across the globe. Over the years, Aprovecho’s impact has grown in ways we could never have imagined:

• Our rocket stove design principles have spread worldwide, with tens of millions of stoves built using these ideas.
• Through our dozens of books, peer reviewed publications, and instructional videos, we’ve kept our knowledge open source and accessible.
• We’ve installed emissions monitoring systems and trained researchers in over 67 locations, empowering communities to design solutions that work for them.
• We’ve partnered with manufacturers like Shengzhou Stove Manufacturer to expand access to clean cooking technologies at scale.
• We have collaborated with dozens of Oregon State University humanitarian engineering students.
• We’ve also helped shape the broader clean cooking sector—contributing people and ideas to organizations such as BURN, Trees Water People, and StoveTeam International, and leading the ETHOS conference for 26 years.
• Along the way, our work has reached unexpected audiences, from features in The New Yorker to awards from the US EPA and Prince (now King!) Charles.

Looking ahead to the coming decades, there’s still so much work to be done. We’d love to see our innovative designs for forced draft combustion be applied to cooking and heating stoves that protect health and climate. We’re also continuing to develop appropriate technologies and innovative measurement tools to support impactful design activities. And with the ongoing support of the Osprey Foundation, we’re committed to continuing to build capacity in projects globally to work with local users to develop and disseminate the best cookstove designs available.

Today, our team of eight dedicated staff members brings deep expertise and passion to this mission. Still, none of this work happens in isolation. We are incredibly grateful for our global network of partners, collaborators, and supporters who share our commitment to clean cooking and practical solutions.

Throughout our history, Aprovecho has largely sustained itself through earned income—grants, consulting, and equipment sales. As we look to the future, we’re working to ensure that this work can continue and grow for decades to come. If you feel inspired to support that vision, we welcome your partnership in whatever way feels right to you.

Join Us to Celebrate 50 Years

We would love to celebrate this milestone with you! Please join us for our 50th anniversary gathering:

 Blue Mountain Campus
 July 25
 3:00–7:00 PM

In honor of the occasion, we’re also offering a 50th anniversary t-shirt as a thank-you for a $50+ donation. If you’re in the US and interested in the t-shirt featuring the two images in this email, simply email me at nordica@aprovecho.org by June 22 and specify the size, cut (unisex or women) and shipping address.

Thank you for being part of this journey—and for all that you do to create a better world.

With gratitude,
Nordica MacCarty, PhD
Executive Director
Aprovecho Research Center