John Koupal

John Koupal

Vice President

Thanks to a summer job at EPA—where I went into a frigid test cell in a parka at 5:00 AM each morning to prepare cars for emission testing—I became hooked on environmental work. After many years supporting EPA in developing several major air emission rules, I find it deeply gratifying to apply the knowledge I acquired to help reduce emissions in the United States and help other countries take similar measures to significantly reduce their pollution.


John Koupal, an ERG vice president and principal engineer, leads projects focused on emissions and air quality. These include work to improve on-road vehicle emission modeling and inventories in the United States and Hong Kong, develop black carbon emission inventory guidelines for North America, and support marine emission reductions in Mexico. John also leads ERG's office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Before joining ERG, John directed the group responsible for mobile source modeling and emission inventory development within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality. In this role, he oversaw development of EPA’s vehicle emission modeling program, including development of the new generation vehicle emission model MOVES, and coordinated emission impact assessments for several EPA rules addressing greenhouse gases, vehicle tailpipe standards, renewable fuels, and off-road engines. He was also instrumental in developing EPA’s portable emission measurement program for research and emission modeling. Earlier in his career at EPA, John’s research supported the regulation of emissions from “off-cycle” driving and the establishment of on-board diagnostic systems on vehicles nationwide.

John was named to the Advisory Committee on the National Mobile Source Emission Inventory of China in 2010, and served on the Board of Advisors for the University of California–Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology from 2012 to 2014. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1989 with a B.S. in industrial and operations engineering.