General Manager
DR. KUBİLAY KAVAK
Kubilay Kavak, PhD, holds a bachelor’s degree (Bilkent University) and a master’s degree (Gazi University) in industrial engineering. He obtained another master’s degree (Cornell University) in public policy and holds a doctoral degree (Gazi University) in public administration.
Executive Vice President
MELİS BİTLİS
After having her major in Social and Political Sciences from Sabancı University, Melis Bitlis obtained her master’s degree at Johns Hopkins University in Energy and Environmental Policy as well as International Economics.
Bitlis has been working at Escarus since 2015 and leads sustainable finance and climate change services by the company, including sustainability policies, green bond framework and second party consultancy services offered to customers in finance sector (banks, insurance companies, private pension funds and leasing companies) as well as real sector companies. She has experience in developing sustainable investment frameworks and sustainable finance instruments in accordance with investment portfolios, providing consultancy services to financial institutions on climate change-related risks and opportunities and reporting sustainable green finance. She also develops training models on such matters for private sector professionals.
In addition to her project management experience in energy efficiency, environmental and social performance standards, environmental and social risk assessment, green bonds, climate finance and sustainable finance, Bitlis also has broad international experience on climate change.
Executive Vice President
H. DORA ÜRETEN
H. Dora Üreten, a graduate of Koç University Mechanical Engineering, obtained his master’s degree in the field of International Management at EADA Business School.
He began his professional career in Marsh Risk Consultancy in 2009 and continued to work as a financial analyst at TSKB. Between 2012 and 2016, he actively involved in the establishment of Escarus and worked in different positions such as project manager and business development manager. Between 2016-2020, he worked as the business development manager at Garanti Koza İnşaat and GKE Enerji and actively involved in various conventional-renewable energy and greenfield real estate development projects in Turkey and abroad. Üreten rejoined Escarus as of April 2021.
He has experience in project management, business development, preparation of feasibility studies, designing sustainability strategies, establishment of sustainability management systems and E&S management systems in line with internationally recognized standards (World Bank, IFC, EBRD, Equator Principles, GRI, SASB, CDP, GHG Protocol, Sustainability Indices, etc.), sustainable finance, sustainability-focused reporting, resource and energy efficiency, calculation and reduction of carbon emissions and has taken part in many local and abroad projects in different sectors.
Senior Manager
RANA AKBAŞ
Rana Akbaş graduated from Marmara University Environmental Engineering Department and completed her master’s degree in Environmental Technologies Department of Boğaziçi University’s Environmental Sciences Institute.
Started her professional journey as a sales engineer and continued with academic projects, she worked as an LCA expert in the Green Production Clean Future Project supported by Istanbul Development Agency and İKMİB. As a researcher at Boğaziçi University Sustainable Development and Cleaner Production Research Center, she provided consultancy services to companies in LCA/cleaner production practices and took part in the coordination of the university’s Sustainable Green Campus Program. She worked in Esan Eczacıbaşı, specialized on environmental management (establishment, monitoring and improvement of an environmental management system at a level that would meet the legislative requirements, customer and social expectations) and sustainable mining (collection, consolidation and verification of data in accordance with GRI reporting). She is also experienced in determining the environmental and social risks of investment projects in the mining sector, and structuring projects from the first step in accordance with the standards of international financial institutions.
Senior Manager
NURGÜL BAĞCIN
Nurgül Bağcın, graduated from Kocaeli University Chemical Engineering Department and completed her Master’s Degree in Business Administration Department of Gebze Technical University.
Bağcın started her professional life as a chemical engineer for a company of dye-solvent recycling in 2010. Then continued her career as a Coordinator of company that provides environmental consultancy, laboratory services, quality management system for hazardous chemicals from 2013 to 2016. She has also provided consultancy services to many companies for greenhouse gas monitoring / reporting, start up / development of environment permit process, waste management, environmental impact assessment, set up and development of quality management systems. Then, she worked in a company as the environment, health&safety and quality manager from 2016 to 2022 and took responsibility for the coordination and supervision of scores of activities.
Bağcın also has a vast experience on auditing reports as a “Lead Verifier” authorized by the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change on many projects within the scope of the voluntary carbon market and the legislation on monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions.
Manager
SEVGİ DENİZ AKDEMİR
After receiving her undergraduate degree in Environmental Engineering Department from METU in 2017, S. Deniz Akdemir completed her master’s degree in Energy Policies and Economics at the same university. She attended the Berlin Beuth Technical School with the funding of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and received her specialization in “energy efficiency in buildings”.
She began her professional experience in a private company as a carbon specialist. Akdemir worked as an expert in the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR) program supported by the World Bank. She gained experience on IPA technical support projects in the GIZ and took an active role in Turkey’s Energy Efficiency in Public Buildings Project. After completing Project Management Professional (PMP) training, she continued her career as a project management expert at the projects funded by various national and international institutions in 2020-2021, and managed and oversaw the energy and environmental projects targeting cities and the manufacturing industry.
Working in Escarus’ Business Development Unit, she currently takes responsibility seeking for potential business fields and developing new projects.
Manager
ESRA KOÇ ERDAL
Esra Koç graduated from the Middle East Technical University, Department of Chemical Engineering.
Koç, who started her journey as an occupational safety specialist and continued as a quality control engineer in the construction chemicals industry, turned to the field of sustainability in 2014. In addition to many R&D and consultancy projects, she was also involved in business development activities.
Having a deep knowledge of the voluntary carbon market and the legislation on the monitoring of GHG emissions, Koç holds a Lead Verifier certificate from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change. Working as an expert on various World Bank and GIZ projects for the adaptation and implementation of the EU ETS in Turkey, Koç has worked closely with different private sector and public institution stakeholders.
Koç, who has strong experience in calculating greenhouse gas emission inventory, preparing climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans, climate change risk and vulnerability analysis, also has competence in many areas such as nature-based solutions, low-carbon development, climate finance, and stakeholder analysis.
Manager
HANDE TURAN
Hande Turan graduated from Istanbul University, Department of Environmental Engineering. She started her professional career as a quality engineer in construction chemicals industry. Between 2015 and 2024, she worked as Planning Manager at BSI, the National Standards Body of the United Kingdom, wasc responsible for the management of operations in Türkiye, Macedonia, Serbia, Kosovo, Kazakhstan, Malta and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. She also worked as Environment, Occupational Health and Safety Manager between 2020-2024 and led the establishment and implementation of ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 management systems in BSI Türkiye.
Hande Turan, who holds Lead Auditor qualification in ISO 9001 Quality Management System, ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, ISO 45001 Occupational Health and Safety Management System, ISO 50001 Energy Management System and ISO 14064 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Management System Standards, has experience in training and audit services based on management system standards, supply chain management, internal audit services, process management, business excellence, customer satisfaction management, corporate social responsibility management and verification of greenhouse gas emissions.
Manager
LEYLA ŞİMŞEK ÇAVUŞ
Leyla Şimşek Çavuş, a graduate of the Biology Department at Istanbul University, completed her master’s degree at the Institute of Environmental Sciences at Boğaziçi University.
Her career journey began as a Microbiology Analyst at Bayer Turk Chemicals Industry. She later worked as Microbiology and Hygiene Manager at Ülker Hero and Unilever respectively. Then, she involved EU projects in the fields of environment and agriculture at Niras A/S. Starting her career at the UNDP Turkey in the Climate Change and Environment Portfolio, Çavuş participated in technical assistance and capacity development projects supported by the EU and the Global Environment Facility on chemicals and waste management, climate change, and biodiversity. She engaged in activities involving coordinating relations with government agencies, NGOs, academia, and private sector, as well as determining communication strategies.
Çavuş performed as an independent sustainability consultant for a while. She has hands-on experience in the areas such as project management, chemicals and waste management, biodiversity, climate change, and gender equality and also is competent in establishing and managing corporate sustainability. Çavuş has been working at Escarus since 2024.
Assistant Manager
YUSUF SAĞ
Yusuf Sağ received his bachelor degree from Özyeğin University, Industrial Engineering department in 2018.
During his academic life he undertook internship studies in various industries. He participated in one of Turkey’s leading food industry firm’s warehouse operations optimization project and took active role from one end to other. Meanwhile he performed a marketing internship in the same company.
He started his professional career as a procurement, material and warehouse management consultant, and designed, adapted and implemented procurement and material management processes for different industries. Before joining Escarus, he worked as an IT (information technologies) risk advisor and IT auditor in Deloitte Turkey. During his tenure, he analyzed IT environments and evaluated IT risks for leading bank affiliates, fast-moving consumer goods, drug, and heavy industries as well as energy companies. Alongside, he participated in BDDK (Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency) compliance consultancy project for a leading bank affiliate. Since 2021 he has been working at Escarus.
Assistant Manager
NİLAY CAMBAZ
Nilay Cambaz holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering from Yıldız Technical University and completed her master’s degree in Environmental Science, Engineering and Management program at Istanbul Technical University.
Working as a sustainability consultant prior to joining the Escarus family, Cambaz has coordinated several national and international projects and had the opportunity to work directly with both public and private sector stakeholders. She has in-depth expertise in climate change, carbon footprint calculation, sustainability reporting (GRI-based), sustainability disclosure/ratings (CDP, EcoVadis), eco-labels (ISO 14020-25), sustainable finance, circular economy, clean production, management of finite resources, water quality, and watershed management.
Cambaz has also in-depth experience in life cycle assessment (LCA) and has conducted several studies both at the product and organizational level in various sectors, mainly construction, chemistry, food, ceramics, packaging, white goods and composite materials.
Thanks to the projects she carried out with organizations of various sizes operating in different sectors throughout her career, Cambaz has developed competence in measuring sustainability and also gained experience in project management and team coordination processes.
Assistant Manager
SİNEM ÖZDEMİR
After graduating from the Department of Sociology at Middle East Technical University, Sinem Özdemir started her career as a Research Assistant at METU. During her academic career, she undertook the assistantship of common courses in the programs of Sociology, Gender and Women’s Studies and Social Policy.
She moved to the private sector in 2017 and took part in a resettlement project carried out at First Quantum Minerals, where she developed several projects on community development and livelihood restoration. She has gained considerable experience in the establishment, implementation and reporting of environmental and social management systems at the companies operating in the light of international standards (World Bank, IFC, EBRD, Equator Principles, UN Sustainable Development Goals, etc.). Özdemir also took part in the management of stakeholder engagement and carried out many social investment projects in cooperation with local authorities and NGOs. With these projects, she gained expertise in the field of local and rural development.
Social impact assessment, stakeholder analysis, quality education and gender equality were among the important fields of work in her career.
Assistant Manager
A. ECE ÖNSÖZ EKŞİ
Ece Önsöz completed her undergraduate education with a double degree in Economics from Istanbul Technical University and the State University of New York. She is currently doing her master’s degree in International Relations and Diplomacy at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya University.
During her undergraduate education, she conducted research on undergone environmental, economic and sociocultural changes. Accordingly, she had the opportunity to work in a number of projects focusing on increasing labor migration in the globalizing world and changing industrialization strategies in the Middle East countries and the increasing effects of the digital age.
Having completed her education in the U.S., she started her working life in the same country as well. After completing her internship as a business development assistant, she worked for a company located in Manhattan, New York as the planning manager for two years. Afterwards, she took part in various projects as an international relations specialist in Istanbul and continued her career as the foreign trade manager. Her areas of expertise include marketing and business development strategies, operations management, brand management.She has been working at Escarus since 2022.
Expert
CEYDA KALIPÇIOĞLU
Ceyda Kalıpçıoğlu received her bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering at Middle East Technical University. Currently, she is pursuing her master’s degree in environmental technology at Boğaziçi University’s Institute of Environmental Sciences.
Thanks to Erasmus+ Programme, she studied at Aarhus University in Denmark during her undergraduate education. She worked as an undergraduate researcher in such studies as zero waste, sustainable fuel production, and life cycle assessment when returned back to Turkey. After getting bachelor’s degree, she worked as researcher at the Sustainable Development and Cleaner Production Center of Boğaziçi University for the projects related to zero waste, eco-label, and life cycle assessment. Within that period, she played an active role in reporting projects, writing articles, research and development while staying in touch with public and private sector stakeholders.
Thanks to the academic studies and projects that she has participated for the last 3 years, she won the 2021 McKinsey Achievement Award which aims to recognize and encourage talented individuals around the world. She has been working at Escarus since 2021.
Expert
BESTE B. İLİ
Beste İli completed her bachelor’s degree in the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Middle East Technical University and continues to her master’s degree at the same university. In her master’s studies she focuses on sustainable development, climate change, environmental economics, and EU Green Deal.
She started her career with the analysis of the environmental and social impacts, the planning of management systems and stakeholder participation of the projects in renewable energy and nuclear energy sectors. She also worked on the reporting of emission-immission measurements of factories. Additionally, she worked on the risk and sustainability assessment and protection of water resources through the Source Water Protection Plan prepared for Coca Cola’s factories in 20 different countries.
Before joining to Escarus, Beste İli continued her career in the Turkey office of a US-based company, carried out environmental due diligence and assessment studies in projects around the world. In this context, she coordinated with the federal, state and environmental institutions in USA, conducted research, and provided coordination and management of the environmental group in Turkey office.
Expert
İLKE DUMAN
İlke Duman received her bachelor’s degree from Middle East Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department with an honor degree in 2020. She completed her master’s degree at the same university.
During her academic life, she worked as a project assistant at Denmark Technical University and studied on energy efficiency in biogas production. She focused on sustainability, life cycle assessment (LCA), and eco-label studies in her graduate education and took part in the Turkish Environmental Labeling System Development Project.
She started her professional career in a company operating in the fields of process safety and environmental consultancy. She participated in HAZOP, FTA, and ETA studies and played an active role in reporting. Duman also has freelance works on researching the internet of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications in environmental monitoring.
Before joining to Escarus family, Duman worked as a project manager in the Turkey office of a US-based company. She contributed to the environmental due diligence projects, communicated with regulatory agencies, conducted legislation research, and managed the environmental team in Turkey.
Expert
İPEK ÖZEN
İpek Özen is graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Department of Environmental Engineering in 2022.
During her undergraduate education, she had an opportunity to see the operation of cement factories in Adana Çimento A.Ş., one of the companies she did internship, and gained knowledge on industrial waste and water management operations. Completing her long-term internship at Kordsa Teknik Tekstil A.Ş. Sustainability Department, Özen worked on the company’s sustainability activities and played an active role in the review of legislation and the preparation of various reports. Özen also worked on the Sustainable Development Goals and environmental sustainability of new generation water treatment products at a company that develops environmental technologies for water treatment.
After completing her undergraduate education, Özen started to work as a Sustainability Coordinator in the global team of a UK-based marketing company, where she established close relationships with suppliers in EMEA, took part on data collection and analysis processes, and contributed to the team’s environmental reporting efforts. Since January 2023, she has been working at Escarus.
Expert
S. ENGİN ALPAR
Sait Engin Alpar graduated from Istanbul Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department in 2017 and completed his Law education at International Balkan University.
Alpar started his career in Esan Eczacıbaşı company, with the duty of legal maintenance of the mining licenses, and took part in projects, tenders, annual internal and external audits, annual activity reports, and calculation of related taxes. At the same time, he has prepared legal and environmental due diligence reports for mining sites abroad.
He worked at TUBISAD Compliance Scheme within the scope of the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Turkey. He worked for the carbon footprint calculation of member companies, their I-REC and Gold Standard certification, re-use of WEEEs, data wiping, and other processes. He additionally researched the alternatives that the metals obtained in WEEE recovery would create in terms of sustainability and prepared a report on this subject.
Continuing his career at Escarus as of 2023, Alpar has experience in legal follow-up of processes, analytical reporting, environmental and legal auditing, and project and business development management processes.
Expert
İREM İNCE
After graduating from Middle East Technical University (METU), Department of Environmental Engineering in 2017, İrem İnce completed her master’s degree at the same university. İnce developed her master’s thesis on micropollutants in receiving body from the urban and industrial wastewater treatment plants in the Yeşilırmak Basin as part of a TÜBİTAK Project.
İnce worked as a project assistant at METU during her master’s degree and took part in projects related to waste declarations and management, cleaner production, best available techniques, and sectoral guidelines for environmental impact assessment. She carried out studies on industrial processes and emissions, cleaner production, European environmental legislation and harmonization.
Continuing her career as a sustainability expert in a private consulting company, İnce worked as a technical expert at and project coordinator of an EU project on the determination of industrial emission strategies conducted within the scope of the IPA II program. She also worked as a technical expert in project proposal preparations and consultancy projects. Since November 2023, İnce has been working at Escarus.
Expert
NAZLI MELİS MOLU
Nazlı Melis Molu completed her undergraduate education in the Department of Environmental Engineering at Dokuz Eylül University in 2016, where she also prepared her thesis on the treatment and recycling applications of greywater. During her undergraduate studies, Molu completed various internships in the quality, environmental monitoring and management departments. In 2018, she embarked on her career journey as the Sales and Marketing Specialist at Intertek, where she engaged in certification, audit, and surveillance activities.
In her professional life, Molu continued her path in the same industry as a Management Systems Specialist at TÜV SÜD Turkey in 2021. She actively participated in audits related to ISO 9001-14001-45001-50001-10002 Management Systems, evaluating the compliance of organizations with management system standards. Additionally, she managed and coordinated various projects, including SEDEX social compliance audits, food safety and hygiene sanitation audits, supplier audits, sustainable tourism, and safe tourism projects.
Starting from 2024, Nazlı Melis Molu has been serving at Escarus.
Expert
AYCAN ÖZALTUN GÜVEN
Aycan Özaltun Güven completed her undergraduate studies in the Department of International Relations and her graduate studies in the field of Social Policy at the Middle East Technical University. Throughout her career, she has been involved in various technical consultancy projects in fields such as health, social equality, education, capacity development, and wastewater treatment, contributing to strategic communication and project management. She has handled a wide range of responsibilities from planning to implementation, contributing to the expansion of the influence through collaborations with civil society and public partnerships.
Experienced in business development, Güven has undertaken tasks such as customer and portfolio management, business planning, contract preparation, subcontractor and customer relations management, process management, and tender document preparation.
As one of the founding partners and the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Bi’Koop Women’s Cooperative, Güven is working on market research and strategic partnerships to promote sustainable development and gender equality. Having expertise in project management tools and techniques, she has been working at Escarus since 2024.
Assistant Expert
N. SERRA YERLİKAYA
Nil Serra Yerlikaya graduated from Marmara University, Department of Environmental Engineering.
During her internships at TAV Atatürk Airport, she took part in OHSE operations and studied the outputs of the Green Airport initiative. In addition, she worked with the Machinery Maintenance teams and examined the energy systems. At Coca-Cola İçecek A.Ş as quality control intern, she was mainly involved in waste management operations, as well as the operations of the industrial treatment plant and contributed to several projects. She gained experience in the field of internal audit at Yıldız Holding and, lastly, during her long-term internship at Leadership & Sustainability, a Germany-based company, she worked on FEM validation.
After her graduation, Yerlikaya started her career as a sustainability specialist within the OHSE department at Yünsa Yünlü Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. and continued her career at the Sustainability Platform established under the R&D Department. During her tenure at Yünsa, she worked on the processes such as audit/verification, certification, social sustainability process review and follow-up, environmental sustainability process and project review and follow-up, economic sustainability studies, customer demand follow-up, data entry and reporting, sustainability report writing, determination of sustainability strategy.She has been working at Escarus since 2022.
Assistant Expert
DİLAN PERKTAŞ
Dilan Perktaş completed her bachelor’s degree in Philosophy at Middle East Technical University in 2022. Perktaş, who was awarded the opportunity to study at Jagiellonian University within the Erasmus+ Program, focused on environmental philosophy and sustainability areas thanks to the courses she took during this period. After returning to Türkiye, Perktaş engaged in various student clubs aiming to protect and sustain the natural environment on campus, closely contacting environmental non-profit organizations. Currently, she is supporting nature and climate studies as a volunteer at WWF Türkiye.
While having the opportunity to put her theoretical knowledge into practice with her career as a Sustainability Consultant at a consultancy firm, Perktaş gained experience in developing sustainability reports in compliance with GRI standards.
Assistant Expert
NAZLICAN FİLTEKİN
Nazlıcan Filtekin graduated from Yıldız Technical University with an Environmental Engineering degree in 2018. She completed her master’s degree in the same institution and department, with a thesis on Carbon Capture and Storage. Filtekin gained experience in wastewater analysis, the use of various measuring devices (BET, FT-IR, SEM, and GC-MS), and wastewater reuse while internships at universities. She began her professional career as an Environmental Engineer at a mining firm where she coordinated laboratory analyses, sales, and R&D projects.
Filtekin continued her work as a Sustainability Specialist at different companies where she was actively involved in developing sustainability strategies, calculating carbon footprints, sustainability communucation and sustainability reporting.
Filtekin, who has experience in cooperation with non-governmental organizations and is currently a LÖSEV and AHBAP volunteer, has been working at Escarus since 2024.
Assistant Expert
NESLİM AKPARMAK
Neslim Akparmak completed her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Engineering at Marmara University in 2024.
During her studies, she participated in the Erasmus+ Program at Jan Evangelista Purkyne University where she focused on topics related to environmental sustainability.
Throughout her undergraduate education, Akparmak worked on projects related to waste management, sustainability strategies, and eco-friendly technologies. During her internship at İSTAÇ, she studied waste management processes and gained practical experience in sustainable waste management. She was involved in projects focusing on waste recycling, energy recovery, and reducing environmental impacts.
Akparmak has been working at Escarus since 2024.
Financial Affairs and Operations
GÖKÇE AKYILDIZ
Gökçe Akyıldız, a graduate of Anadolu University Faculty of Business Administration, completed the English Language Education program of Manchester University.
She began her professional career in Ulusalbank S.A. as a current account specialist and took role in conducting banking processes such as following corporate customer current accounts, investment operations (foreign currency, bond, repo, deposit) and transactions. Akyıldız, who worked at Intralot S.A. Liaison Office Turkey between 2003-2015 as a financial affairs and corporate communications manager occupied the position of central responsible of the office and took role in financial management, budget-reporting, purchasing, feasibility research, preliminary preparation for merger and accusation, preparation of promotion and advertisement content and trip-hotel-event organization.
Akyıldız, who has been working at Escarus since 2017, is responsible for all financial and operational work, notably the financial management, accounting, purchasing and administrative services. Akyıldız also works on the social media and corporate website management.
Financial Affairs and Operations Assistant
HİLAL ALTUN
Hilal Altun completed her associate degree in Office Management and Executive Assistance Department at Marmara University and her bachelor’s in Management at Anadolu University.
Altun started her professional career in 2012 and took positions in assistance, administrative affairs, pre-accountancy and accountancy. Altun, who worked at Accountancy and Administrative Affairs Departments of institutions from various sectors such as vocational training, construction machine production, spare part supply of energy sector, electrical measuring apparatus supply for electricity transmission and distribution, has been working at Escarus since 2022.