Athletic Background

Amber has always loved sport. At the age of 10 and of her own accord, she dedicated her focus, time and energy the sport of swimming, eventually earning state and national records and a world ranking in her high school years. In the meantime, she devoted equal focus to her studies, graduating high school valedictorian and earning an athletic scholarship to attend Stanford University and swim for Stanford’s Division I Swim Team.

Rais later joined the Stanford Cycling Team, where she quickly developed a passion for cycling. Serving as Team Captain and Race Director for the 2005 season, Amber worked diligently as a team manager and dedicated herself to training on the bike. She came away from the season as the 2005 West Coast Collegiate Cycling (WCCC) Omnium and Criterium Champion, the 2005 Collegiate Cycling National Omnium and National Criterium Champion, and was awarded the Stanford Athletic Board's Shirley Schoof Club Sports Award, an honor awarded to “the student-athlete on a club team who demonstrates outstanding leadership, exemplifies fair play/sportsmanship, achieves excellence within the sport and is committed to community service."

At the same time as competing in a full collegiate season, Amber further challenged herself by racing the larger USCF fields in California. She began the season as a Category 4 rider and upgraded to Category 1 in less than a season. Guided by coach and cycling phenom Linda Jackson, Amber progressed rapidly, ending the 2005 season with an omnium victory in the California Cup Series.

In 2006 Amber embarked on a career of professional cycling by signing with Webcor Cycling, for whom she raced during 2006 and 2007. During that time, she accrued ten National Racing Calendar (NRC) podium finishes, including seven NRC wins and the overall General Classification at the 2007 Tri Peaks Challenge Stage Race.

With more than 30 career race wins to her name, Amber has signed with TIBCO Pro Cycling for the 2008 season and looks forward to building on this upward trajectory with another successful season.

Off The Bike

Amber earned a B.A. in Human Biology (focus: Biology and Environmental Policy) and an M.S. in Earth Systems (focus: Oceanography, Climate and Policy) from Stanford University. During this time, her experiences as a researcher at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station in Monterey, California, inspired her keen interest in marine environments, and more importantly, a strong conviction to create solutions for natural resource management and climate change.

Pursuing this passion, Amber recently founded Elemental Action, an environmental consulting and marketing firm designed specifically for helping athletic teams who want to implement more environmentally responsible practices. Her goal is to facilitate positive change by helping remove barriers like time and budget contraints through creative problem-solving.

Additionally, Amber works part-time as a Research Assistant at Stanford University on a project through the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research. The project proposes a new macroeconomic model for national accounting, which more completely and accurately values a nation's natural resource base, resulting in better sustainability indices and improved international and intergenerational justice.

Photo (top) by Chris Norris.