Callie Babbitt is an Associate Professor in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at Rochester Institute of Technology, where she conducts research to proactively quantify and minimize environmental impacts of emerging technologies. Callie’s research group creates new methods and models in the field of industrial ecology that are inspired by fundamental concepts in ecological systems. They apply these models to study sustainability challenges and solutions for consumer electronics, lithium-ion batteries, electric vehicles, and nanomaterials.
Callie also collaborates widely on life cycle assessment studies related to the food-energy-water nexus, critical minerals, biofuels, waste management systems, and renewable energy technologies. She translates this research into courses at RIT in Sustainability, Architecture, and Industrial Design and into informal education programs at the K-12 level. Her collaboration with Rochester-area schools and Women in Engineering at RIT aims to increase the number of female students who pursue science, engineering, and sustainability degrees and careers. These efforts have been recognized by national and international academic and research communities. In 2013, Callie was awarded the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program Award by the National Science Foundation, and in 2010, she received the AT&T Technology and Environment Award for her research and teaching efforts in sustainability.