Preservation Planner, Pfaffmann + Associates

Dr. Ashman's current work in the lab revolves around three major foci: 1) The contribution of polyploidy to functional and genomic biodiversity; 2) Ecological and evolutionary studies of separate sexes and sex chromosomes; and 3) The factors that shape plant-pollinator interactions, and the consequences for phenotypic evolution, microbial-plant interactions and community structure of flowering plants.

Dr. Ashman received her Ph.D. in 1991 with M.L. Stanton at the University of California at Davis, performed her postdoctoral studies with DJ Schoen at McGill University, and joined the Department of Biological Sciences in 1994.

Justin Kitzes is an Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Environmental Science, Policy, and Management) and his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Stanford University (Earth Systems). His research focuses on understanding and predicting species diversity and distributions in human-altered landscapes, as well as applying this knowledge to inform conservation in fragmented habitats. His specific interests include spatial macroecology, the species-area relationship, community turnover in space and time, extinction prediction, acoustic recording technology, bird call classification, ecological software development, reproducible research, and sustainability accounting.

Dr. Richards-Zawacki's research lies at the intersection of ecology and evolutionary biology, in that she approaches questions about how changes in climate and habitat shape organisms and communities in a way that considers their evolutionary implications. Her work integrates studies of molecular, morphological, ecological, and behavioral variation, and she focuses mainly on amphibians because their diversity provides an exciting backdrop for exploring the interplay between ecology and evolution across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. The questions she asks address how climate and host/pathogen evolution shape the dynamics of wildlife diseases; the effects of changes in climate on species distributions and diversity; how reproductive isolation evolves during speciation; and the natural history and conservation of endangered amphibians.

Dr. Corinne Richards-Zawacki received her PhD with L. Lacey Knowles in 2007 from the University of Michigan and performed her post-doctoral research at the Smithsonian Institute and U.C. Berkeley. She held a position as Assistant Professor at Tulane University before joining the Department of Biology in 2015.

Research Interests: Power Energy and Temperature Aware Systems, Real Time Systems, Scheduling, Distributed Systems, Wireless Networking

Research Interests: Computer Architecture, Storage Systems

Matthew Burton's research interests include infrastructure studies, data science, and scholarly communication. Matt holds a PhD in information from the University of Michigan. His dissertation, Blogs as Infrastructure for Scholarly Communication, explored digital humanities blogging and the sociotechnical dynamics of web-centric publishing.

Research Interests: Big Data, Database Management, Data Stream Management, Workflow Management, User-Centric Optimizations, Power-Aware Data Processing, Mobile and Pervasive Management, Distributed and Cooperating Systems 

Research Interests: Big Data, User-Centric Data Management, Scientific Data Management, Data Stream Management Systems, Data-Intensive Computing, Collaborative Systems, Quality of Data/Quality of Service, The Deep Web

Dr. Stephen Lee's research focuses on developing techniques for emerging systems with an emphasis on sustainability. Current projects involve machine learning for sustainability, privacy, blockchains, and developing systems for machine learning.

Dr. Lee received his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he was advised by Prof. Prashant Shenoy. Before joining UMass, he was a research associate at Tata Research Development and Design Center. He received his Masters from Chennai Mathematical Institute and his Bachelors from St. Stephens College, Delhi.

Research Interests: Power Aware Computing, Computer Architecture, High Performance Computing and Optical Networks

Research Interests: Power Energy and Temperature Aware Systems, Real Time Systems, Scheduling, Distributed Systems, Wireless Networking

Research Interests: Scheduling, Resource Managment, Energy Management and Green Computing

Research Interests: Distributed Multimedia Systems, High-Speed Networks to Support Real-Time Applications, Performance Evaluation, Local Area Networks 

1. Research Interests: Econometrics, Industrial organization, Environmental economics

Andrea La Nauze received her PhD from the University of Melbourne. She studies energy and environmental economics.

Dr. Walsh's research is focused in the area of urban and environmental economics. In more recent work he has looked at these issues through the lenses of economic history and political economy.

Research Interests: Systems Biology, Signaling pathway analysis, Embryonic stem cell differentiation, Cell cycle analysis, tissue and organ engineering, Regenerative Medicine

Research Interests: Numerical and analytical modeling and optimization of thermoelectric devices for waste heat recovery and space power generation applications.

Research Interests: Molecular design to support the creation of greener chemical products and synthesis of materials to support biomedical research

Research Interests: Engineering issues related to sustainability, green design, and construction; additionally, efforts include not only creating a practical framework for hybrid life cycle assessment modeling, including uncertainty and visualizations, but also modeling on-site construction processes and support services

Dr. Michael Blackhurst is a Research Scientist and Professional Engineer (licensed in Texas) at the Center for Social and Urban Research at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Blackhurst oversees applied and basic research and consulting projects in the energy, water, and climate sectors.  His record demonstrates strong leadership in developing robust, data-driven decision-support resources for public and private sector clients.  Current research and consulting domains include energy and water efficiency, renewable energy, regional climate change mitigation and adaptation, regional water resource planning, and urban stormwater management.  His work has been profiled in the New York Times and National Geographic.

Ioannis Bourmpakis' research expertise is interdisciplinary, blending concepts and techniques from Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science, Chemical Engineering and Data Science. He uses theory and computation to investigate the physicochemical properties of nanomaterials with potential applications in diverse nanotechnological areas, ranging from energy generation and storage, to materials design and catalysis. He works to develop novel structure-property relationships describing the stability and reactivity of nanomaterials. These relationships enable the screening of nanomaterials as a function of their morphology and chemical composition. Thus, he designs nanostructures that are optimal in terms of their stability and application performance (e.g. catalysis), significantly accelerating nanomaterials discovery.

Research Interests: Structure health monitoring and environmental sensing

Research Interest: The research of Dr. Chmielus is focused on the development, processing, advanced manufacturing, characterization and application of functional metallic materials. These include 1) magnetic shape memory alloys that can be used for sensing, actuation and power generation applications and 2) magnetocaloric materials that change their temperature when exposed to a magnetic field and can be used in high efficiency cooling applications. Using additive manufacturing, we strive to optimize and further improve properties of the materials and final applications.

Research Interests: Energy harvesting and improved energy management through morphing systems

Research Interests: Energy harvesting, Dynamics and control of energy systems for improved efficiency and performance 

Research Interests: 

• CO2 enhanced oil recovery
• Design of CO2 soluble surfactants, polymers and thickeners
• High pressure phase behavior
• high temperature high pressure viscometry
• pre- and post-combustion CO2 capture solvent design
• supercritical fluid extraction of impurities

Lei Fang is an Assistant Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the faculty at Pitt, he received a Ph.D. from Stanford University in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department with a Ph.D. minor in Computational and Mathematical Engineering. His research focuses on turbulence dynamics, and transport and mixing problems with particular emphasis on topics relevant to biology, environment, and health. Current interests include the transport of active non-spherical swimmers, biologically generated mixing, disease transition, and the development of new experimental methods.

Research Interests

Space processors, networks, systems, services, applications, and missions

Reconfigurable, parallel, distributed, and fault-tolerant computing

High-performance computer architectures, networks, systems, services, and applications

Interdisciplinary problems bridging computational science and computer engineering

Research Interests:Dr Gilbertson’s research aims to inform sustainable design of existing and novel materials that 1) precludes potential unintended environmental and human health consequences and 2) maintains or exceeds functional performance goals. Research activities include both experimental and life cycle modeling thrusts.

Dr Haig's research combines environmental microbiology, environmental chemistry, and public health to improve water quality with a focus on drinking water systems.

The overall aim of the Haig research group is to develop and advance our understanding of the drinking water microbiome; how to manipulate it to provide safer water in a more energy-efficient way, and understand its role in human health

Research Interests: Use of non-traditional and innovative materials in civil infrastructure; mechanisms and mitigation of infrastructure deterioration 

Dr. Oliver Hinder's research focuses on continuous optimization, with a penchant for local optimization methods such as gradient descent. Dr. Hinder aims to develop reliable and efficient algorithms built on solid mathematical foundations. This research is motivated by applications in network optimization and machine learning that push the limits of current computational capabilities. Before joining the University of Pittsburgh, Oliver was a visiting postdoctoral researcher at Google in the Optimization and Algorithms group in New York. In 2019, he received his Ph.D. from the Department of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University under the supervision of Professor Yinyu Ye.

Research Interests: Embedded Systems, FPGA, and Non-Volatile Memory

The focus of Dr. Jacob's research is to reveal the physical processes governing the mechanics of surfaces and interfaces.

Contacting surfaces are of critical importance in advanced manufacturing, micro-/nano-devices, and scanning probe microscopy applications. The function of such applications depends on the ability to precisely predict and control contact parameters such as contact area, contact stiffness, adhesion, and electrical and thermal transport.

His research group uses novel combinations of in situ electron microscopy, multi-scale mechanical testing, and multi-scale topography characterization to interrogate the mechanics, tribology, and functional properties of contacts. On the small scale, they achieve Angstrom-scale spatial resolution and nanonewton force resolution, to interrogate atomic-scale processes. On the large-scale, they use micro- and macro-scale testing of larger contacts that contain multi-scale surface roughness. This enables the scale-up of nanoscale insights to describe functional properties of larger-scale surfaces.

The goal is to develop quantitative, fundamental, and predictive understanding of contact behavior, which will enable tailored surface properties for advanced technologies.

Research Interests: Green embedded and ubiquitous computing; novel computer-aided design automation systems applied to sustainable design practices; energy efficiency of electronics and computing particularly incorporating renewable energy sources 

Research Interests: Atomic scale computational modeling of energetically efficient catalytic processes.  Developing machine learning methods for green chemical design.

The development of smart grid technology at the smart home and smart building level. This research focuses on the use, design and implementation of (IoT) devices and networks, which increase the overall efficiency of the modern power grid.  This in turn will have an impact on the way we use energy, leading to a cleaner and more sustainable electric power infrastructure. The outcome of this research is to Interface common household and building electrical loads through sensors and communications devices, and to use microcontrollers coupled with optimization methods to control the way that electrical sources and loads interact with one another.

Dr. Tony Kerzmann received all of his degrees for the University of Pittsburgh. He finished his doctorate in 2010 from the Mechanical Engineering Department. In 2015, he won the Pittsburgh Business Times Energy Leadership Award. His research focuses on clean energy and education. 

Research Interests: Sustainability Science and Engineering, Industrial Ecology, Life Cycle Assessment, Complex Systems, Input-Output Analysis 

Dr. Lee received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, in 2006 and 2008, respectively, and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Michigan in 2014. From 2015 to 2019, he was with the University of Michigan as an assistant professor. His research includes adaptive circuit/system design, ultra-low-power management circuits, and energy-efficient sensor interface circuits. Additionally, he is developing millimeter-scale sensing and computing systems for ecological, biomedical, and energy exploration applications.

Research Interests: Energy and/ or electro optical applications of nano-structured materials

Research Interests: Solar Cells, Design for Sustainability

Research Interests: micro/ nano robotics and systems to manipulate materials at nano scales, scanning probe microscopy, fabrications of MEMS/NEMS, nanodevices, biosensors and the development of technology to study the structure and functionality of biological membrane and membrane proteins of living cells

Research Interests: Impacts of climate change on water, Water resources and modeling, Data Assimilation, Hydrometeorology, Sensor network for environmental monitoring  

Bo Liu is a postdoctoral fellow in the Pittsburgh Quantum Institute. 

Research Interests: fundamental and applied electrochemistry for sustainable energy technologies; synthesis and processing of advanced electronic materials

Research Interests: Processing and applications of highly porous ceramic materials used in bioreactor cores as well as gas filters and water filters

The research in Dr. Ng’s lab focuses on the development of models for the fate of chemicals in organisms and ecosystems, at the intersection of chemistry, biology and engineering.  The work spans multiple scales, from molecules to global systems. She is particularly interested in how concurrent stressors – including chemical contamination, climate change and resource consumption – interact to determine system responses.  Active research areas include:

• The fundamental mechanisms that determine whether a pollutant will be bioavailable and bioaccumulative, with a focus on fluorinated surfactants.
• The fate of legacy and current-use pesticides in tropical environments in Central and South America.
• The role of the global industrial food system on the transport and fate of environmental contaminants and subsequent human exposure.

Dr. Niepa's lab studies the physicochemical mechanisms that regulate microbial growth in various settings. These mechanisms remain poorly understood for reasons linked not only to the versatility of the microorganisms but also to the challenge of designing new platforms to study or control them. The mission of the μBiointerface Lab is to develop translational-research programs that elucidate these mechanisms by designing sustainable control strategies for microbes relevant to health, industry and the environment.

Paul Ohodnicki received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Pittsburgh before pursuing his masters and PhD at Carnegie Mellon University in Material Science and Engineering. 

Research Interests

Carbon capture solvents, additive manufacturing for CO2 storage, natural disaster energy capture & storage

Amin Rahimian joined Pitt IE in the fall of 2020. Prior to that, he was a postdoc with joint appointments at MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and MIT Sloan School of Management. He did his PhD in Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. His works are at the intersection of networks, data, and decision sciences. He borrow tools from applied probability, statistics, algorithms, as well as decision and game theory. He is mostly interested in applications involving social and economic networks.

Research interests: Power Systems Engineering & Analysis; Energy Systems and Renewable Energy Supply; Power Electronics Technologies for Utility & Industrial Applications (FACTS, HVDC, & Custom Power); Power Systems Automation, Control, & Communications 

Research Interests:

• structural health monitoring
• nondestructive evaluation
• smart structures

Joaquin Rodriguez Alonso received his undergraduate, masters and PhD at the University of Pittsburgh in Chemical engineering.

Steven Sachs received his bachelors degree PhD from the University of Pittsburgh. 

Research Interests: High-tech low energy water and wastewater treatment systems, and studying the reuse of water in gridless systems

The Senocak Research Group's vision is to contribute toward the creation of a sustainable energy economy by providing innovative computational solutions to engineering problems that arise at the intersection of energy and environment. They work toward this vision by developing high performance computing solutions that transcend traditional disciplines. In their research, they integrate fundamentals of thermal and fluid sciences with computational mathematics and supercomputing. They routinely use parallel rendering and data analysis tools to elucidate the fundamental processes underlying the physical problem and improve our computational models.

The Shankar Research Group performs research in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh under the direction of Prof. Ravi Shankar Meenakshisundaram. Our research focuses on understanding the behavior of materials over length-scales ranging from the macro to the nano, as a function of composition, thermomechanical history and microstructural design. Research interests include thermal and mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals and amorphous alloys, mechanics and property evolution in nano and micro-manufacturing processes and design of multi-functional materials.

The multidisciplinary nature of this research offers stimulating opportunities for experimental and theoretical studies involving synthesis of a variety of concepts from solid mechanics, materials science, solid state physics and thermodynamics.

Dr. Stevanovic is an Associate Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh. He teaches courses in traffic engineering, transportation planning, and operations research and conducts research in a variety of subjects including traffic signal control systems, intelligent transportation systems, multimodal and sustainable operations, transportation simulation modeling, etc. He has advised more than 30 graduate students (MSc and PhD) and five post-doctoral associates. He has published more than 150 journal and conference papers and presented at more than 80 international, national, and state seminars and professional meetings. He has been principal investigator on 31 research projects for a total of ~ $3.9 million in funding, and has authored more than 30 technical reports for various transportation agencies, including TRB/NAS, NSF, UDOT, UTA, FLDOT, NJDOT, and others. Dr. Stevanovic is a member of TRB AHB25 Committee for Traffic Signal Systems and he is also member of ITE, TRB, ASCE, etc. Dr. Stevanovic serves as a paper reviewer for 30 scientific journals and conference proceedings. Although Dr. Stevanovic’s main research interests emphasize arterial operations and traffic signal control, he is best known for his contributions in Adaptive Traffic Control Systems (ATCS). He is a sole author of the NCHRP 403 Synthesis Study – Adaptive Traffic Control Systems: Domestic and Foreign State of Practice and has been invited many times to give talks and teach about ATCSs, both nationally and internationally. His research has been highlighted in a range of media articles - from local newspapers to the TIME magazine.

Dr. Max Stephens works in the area of structural engineering with an emphasis on resiliency and engineering for extreme events. His research interests span multiple scales – from structural-component to community-wide. His specific interests include:
• Advancing earthquake engineering tools and practice through the integration of high resolution experimentation and numerical analysis.
• Developing new and innovative systems to facilitate construction and mitigate damage to meet resiliency requirements in infrastructure and buildings.
• Analyzing structures in coastal regions for sequential natural hazards.
• Integrating probabilistic methods previously proven in other fields to advance understanding of uncertainty in structural performance.

Research Interests: Mechanics of 3D printed/ additive manufactured materials, multiscale mechanics theory and methods, mechanics of nano- and bio- materials, Nonequilibrium thermomechanical processes, wave propagation and dynamic fracture, inverse problems and Acoustic Emission

Dr. Sachin Velankar is a Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh. He also has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Velankar studied Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, India.  He continued his studies at the University of Delaware where he obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering.  He then completed post-doctoral studies in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, and the University of Minnesota.

In support of his research work, Dr. Velankar has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, ACS Petroleum Research Fund, Office of Naval Research, Lubrizol Corporation, Joinking Chemical Company, and National Institutes of Health. His research interests span hydrogels, interfacial phenomena, polymers, and rheology.

He is a regular reviewer for AIChE Journal, Colloids and Surfaces A, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Journal of Membrane Science, Journal of Polymer Science Polymer Physics, Journal of Rheology, Lab on a Chip, Macromolecules, Physics of Fluids, Polymer Engineering and Science, Rheologica Acta, Soft Matter, Advanced Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials.

Research Interests: Catalytic reaction engineering with a particular focus on the design of novel reactor concepts (process intensification through microchemical reactors and integrated reactor concepts) and the synthesis of robust nanomaterials for clean and decentralized energy technology.

Research Interests: Sustainable Water Treatment, Water Reuse, Novel Disinfection Technologies, Adsorption/Catalysis For Environmental Applications 

Research Interests: Sustainable Energy, Sustainable Military Infrastructure and Training 

Guofeng Wang received his undergraduate and masters degrees at Tsinghua University. He received his PhD from California Institute of Technology. His research focuses on bimetallic catalyst nanoparticles.

Dr. Wang's research interests lie at the interface of bionanotechnology, microbiology, and material science. Specifically, his research seeks to (i) design novel bionanomaterials to enable sustainable and efficient water purification, (ii) harness the biochemical potential of microorganisms in bioremediation and resource recovery, and (iii) understand the effects of emerging contaminants on microbial activities in natural and engineered systems.

Research Interests

Energy-efficient electronics, flexible/wearable electronics, novel 1D and 2D materials, next-generation memory devices (PCM and RRAM), neuromorphic computing, nanoscale thermal transport, thermoelectric energy harvest, renewable energy harvesting

Dr. Wei Xiong leads the Physical Metallurgy and Materials Design Lab, and his research covers (1) Materials thermodynamics and phase transformations (2) Materials and processing design for advanced manufacturing (3) High-throughput experimental methods and materials digital database development (4) Sustainability in engineering alloy design and applications.

Nathan Youngblood received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Minnesota. His research interests are 2D materials and devices, In-memory computing, Machine learning, Phase-change photonics, Silicon photonics

Research Interests: Development of sustainable energy of Microbial fuel cells (MFC) that are fuel cells with microorganisms that serve as catalysts 

Dr. Zhao joined the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) as an assistant professor in August 2018. She received a B.S. from the Department of Precision Instruments in Tsinghua University (China). Before pursuing her Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, she worked full time as an instrumentation and control system engineer in Houston for a couple of years.

At Pitt, with a key research thrust to improve and innovate various processes, Dr. Zhao’s research lab is motivated to bridge the critical gaps within and between two interrelated research lines that are critical in process quality assurance and control: (1) process-structure-property, and (2) modeling-measurement-control. Harnessing the advancements in data science and computing, Dr. Zhao directs studies on measurement science and metrology systems, control strategies, along with high-fidelity process modeling and simulation, to establish closed-loop processes and systems with improved performance in realizing multiscale multifunctional components for demanding applications.

Research Interests: Holocene History Of Climate Change and Dynamics, Paleoclimatology and Limnology, Human-Climate Interactions

Research Interests: Urban Systems, Fluvial Systems and Trace Metal Biogeochemistry 

Research Interests: Radiogenic isotope tracking of environmental processes; geochemistry of acid mine drainage; environmental impact and recycling of energy by products; surface water-rock interaction involving geologic carbon sequestration, brine, coal combustion byproducts, unconventional natural gas extraction and acid mine drainage

Research Interests: The impacts of energy production (coal, vehicles, gas) on atmospheric deposition, air pollution, ecosystems, and surface water chemistry; stable isotope biogeochemical tracers of nutrient pollution sources to watersheds; urban stormwater management and impacts of degraded infrastructure on urban water quality; isotopic tracers of fossil fuel combustion and emission control technologies.

Research Interests: Carbon sequestration; geospatial analysis applied to geohazards; environmental 

Research Interests: Remote sensing of physical volcanology and natural hazards; new instrument development for air and space exploration

Patrick Shirey is a Postdoctoral Associate working with Daniel Bain and Anthony Iannacchione on bituminous coal mine subsidence impacts. Patrick is as certified ecologist (Ecological Society of America) and certified fisheries professional (American Fisheries Society). Patrick conducts multidisciplinary research using techniques from his terminal degrees in ecology and law. He has over 30 public speaking engagements (16 invited) since 2009. Patrick has published 13 peer-reviewed manuscripts including an invited comment in Nature, and publications in Conservation Letters, Ecology and Society, Ecohydrology, the Journal of Paleolimnology, Fisheries, and others. His recently published research topics include urban stream restoration, endangered species conservation policy, environmental DNA, and science communication. Patrick has won national research and policy awards including a George Melendez Wright Climate Change Research Fellowship from the National Park Service and was 1 of 35 early career aquatic scientists selected to participate in an NSF-funded symposium hosted by the University of Hawaii – 2014 Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences (Eco-DAS). He has been a recorded radio guest on NPR’s All Things Considered, a live radio guest on WOJB (Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation) to discuss brook trout conservation, and live radio guest answering listener questions on NPR’s Science Friday to discuss the illegal trade of endangered plants.

Research Interests: Environmental impact of coal and its byproducts; radiogenic isotope tracking of environmental processes

Research Interests: Geobiology; paleolimnology and environmental change; sulfur biogeochemistry

Dr. Müge Kökten Finkel is the Director of the Master of International Development Program, an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, and the Co-Director of the Gender Inequality Research Lab (GIRL) at the University of Pittsburgh. Her expertise includes gender and development, poverty and inequality, and Japanese politics. Previously, she worked as a Social Development Specialist for the MENA Region at the World Bank. Since 2015, she has worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to analyze global trends in gender equality in public administration. Dr. Finkel holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Virginia. She will be working with Dr. David Fraser on the International Development Policy (IDP) BADGE. 

Dr. Gamper-Rabindran analyzes the economic, legal, and political barriers and opportunities for the energy transition to renewable energy and for economic diversification of fossil fuel-reliant communities in the United States and globally. Her book America’s Energy Gamble details how political, financial, and legal institutions entrench fossil fuel dependency, but how efforts to shift to cost-competitive renewable energy have gained traction. Her edited volume The Shale Dilemma: A Global Perspective on Fracking and Shale Development details how countries diverged in their decision to pursue or eschew shale extraction and the impacts of shale extraction on local communities. Current work examines the energy transition in Appalachia and globally. Her papers have also examined risk management in the chemical sector including corporate social responsibility programs, the economic benefits from remediating hazardous waste sites, public health benefits from the provision of piped water in Brazil, and the environmental impacts of the North American Free Trade Agreement. 

Marcela González Rivas is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where she is on the faculty advisory board of the Center for Latin American Studies. She is also a permanent member of the PWSA’s Low Income Assistance Advisory Committee and leads the Ford Institute Working Group “Closing the Water Gap.”  Her central research interests revolve around sustainable water policy, equity, and water governance. More specifically, her research focuses on how uneven access to water varies across communities and regions, and how community development, policy, and planning can exacerbate or diminish such inequalities with particular concentration on Mexico and Latin America. For example, some of her research has looked at why indigenous communities in Mexico have particularly low levels of water access, and how in particular contexts, community development processes can alter this trend. More recently, her research and teaching focus on COVID-19 responses to water access protection in the US as well as on Pittsburgh’s water challenges in aiming to achieve sustainability and the equity dynamics that are at play.

Her work has been published in the Annals of Regional Science, Community Development, Development in Practice, Latin American Research Review, Mexican Studies, Water Policy, Town Planning Review, Utilities Policy, and the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis. She has taught courses on the subjects of urban and regional development and planning in developing nations, immigration, international institutions, research design, and urban spatial structure. For several consecutive years, she has also led an international policy and planning workshop, where graduate students travel to Mexico or Colombia to study various government programs.

Julia M. Santucci is senior lecturer in intelligence studies and Director of the Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership and the Frances Hesselbein Leadership Forum at the University of Pittsburgh. She teaches graduate-level courses and leads GSPIA's research and teaching efforts to develop leadership skills in the next generation of public officials. Santucci has over a decade of experience in national security and foreign policy positions, having served at the White House, State Department, and CIA.

Jeremy Weber is an Associate Professor whose teaching and research relate to the policy and economics of environmental and energy issues. After graduating summa cum laude in International Political Economy from Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, Jeremy spent a year in rural Peru researching the workings of coffee grower cooperatives with the support of the Fulbright program. He then began his graduate studies and in 2010 earned his Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After working on short-term project for the World Bank, Weber joined the USDA Economic Research Service in August of 2010. While based in Washington Weber taught as an adjunct faculty member for the Master’s Program in Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University.  

Weber has published more than a dozen articles in journals such as Energy Economics, Resource and Energy Economics, World Development, Land Economics, and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. Two of his recent articles focus on important issues related to the shale gas boom: “A Decade of Natural Gas Development: The Makings of a Resource Curse?” and “The Effects of a Natural Gas Boom on Employment and Income in Colorado, Texas and Wyoming.” While at the USDA, Weber and two of his colleagues also produced a dataset on “U.S. County-level Oil and Gas Production, 2000-2011."

Research Interests: Created the Business of Humanity® project that documents the management processes and strategic perspectives of companies seeking to be more effective in areas such as safety, quality, environmental sustainability, social sustainability, integrity, ergonomics and good design.

Research Interests: Susan’s research examines how firms enhance their performance (innovation output and quality, survival, and profitability) through research and development activities. I am particularly interested in how firms manage tensions between acquiring, protecting, and leveraging their technological knowledge by structuring internal and external capabilities.

Research Interests: Brett is working to better understand the historical emergence of the ideology of environmental stewardship within the inter-organizational relationships of community development organizations, voluntary associations, and various levels of government 

Research Interests: Bill maintains a research program encompassing corporate social responsibility in sourcing; process improvement in service settings; service value networks, such as IT/BPO outsourcing or Marcellus Shale exploration and production; leadership issues, and disparities in health care.

Dr. Ma is an Assistant Professor of Accounting at the University of Pittsburgh. Currently, he teaches Intermediate Financial Accounting. His research interests include capital market, financial reporting, tax reporting, and corporate governance. He is especially interested in 1) exploring new research ideas, 2) challenging conventional thoughts in accounting research, and 3) empirically testing economic and accounting theories. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Oklahoma and previously worked at American University.

Research Interests: Recombinant Enterprise in a Networked World: Alliances, M&A and Networks as drivers of enterprise evolution

Corey Flynn’s passion for nutrition and sustainability has led her in many directions. She holds a Master's degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of Pittsburgh where she concentrated her studies on food systems and food policy. During this time, she also received the 2019 University of Pittsburgh Staff Sustainability Award. She is a registered Nutrition and Dietetics Technician and Certified Dietary Manager. Corey grew up in Northern California in a rice farming family surrounded by fresh food. In addition to her degrees in nutrition and public policy she holds a Bachelor of Art in Journalism and Photography from California State University, Sacramento and spent time as a journalist in Lodi, California home of the Grape Festival. Food has always been a central part of her life.

Jackie Smith’s research focuses on the how globalization impacts people and communities, and how social movements for the environment, health, and economic justice have advanced transformative struggles. She has documented long-term trends in transnational social movement organizations and coalitions, in addition to research on connections between global politics and activism in cities and communities. Smith is currently engaged in participatory research with Pittsburgh and with national human rights organizers and engaged in work to connect municipalities with United Nations human rights work.

Dr. Fernando Tormos-Aponte is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh and a Kendall Fellow at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Purdue University and a BA from the Universidad de Puerto Rico—Río Piedras. Dr. Tormos-Aponte specializes in environmental and racial justice, intersectional solidarity, identity politics, social policy, and transnational politics. Dr. Tormos-Aponte’s research on social movements focuses on how social movements cope with internal divisions and gain political influence. Tormos-Aponte also investigates civil society claims about the uneven government response across communities. His work in this area examines the causes and consequences of government neglect of socially vulnerable communities during disaster recoveries.