Program Faculty

TREES program faculty and areas of expertise

Richard Alley, Ph.D.

Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences

Area of Expertise: Glaciology, Ice and climate, Abrupt climate change, Sea level change

Theodore Alter, Ph.D.

Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Regional Economics

Area of Expertise: Agriculture economics and policy, Development economics, Public sector economics

Jennifer Baka, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Geography

Areas of Expertise: Energy geographies, Political-industrial ecology, Environmental governance

Rebecca Bascom, M.D.

Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences College of Medicine

Area of Expertise: Health and environment, Health and climate, Public health, Science-policy communication and partnerships  

Douglas Bird, Ph.D.

Professor of Anthropology

Area of Expertise: Human behaviorial ecology, Complex socio-ecological systems, Livelihoods and sustainability

Rebecca Bliege Bird, Ph.D.

Professor of Anthropology

Area of Expertise: Human behaviorial ecology, Evolutionary ecology, Community and population ecology

Mallika Bose, Ph.D.

Professor of Landscape Architecture

Area of Expertise: Urban planning, Environment-behavior studies

Beth Boyer, Ph.D.

Professor of Water Resources

Area of Expertise: Hydrological processes, Water quality, Watershed management

Kathryn Brasier, Ph.D.

Professor of Rural Sociology

Area of Expertise: Energy and society, Community development and public engagement, Water quality

Robert Chiles, Ph.D.

Associate Professor. of Rural Sociology

Area of Expertise: Environmental sociology, Food and agriculture ethics, Culture and consumption

Andy Cole, Ph.D.

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Ecology

Area of Expertise: Wetland ecology, Restoration ecology

Duane Diefenbach, Ph.D.

Professor of Wildlife Ecology

Area of Expertise: Biometrics, White-tailed deer, Harvest management

Ida Djenontin, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Geography

Area of Expertise:  Human-environment geography, Biodiversity conservation, Mitigation, Sustainable natural resource-based livelihoods, Food security, and Socio-economic development goals

Patrick Drohan, Ph.D.

Professor of Pedology & Graduate Program Chair

Area of Expertise:  Soil science, Watershed management, Landscape ecology, Natural resource management

Jonathan Duncan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Ecosystem Science and Management

Area of Expertise: Ecohydrology, Biogeochemistry, Terrain analysis, Water quality, Watershed management 

Stuart Echols, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture

Area of Expertise: Stormwater design, utility and amenity

William Elmendorf, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Extension Specialist Community and Urban Forestry

Area of Expertise: Technical assistance to municipalities in preparation and enactment of environmental ordinances and other oolicy

Semih Eser, Ph.D.

Professor of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering

Area of Expertise: Carbon materials from petroleum and coal, Preparation of activated carbons

Travis Flohr, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture

Area of Expertise: Urban and regional planning, Climate-resistant communities and ecosystems, Spatial methods

David Gamson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Education

Area of Expertise: Public, urban, and minority education, Civil rights and education, Race and ethnicity

Leland Glenna, Ph.D.

Professor of Rural Sociology, and Science, Technology, and Society

Area of Expertise: Social and environmental impacts of agricultural science and technologies, Role of science and technology in agricultural and natural resource policy-making

Larry Gorenflo, Ph.D.

Professor of Landscape Architecture and Geography

Area of Expertise: Links between cultural and biological diversity, Co-occurrence of important linguistic and cultural conservation areas with areas of high biodiversity

Murali Haran, Ph.D.

Professor of Statistics

Area of Expertise: Computational statistics, Spatial models, Applications to climate and infectious diseases

Jacob Holland-Lulewicz, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Area of Expertise: Archeology, Ethnohistory, Institutions of governance, Collective action, Democracy

Carter Hunt, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management, and Anthropology

Area of Expertise: Environmental anthropology, Ecotourism, Sustainable development, Conservation social science

Lisa Iulo, M.U.P

Professor of Architecture

Area of Expertise: Residential green building practices, Affordable housing, Energy efficiency, Strategies for the implementation of renewable energy at the building and community scale

Jason Kaye, Ph.D.

Distinguished Prof. of Soils and Biogeochemistry

Area of Expertise: Climate and ecosystem change, Global change biology, Biogeochemistry of nitrogen and carbon cycling in ecosystems

Brian King, Ph.D.

Professor of Geography

Area of Expertise: Livelihoods, Conservation and development, Environmental change and human health

Stephen Mainzer, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture

Area of Expertise:  Decision dynamics, Coupled environmental and political sentiment, Voting behaviors, and Place

Richard Mbih

Assistant Teaching Professor and Graduate Faculty of African Studies

Areas of Expertise: Agro-pastoral sustainability, Climate change and community resilience, Environmental conflicts, Colonialism, Natural resource governance and development in Sub-Saharan Africa 

Andrew Mowen, Ph.D.

Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management

Area of Expertise: Public attitudes toward park and conservation funding, Urban park and conservation non-profit management

Allyson Muth, Ph.D.

Forest Stewardship Program Associate

Area of Expertise: Forest stewardship, Private forest landowners,  Woodland care

DK Osseo-Asare

Associate Professor of Architecture and Engineering Design

Area of Expertise:  Humanitarian materials design, Sesign computation, Open-source maker technology

Daniel Perkins, Ph.D.

Professor of Agricultural and Extension Education

Area of Expertise: Youth and family resiliency, Dissemination and implementation science, Applied research and evaluations

Nathan Piekielek, Ph.D.

Geospatial Services Librarian

Area of Expertise: Geographic Information Science, Remote sensing and spatial analysis, Geospatial research support, Landscape ecology and conservation

Anne Pisor, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Social Science Research Institute

Areas of Expertise: Culture, Climate change adaptation, Social networks

Ute Poerschke, Ph.D.

Professor of Architecture

Area of Expertise: Relationship of Architecture and Technology

David Post, Ph.D.

Professor of Education

Area of Expertise: comparative and international education, Globalization, Education policy 

Bronwen Powell, Ph.D

Associate Professor of Geography, and Anthropology (courtesy)

Area of Expertise: Social, cultural, and environmental drivers of human nutrition, Diet, and Food security

Edwin Sabuhoro, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management

Area of Expertise: National Parks and protected areas, Transboundary conservation management, Human and wildlife co-existence

Christopher Scott, Ph.D.

Professor and Maurice K. Goddard Chair of Forestry and Environmental Conservation

Area of Expertise:  Resilience, adaptation, social-ecological systems, Water-energy-food nexus, Water security, Urban-wastewater irrigation, Water reuse, Agricultural-urban water transfers, Transboundary river basins and aquifers, Mountain water towers

Sanford Smith, Ph.D.

Teaching Professor in Forest Resources

Area of Expertise: Natural resources and youth education programs, Adult volunteerism in conservation and environmental education

Erica Smithwick, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor of Geography

Area of Expertise: Landscape ecology, Ecosystem ecology, Fire ecology, Biogeochemistry

Andy Smolski

Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology

Area of Expertise: Agricultural production, Environmental sustainability, Farmer and farmworker stress, Race, Scale, Agrarianism

Kaitlyn Spangler, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Community Development and Engagement

Area of Expertise: Agri-food systems, Energy justice; Community development, Critical data science; Qualitative methodologies 

Jay R. Stauffer, Ph.D.

Distinguished Professor of Ichthyology

Area of Expertise: Endangered fishes, Freshwater fish behavior, Impact of introduced fishes, Systematics, Zoogeography of freshwater fishes

Brendan Taff, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management

Area of Expertise: Human behavior, Communication and Well being, Nature-based recreation/leisure engagement

Ryan Thombs

Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology

Area of Expertise: Climate Change, Environmental Health, Social Dimensions of Energy, Political Economy, Quantitative Methods

Nancy Tuana, Ph.D.

Prof. of Philosophy, Women's Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Science, Technology, and Society

Area of Expertise: Feminist Philosophy, Philosophy of Science with an emphasis on Epistemologcial and Ethical Issues

Melissa Wright, Ph.D.

Professor of Women's Studies and Geography

Area of Expertise: Critical Geography, Urban Landscapes, Mexico-US borderlands, Latin America

Karl Zimmerer, Ph.D.

Professor of Geography

Area of Expertise: Environmental Change and Prediction, Food Security and Human Health, Population, Environment, and Governance

Katherine Zipp, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics

Area of Expertise: Environmental and Resource Economics, Land Economics, Spatial modeling, Non-market Valuation