Hanley Sustainability Institute
Sustainability Scholars
The University of Dayton is home to more than 100 faculty members and researchers with scholarly interests in sustainability. The Sustainability Scholars network brings these scholars together to learn about and celebrate one another's work. The initiative seeks to foster new collaborations to understand and respond to humanity's grand challenges in sustainability in ways that are only possible by building bridges between traditional disciplinary departments.
With the network recently crossing the 100-member threshold, we've sorted scholars into six thematic areas based on the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You can learn more about each area by clicking on the SDG icons visible when you select the arrows below. Or, if you're interested in seeing a list of all of the scholars, simply select all of these arrows to see the many faculty and staff working in sustainability across the university.
To join the Sustainability Scholars network, or to update your biography, email us through the link in the Contact sidebar with "Sustainable Scholars" in the subject line and your name, preferred photo and a brief description about your interests in sustainability modeled off of the bios below. You'll hear from us from time to time about upcoming events and grant opportunities that we extend to members of the network.
Zelalem Bedaso: Interested in understanding the effect of climate change on water resources (water quantity, quality and sustainability). He also is interested in studying Earth's past climate from terrestrial sedimentary deposits and its perspectives on climate change. His research involves both field data collection and geochemical/isotope laboratory analyses.
Eustace Deogratias: Interest that relates to sustainability is promoting sustainable transportation that includes walking, cycling, public transportation, car sharing, bike sharing and green vehicles.
Elizabeth Groppe: A Catholic constructive theologian, her areas of scholarship include theological responses to ecological degradation with particular attention to climate change, biodiversity protection and agriculture.
Kelly Johnson: A scholar of theological ethics whose work explores, among other things, truthful practices of gratitude, hope and joy in the midst of the climate catastrophe.
Brad Kallenberg: Sustainability is both a material and a moral issue. On the material side, Brad teaches engineering ethics with an eye to sustainability as related to both engineering and manufacturing (extraction of raw materials, production and use of energy, our cultural addiction to petroleum-based plastic, etc.). On the moral side, his research in virtue ethics deals, in part, with a kind of cultural moral myopia that prevents us from seeing and attending to the urgency of climate change and its fallout.
Kevin Leske: Interest in sustainability stems from his background and experience in environmental science, law and policy. He's spent his life protecting the environment, fighting climate change and promoting sustainability.
Joy Losee: Interests in sustainability stem from her research in social and cognitive psychology. Her research examines people's perceptions of uncertain threats (e.g. climate change) and people's intentions to engage in behaviors (e.g. sustainable behaviors) that minimize threat.
Ben McCall: Research interests stem from a deceptively simple question: How can we build a future that is sustainable and resilient? Put another way, what changes can we make at the household, organizational and societal levels in order to live in a way that can be sustained and that will be resilient to the increasingly severe impacts of climate change?
Vincent Miller: Has written and lectured extensively on climate change. In partnership with HSI, he organized “Everything Is Connected," an international conference in 2016 on the encyclical at UD and edited the resulting volume "The Theological and Ecological Vision of Laudato Si" (Bloomsbury, 2017). In 2017, he was a writer in residence at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in Blue River, Ore., as part of its Long Term Ecological Reflections project.
Alexander Morgan: Research interests in sustainability focus on ensuring fire safety performance against current and new fire risk scenarios in a changing climate and built environment. This includes development of new environmentally friendly flame retardant materials as well as enabling the design and implementation of recyclable/sustainable fire-safe materials.
Rebecca Potter: Most of Rebecca's current work and research on sustainability is in the area of education and curricular development. However, her research also considers discourse and narrative through the lens of eco-criticism, focusing on the use of story to comprehend and respond to harmful environmental impacts such as climate change, environmental risk, and food insecurity.
Todd Smith: Interested in all aspects of sustainable systems, with a special interest in alternative energy solutions and the science of climate change.
Muhammad Usman: Sustainability research interests include computational methods to approximate the solution of models from climate change, water waves, engineering, biology and medicine. Most realistic models involve nonlinear differential or partial differential equations. He says in order to simulate the outcome of a model it is important to develop algorithms to solve the model.
Miranda van Iersel: Miranda is interested in sustainability in relation to the interaction of light with the environment, specifically the atmosphere (air) and ocean, rivers and lakes (water). This includes optical detection of microplastics in water, atmospheric turbulence around wind turbines, monitoring air pollution and access to fast internet through free space optical communication.
Matthew Witenstein: Matthew's empirical and applied sustainability work stems from a compelling interest in (re)engaging global citizenship education (from local to global) as a core engine/mechanism for reaching sustainable development (often but not solely through the UN SDG framework). He employs human-centered and organizational frameworks and methods in communally-engaged contexts in comparative and international higher education, immigrant education, formal and non-formal education and development spaces.
Shuang-ye Wu: Research focuses on the potential impacts of climate change on the hydrological cycle and its regional impacts on precipitation, extreme storms, floods and droughts.
Chia-Yu Wu: Primary research focuses on using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and related software (such as Google Earth Engine, Python and R) as a tool to study issues related to physical geography, flood, hydrology, human-environmental interaction and environmental justice. Also involved in different projects on a variety of sustainability-related issues and community engagement.
Joshua Ambrosius: Interested in sustainable communities, governance structures and public policies. His work explores sustainable urban neighborhoods, housing policies that include historic preservation, environmental attitudes among the public, regional government collaboration and speculation about a sustainable future for humans on earth and in outer space.
Janet Bednarek: Interested in exploring how cities, especially so-called Legacy Cities (like Dayton), can become sustainable (environmentally, but also socially, economically and politically). She also is concerned with that sustainability extending to all city residents, not just the young and the affluent.
Steve Bein: Primary research interest regarding sustainability is how we think of ourselves, at the individual and societal level, in the face of climate change. Since individuals are products of their cultures and cultures are products of the natural environment where they arise, responding to climate change requires a rethinking of who and what we are.
Jana Bennett: Focus is primarily on food sustainability in relation to Christian practices such as fasting and abstaining from meat. She also researches other Christian ascetic practices that enable environmental sustainability.
Corinne Brion: Interests in sustainability are at the intersection of sustainable livelihoods and communities. In her community based work in Ghana and other African nations, she collaborates with local partners and community members to improve the lives of locals by capitalizing on the communities’ strengths, educating, empowering girls and women while also caring for the environment on earth and in the ocean.
Matthew Currie: Sustainability interest centers on the praxis of social justice law and the solidarity economyy. As a practicing lawyer and educator, he focuses on how to create systemic change, specifically the role of attorneys in supporting community driven efforts to replace our capitalist economic model with one that centers people and the planet.
Carola Daffner: Coming from the interdisciplinary field of environmental humanities, Carola strongly believe that the pressing issues of climate change and the protection of our environment require a dialogue across the disciplines. She is particularly interested in exploring different ways in which the growing need for environmental awareness can be reflected in the global humanities curriculum.
Eustace Deogratias: Interest that relates to sustainability is promoting sustainable transportation that includes walking, cycling, public transportation, car sharing, bike sharing and green vehicles.
Felix Fernando: Interests are on the human dimensions of sustainability planning and action. He explores questions such as how do people make decisions around sustainability and how such information can be used in planning.
Matthew Fisher: Researches and develops computational methods for constructing and optimizing complex sustainable systems. He hopes to develop automated reasoning models that can contribute to participatory decision making and sustainable resource management.
Dongfang Gaozhao: Research interests include how (mis)information and the use of technology update different groups of people’s beliefs regarding sustainability, shaping their support of sustainability policies and participation in government sustainability programs.
Erin Gibbemeyer: Interests include analysis of complex systems for multiple sustainability metrics, optimization in the design of sustainable systems and sustainability education.
Jeanne Holcomb: Sustainability related work is primarily related to food justice. Specifically, she has been working with an interdisciplinary team to explore food insecurity on college campuses.
Glenna Jennings: As a photographer, Glenna is interested in how art and visual culture inform our notions of landscape and identity and how these notions influence our active relationships to both the built and natural environment. As a socially-engaged artist, she is passionate about art used in the context of social change, with a specific focus on issues of food justice and immigration.
Kelly Johnson: A scholar of theological ethics whose work explores, among other things, truthful practices of gratitude, hope and joy in the midst of the climate catastrophe.
Masha Kisel: Has written on sustainability issues and is an activist in Oakwood to raise awareness about plastic waste. She collaborated with Dayton Regional Green to start the No Straw Initiative at local businesses and participated in the planning of BYO: Bring Your Own program to reduce plastic waste in the Miami Valley. She co-teaches ASI 320:Cities and Energy with Dr. Bednarek, where she focuses on the future of sustainable cities.
Benjamin Kunz: Has a sincere interest in environmentalism and sustainability issues broadly, but a particular interest in the ways in which people's sensory experiences influence their attitudes and behaviors regarding the environment and issues of sustainability. He's also interested in the application of virtual reality technology to the challenges of educating people about environmental issues and promoting sustainable behaviors.
Erin O'Mara Kunz: Interested in the application of social psychology to sustainability. In particular, how do our own self-views impact our views of sustainability-related issues and our own sustainability-related behaviors?
Li-Yun Liu: Current research focuses on environmental nonprofit organizations’ influence in the policy making process and citizen engagement in environmental policy implementation. Her teaching interests are in advanced/introductory public administration theory, public policy, non-profit management, research methods and environmental governance and policy.
Joy Losee: Interests in sustainability stem from her research in social and cognitive psychology. Her research examines people's perceptions of uncertain threats (e.g. climate change) and people's intentions to engage in behaviors (e.g. sustainable behaviors) that minimize threat.
Geno Luketic: Sustainability concerns are woven throughout Geno's studio-based research practice, courses and labor within the University and wider community. His explorations in clay and functional ceramic production have intersected with craft theory, performance art, theater, geology, deep adaptation, ceramics, site specificity, land art, woodfiring, mining, ecoart, objects old and new, storytelling and spirituality.
Scott McDaniel: Working at the intersection of religion, cultural studies and philosophical theory, Scott approaches the concept of sustainability with a focus on the existential weaving of humans, animals, plants and stones in their common materiality and shared environment(s). The fundamental question that orients my thinking is, "What do we seek to 'sustain' when we advocate for sustainability?"
Nancy McHugh: The Executive Director of the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community and a professor of Philosophy. Her interests in sustainability are at the intersection of health, marginality and resilient communities. She is especially concerned about the ways our lack of action on sustainability continues to unjustly impact marginalized communities and what actions (systems change, policy and practice) are needed to move toward sustainable and increasingly resilient communities.
Michelle Pautz: Interested in the implementation of environmental regulations, particularly at the sub-national governmental level. Her research explores the interactions between government regulators and members of the regulated community to pursue regulatory compliance and sustain compliance motivation.
Francisco Penas-Bermejo: Developed the course Sustainability in Spanish to facilitate the development of students’ Spanish language and intercultural skills to engage Spanish-speaking communities actively and effectively on issues of sustainability in the U.S. and in the world. His interests include food justice and sustainable agro-food systems, particularly in indigenous, local and vulnerable communities, as well as the intersections of poetry and the environment.
Zachary Piso: Investigates the ethics of interdisciplinary environmental research, proposing better practices of stakeholder engagement that ensure more just and democratic science, policy and management. His work focuses particularly on social-ecological systems and the values at stake in social scientific explanations of environmental change and resilience.
Shazia Rahman: Interested in the ways in which stories can affect our relationships with and impacts on our environment. As a literary scholar, she applies ecofeminist theoretical frameworks to the narratives she studies in order to imagine a more environmentally just future.
Lis Regula: Interests in sustainability parallels his research as a biologist centering on intersections, whether those intersections are various populations and communities in an ecosystem or intersections of biology and other disciplines such as politics, social justice, art and geography. Besides research and teaching, He has been heavily involved in creating resilient and sustainable communities through both governmental and non-profit mechanisms. His husband is the communications assistant at the Ohio Environmental Council.
Emily Sullivan Smith: Scholarly research explores the push and pull between the natural world and human behavior. The work she produces visualizes the reality of what has transpired and provides an invitation for introspection and imagination of what could be.
Richard Stock: The Director of the Business Research Group at UD and an urban economist by training. His primary work is research and evaluation in the early childhood education working closely with Preschool Promise of Montgomery County and Learn to Earn Dayton. When he has taught Urban economics in the past, the literature on planetary limits, urban agriculture and transportation were central to the course.
Andrew Strauss: Generally interested in sustainability issues, however his particular academic research areas have included international trade and the environment, litigating the climate emergency in international forums and the international legal ramifications of geoengineering.
Misty Thomas-Trout: Interested in sustainability and its role in the graphic design discipline. She uses cartographic language and information design to engage and inform the public on ways one can insert themselves into the community, celebrate the rapport between people and place, promote local endeavors, reveal places in need of food access and other critical resources while educating the public in an effort to preserve information and promote equal economic opportunity.
Adam Todd: A law professor and former legal services attorney with a long-standing interest in and commitment to public interest and international human rights law, both of which are inextricably connected to sustainability. He teaches courses in human rights, internet regulation and torts law (among others), all of which include modules addressing aspects of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
Blake Watson: Once an attorney in the Environment and Natural Resources Division in the U.S. Justice Department. He is interested in environmental law, oil and gas law (including hydraulic fracturing) and water law.
Matthew Witenstein: Matthew's empirical and applied sustainability work stems from a compelling interest in (re)engaging global citizenship education (from local to global) as a core engine/mechanism for reaching sustainable development (often but not solely through the UN SDG framework). He employs human-centered and organizational frameworks and methods in communally-engaged contexts in comparative and international higher education, immigrant education, formal and non-formal education and development spaces.
Chia-Yu Wu: Primary research focuses on using GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and related software (such as Google Earth Engine, Python and R) as a tool to study issues related to physical geography, flood, hydrology, human-environmental interaction and environmental justice. Also involved in different projects on a variety of sustainability-related issues and community engagement.
Donald Chase: Areas of interest are varied, but generally revolve around applying computer simulation models to evaluate the behavior of water resource systems. He is interested in applying low impact development techniques to reduce stormwater runoff and improve stormwater runoff quality and in applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to water resource systems.
Garry Crosson: Sustainability interests are mostly related to studying the environmental fate and transport of contaminants (and emerging contaminants) in soils. An additional component of his environmental sustainability interest involves designing, synthesizing, and testing solid-phase materials for removing dissolved contaminants from drinking (and presumably waste) water.
Mariela Gantchoff: Interested in responses of mammals and birds to solar developments. The intersection of renewable energy expansion and wildlife conservation is a crucial and emerging field. Exploring the coexistence of cleaner energy and wildlife is not only interesting from an ecological and behavioral standpoint, but also holds the promise of contributing to develop more sustainable practices that harmonize the growth of solar energy with the preservation of natural habitats.
Maggie Hantak: Interests include examining the ecological, behavioral and morphological responses of amphibians to human-mediated habitat disturbance. With permeable skin that is also used for respiration, amphibians are key bioindicators of habitat health. Field-based research in the lab is focused on local (southeastern Ohio) frogs and salamanders.
Leanne Jablonski: Sustainability interests are in education, outreach and advocacy while engaging the general public and faith communities on climate change issues, working with faith communities on environmental concerns and spirituality and climate change's impacts on terrestrial ecosystems and plant reproduction.
Jeffrey Kavanaugh: For over 15 year, Jeffrey's ecology laboratory has been conducting research projects on stream restoration, wetland restoration and monitoring impacts of low dams and kayak chutes on the biodiversity of fish, macroinvertebrates and birds in the Great Miami River Watershed. He has had honors thesis students and environmental interns, and he specializes in working with students across departments and disciplines.
Ryan McEwan: Lab focuses on environmental sustainability as it relates to natural resource management with a particular emphasis on forests and streams. Research in the lab is based in tropical, temperate and arctic systems and is interwoven with management questions in the Miami Valley.
Allen McGrew: Research interests include the areas of safe and sustainable natural resource development and natural hazards, particularly the problem of anthropogenically-induced earthquakes. He is also active in sustainability education and maintains an interest in landscape restoration, volunteering with Beavercreek Wetlands Association. At the national level his sustainability interests include service on the Steering Committee of Quaker Earthcare Witness (QEW), the principle Earthcare outreach of the Religious Society of Friends, in which capacity he chairs their Mini-Grants program.
Daniel Paluh: My lab focuses on the ecology, evolution, development and conservation of amphibians at a local and global scale. Amphibians are among the most threatened group of organisms on the planet, with over 40 percent of species facing extinction risk due to habitat destruction, climate change and infectious disease. Current research in the lab is investigating oral mouthpart deformities in local tadpoles that may be linked to water pollution and chytridiomycosis infection.
Viorel Paslaru: Sustainable development presupposes ecological explanation of why certain actions are acceptable while others must be avoided. One of Viorel's research projects examines the implicit and explicit standards of ecological explanations, some of which inform decisions for sustainable development.
Chelse Prather: Interested in the sustainability and ecology of food systems, particularly in rangeland ecosystems and the potential for using insects as a sustainable protein source. She also studies the ecology and restoration of grassland ecosystems, particularly focusing on the insect communities in grasslands.
Daniel Vandersommers: Examines how Americans conceptualized animals and ecologies in the 19th and 20th centuries. Employing environmental history, animal studies, science studies and posthumanism, his research seeks to extend ecological thinking to show how all categories of thought are always interconnected. His research focuses on zoological parks and aquariums from 1840-1920.
Alan Veliz-Cuba: Interested in using computational and mathematical models to study interactions in populations and ecosystems. He also is interested in how external intervention affects the behavior of populations and ecosystems.
Zelalem Bedaso: Interested in understanding the effect of climate change on water resources (water quantity, quality and sustainability). He also is interested in studying Earth's past climate from terrestrial sedimentary deposits and its perspectives on climate change. His research involves both field data collection and geochemical/isotope laboratory analyses.
Jana Bennett: Focus is primarily on food sustainability in relation to Christian practices such as fasting and abstaining from meat. She also researches other Christian ascetic practices that enable environmental sustainability.
Justin Biffinger: Sustainability interests involve understanding and manipulating Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes to remediate and recover metal ions from wastewater streams, fabricate fuels cells using electrochemically active bacteria, demonstrate biochemical pathways used in the dark fixation of carbonates in saltwater, design and formulate next generation anti-biofouling polymeric coatings and create environmentally friendly enzyme-based polymer degradation formulations.
Donald Chase: Areas of interest are varied, but generally revolve around applying computer simulation models to evaluate the behavior of water resource systems. He is interested in applying low impact development techniques to reduce stormwater runoff and improve stormwater runoff quality, as well as applying Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to water resource systems.
Amy Ciric: Has worked on heat integration in chemical manufacturing, optimization techniques for waste minimization and the development of alternative refrigeration technologies using environmentally benign materials. Her current interests are in sustainable and resilient food systems and farming practices.
Garry Crosson: Sustainability interests are mostly related to studying the environmental fate and transport of contaminants (and emerging contaminants) in soils. An additional component of his environmental sustainability interest involves designing, synthesizing, and testing solid-phase materials for removing dissolved contaminants from drinking (and presumably waste) water.
Kenya Crosson: Sustainability interests include sustainable water filtration (development and application of sustainable adsorption media) and the food-energy-water nexus.
Mary Ellen Dillon: Sustainability research examines the problem of antibiotic resistance through a transdisciplinary approach (economic, production, health), specifically the effects of the FDA's Veterinary Feed Directive (VFD). Her sustainability experience and interests include developing sustainability education curriculum (middle school through graduate school) and promoting awareness of local issues, especially those involving the intersection of human, economic, and ecosystem health.
Nancy McHugh: The Executive Director of the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community and Professor of Philosophy. Her interests in sustainability are at the intersection of health, marginality, and resilient communities. She is especially concerned about the ways our lack of action on sustainability continues to unjustly impact marginalized communities and what actions (systems change, policy and practice) are needed to move toward sustainable and increasingly resilient communities.
Sidaard Gunasekaran: Spray drift is a major challenge to sustainable farming. Our research efforts focus on testing and validating chemical/nozzle combinations for minimizing spray drift, as well as developing new techniques to measure drift potential of the tank mix on-site by the applicators. Efforts are also being taken to establish protocols for spray applications using drones through various parametric studies.
Elizabeth Groppe: A Catholic constructive theologian, her areas of scholarship include theological responses to ecological degradation with particular attention to climate change, biodiversity protection and agriculture.
Glenna Jennings: As a photographer, Glenna is interested in how art and visual culture inform our notions of landscape and identity and how these notions influence our active relationships to both the built and natural environment. As a socially-engaged artist, she is passionate about art used in the context of social change, with a specific focus on issues of food justice and immigration.
Umesh Haritashya: Research includes studying cryosphere around the world to determine the sustainable future of glacier and water resources along with natural hazards in the mountainous environment. He uses satellite remote sensing, field-collected data, mathematical modeling and artificial intelligence techniques.
Zachary Piso: Investigates the ethics of interdisciplinary environmental research, proposing better practices of stakeholder engagement that ensure more just and democratic science, policy and management. His work focuses particularly on social-ecological systems and the values at stake in social scientific explanations of environmental change and resilience.
Francisco Penas-Bermejo: Developed the course Sustainability in Spanish to facilitate the development of students’ Spanish language and intercultural skills to engage Spanish-speaking communities actively and effectively on issues of sustainability in the U.S. and in the world. His interests include food justice and sustainable agro-food systems, particularly in indigenous, local and vulnerable communities, as well as the intersections of poetry and the environment.
Chelse Prather: Interested in the sustainability and ecology of food systems, particularly in rangeland ecosystems and the potential for using insects as a sustainable protein source. She also studies the ecology and restoration of grassland ecosystems, particularly focusing on the insect communities in grasslands.
Roger Reeb: Interests revolve around nutritional benefits of the farm for shelter residents, therapeutic benefits and vocational opportunities for shelter residents who volunteer on the farm and civic-related development of service-learning students who assist with the project. His research project helped establish and sustain an urban farm at a homeless shelter in a food desert.
Aaron Sathyanesan: Works on problems at the intersection of child health and brain development. Incorporating the Indian practice of "Jugaad" or frugal engineering, his team also develops open-source biomedical technology to enable sustainable research and development.
Yvonne Sun: Invested in contributing to the global effort of solving the antibiotic resistance crisis. The discovery of antibiotics has revolutionized medicine and healthcare, making the recent increase in incidents of antibiotic resistant infections extremely alarming. Yvonne and her research team are looking for environmental signals that influence bacterial antibiotic susceptibility and the development of antibiotic resistance to better sustain the efficacy of antibiotics.
Denise Taylor: Interested in improved focus of engineered treatment effort, with the goal of finding sustainable practices away from the extremes of no control vs. high cost treatment for all (dilute and highly contaminated water treated as similar). Her past projects include preliminary work on use of biochar generated from local products for capture and return of phosphorus to crop land and targeted treatment of storm water currently carried through combined sewers. In the future, she would like to explore barriers that inhibit or discourage waste diversion practices.
Joy Willenbrink-Conte: interested in sustainable and equitable health-care practices, particularly how our climate crisis impacts individual and community health, specifically marginalized individuals and groups.
Corinne Brion: Interests in sustainability are at the intersection of sustainable livelihoods and communities. In her community based work in Ghana and other African nations, she collaborates with local partners and community members to improve the lives of locals by capitalizing on the communities’ strengths, educating, empowering girls and women while also caring for the environment on earth and in the ocean.
Trevor Collier: Interested in optimal governance structures for common pool resource extraction. His current research uses experimental economics to evaluate the effectiveness of institutional arrangements commonly found in commercial fisheries.
Matthew Currie: Sustainability interest centers on the praxis of social justice law and the solidarity economy. As a practicing lawyer and educator, he focuses on how to create systemic change, specifically the role of attorneys in supporting community driven efforts to replace our capitalist economic model with one that centers people and the planet.
Joseph Duggan: An economist interested in market design and regulation, particularly with respect to the study of wholesale electricity markets. As renewable generation becomes increasingly common, this poses certain challenges in rethinking existing market designs in light of these technologies. Economics can help us better understand important aspects of these challenges, while the unique problems raised by renewable integration generate questions that can better inform our economic models.
Curtis Farnsel: Major corporations and their executives play a key role in addressing global sustainability challenges. Much of Curtis' research focuses on investor demand for corporate sustainability and understanding the channels through which sustainability creates value to shareholders.
Dongfang Gaozhao: Research interests include how (mis)information and the use of technology update different groups of people’s beliefs regarding sustainability, shaping their support of sustainability policies and participation in government sustainability programs.
Ben Hazen: Works across disciplines in areas related to Supply Chain Sustainability, from sustaining fleets of aging aircraft in his Air Force career to sustaining communities that are part of our global supply chains. Ben's work experience and research interests began with examining the role of reverse logistics to improve economic and environmental sustainability. His current interests are related to Circular Economy and diverse supplier management, and he enjoys investigating any area related to the management and diffusion of social, environmental and economic sustainability practices.
Tom Hirunyawipada: Sustainability interests include corporate commitment to sustainability, particularly examining the effects of companies’ sustainability practices on various aspects of their performances, including financial outcomes, customer satisfaction and brand equity.
Kelly Johnson: A scholar of theological ethics whose work explores, among other things, truthful practices of gratitude, hope and joy in the midst of the climate catastrophe.
Brad Kallenberg: Sustainability is a material and moral issue. On the material side, Brad teaches engineering ethics with an eye to sustainability as related to engineering and manufacturing (extraction of raw materials, production and use of energy, our cultural addiction to petroleum-based plastic, etc.). On the moral side, his research in virtue ethics deals, in part, with a kind of cultural moral myopia that prevents us from seeing and attending to the urgency of climate change and its fallout.
Li-Yun Liu: Current research focuses on environmental nonprofit organizations’ influence in the policy making process and citizen engagement in environmental policy implementation. Her teaching interests are in advanced/introductory public administration theory, public policy, non-profit management, research methods and environmental governance and policy.
Yue Pan: Current sustainability-related work focuses on companies' environmental commitment, the impact on firm performance and the boundary conditions under which sustainable initiatives can boost business bottom line.
Sri Ramamoorti: Has a keen interest in sustainability governance, particularly its (accounting) measurement and reporting aspects. Sustainability accounting metrics allow for transparency and accountability and, in a sense, are accountability metrics that ensure sustainability governance and provide credibility.
Donna Street: Serves as a founding member of the Accounting Research Network of the UNCTAD ISAR (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development - Intergovernmental Working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting). Her research interests include disclosures associated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the UNCTAD ISAR Global Core indicators.
Richard Stock: The Director of the Business Research Group at UD and an urban economist by training. His primary work is research and evaluation in the early childhood education working closely with Preschool Promise of Montgomery County and Learn to Earn Dayton. When he has taught Urban economics in the past, the literature on planetary limits, urban agriculture and transportation were central to the course.
Maria Vivero: Interest in sustainability for research purposes resides in the areas of financial development and inclusion. She is interested in understanding whether access to financial services and markets has an effect on the alleviation of poverty and the reduction of economic inequality. In addition, she is interested in understanding how financial markets can be used to develop and fund projects that can address society's most pressing problems.
Matthew Witenstein: Matthew's empirical and applied sustainability work stems from a compelling interest in (re)engaging global citizenship education (from local to global) as a core engine/mechanism for reaching sustainable development (often but not solely through the UN SDG framework). He employs human-centered and organizational frameworks and methods in communally-engaged contexts in comparative and international higher education, immigrant education, formal and non-formal education and development spaces.
Justin Biffinger: Sustainability interests involve understanding and manipulating Prokaryotes and Eukaryotes to remediate and recover metal ions from wastewater streams, fabricate fuels cells using electrochemically active bacteria, demonstrate biochemical pathways used in the dark fixation of carbonates in saltwater, design and formulate next generation anti-biofouling polymeric coatings, and create environmentally friendly enzyme-based polymer degradation formulations.
Omer Bilgin: Sustainability interests are sustainable structures, foundations and geomaterials under various loading and environmental conditions.
Dong Cao: Works on renewable energy, energy efficiency, electric vehicles and electrified airplane systems.
Ying-Ju Tessa Chen: Has interests in sustainability due to her broad interdisciplinary network from a variety of fields such as mathematics, ergonomics and safety, computer science, information systems, business analytics, healthcare and engineering.
Andrew Chiasson: Interests in sustainability lie with high performance buildings, which encompasses cost-effectiveness, energy efficiency, safety and security, accessibility, functionality, occupant comfort and productivity and historic preservation and aesthetics of the built environment.
Jung-Ki Choi: Sustainability interests are in sustainable engineering design and manufacturing, life cycle management (LCM) and assessment (LCA), energy policy and systems modeling, macroeconomic energy modeling, and entrepreneurial mindset learning.
Amy Ciric: Has worked on heat integration in chemical manufacturing, optimization techniques for waste minimization and the development of alternative refrigeration technologies using environmentally benign materials. Her current interests are in sustainable and resilient food systems and farming practices.
Joseph Duggan: An economist interested in market design and regulation, particularly with respect to the study of wholesale electricity markets. As renewable generation becomes increasingly common, this poses certain challenges in rethinking existing market designs in light of these technologies. Economics can help us better understand important aspects of these challenges, while the unique problems raised by renewable integration generate questions that can better inform our economic models.
David Dunn: Interests are in researching and transitioning sustainable energy solutions. Within the Power and Energy Division at UDRI is research developing and improving sustainable energy generation, storage and distribution approaches.
Giacomo Flora: Interests are in pollution formation and cleaner burning fuels. His work embraces combustion studies on alternative transportation fuels to identify chemical formation pathways for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and soot. More recently, his interests extended to the optimization of sulfur removal processes from aviation fuels.
Anya Galli Robertson: Research centers on social and political debates about clean energy and climate change. Her most recent work includes qualitative analysis of the discourse around coal-fired power and the 2016 election and content analysis of energy policy debates in Ohio.
Erin Gibbemeyer: Interests include analysis of complex systems for multiple sustainability metrics, optimization in the design of sustainable systems and sustainability education.
Ben Hazen: Works across disciplines in areas related to Supply Chain Sustainability, from sustaining fleets of aging aircraft in his Air Force career to sustaining communities that are part of our global supply chains. Ben's work experience and research interests began with examining the role of reverse logistics to improve economic and environmental sustainability. His current interests are related to Circular Economy and diverse supplier management, and he enjoys investigating any area related to the management and diffusion of social, environmental and economic sustainability practices.
Mark Jacobs: Studies innovations and lean practices in supply chains. In particular, focusing on how companies can better work together to reach common goals in the most effective and efficient manner. Recent studies from this broad theme of research include investigating the impacts of various product architectures, environmental responsiveness and worker issues such as psychological safety, organizational communication and learning.
Dave Johnson: Interests in sustainability include the areas of alternative and renewable energy sources, increased efficiency in chemical processes through well-designed catalysts and alternative fuels and lubricants, including biofuels, biolubricants and synthetic alternatives. He also is interested in alternative refrigerants with low GWP and ODP.
Moshan Kahandawala: Interests are in energy and environmental sustainability. On the energy front, most of his work has been on bioenergy, biofuel, waste to energy and alternative energy technologies such as solar and hydrogen production. On the environmental side, most of his interests and work have been identifying opportunities for waste disposal and repurposing and for pollutant formation, mitigation and remediation.
Brad Kallenberg: Sustainability is both a material and a moral issue. On the material side, Brad teaches engineering ethics with an eye to sustainability as related to engineering and manufacturing (extraction of raw materials, production and use of energy, our cultural addiction to petroleum-based plastic, etc.). On the moral side, his research in virtue ethics deals, in part, with a kind of cultural moral myopia that prevents us from seeing and attending to the urgency of climate change and its fallout.
Suki Kwon: As a working designer and an educator, Suki has been exploring various media in her efforts to fuse nature and design. Her long-standing interest in using traditional Korean designs led her to her interest in Korean traditional crafts and natural hand-dyeing techniques. She's been working with traditional natural dye techniques and incorporated into her own installational textile art and liturgical banner design work.
Eric Lang: Interests include renewable energy in all forms (wind, solar, biomass, ethanol, biodiesel), regenerative agriculture (he has a 10-acre organic farm/orchard) and biochar production and use. He also is an electric-vehicle enthusiast with three EVs including an electric tractor.
Robert Liang: Interests relating to sustainability include geological hazards management, construction materials recycling and sustainable geotechnology.
Paul McManamon: Interests involve where optics and photonics interact with sustainability including autonomous vehicles, lidars for oil, gas and water exploration, monitoring fracking for safety and environment, plus solar cells and monitoring wind around wind turbines.
Alexander Morgan: Research interests in sustainability focus on ensuring fire-safety performance against current and new fire risk scenarios in a changing climate and built environment. This includes development of new environmentally friendly flame retardant materials as well as enabling the design and implementation of recyclable/sustainable fire-safe materials.
Rydge Mulford: Develops passive technologies that enable sustainable building thermal control. He is also interested in exploring the impact of basic behavioral changes as a method to improve energy conservation.
Van Tam Nguyen: Interested in using computer vision and deep learning methods for environmental data analysis. The processed data include texts, images and videos. He has 15-plus years of working experience in research and industrial sectors.
Raul Ordonez: Brings his expertise in mathematical systems theory, systems analysis and feedback control design to the analysis and simulation of social systems. He is particularly interested in teaching mathematical systems theory to a large audience in order to help students better understand the connections between this body of knowledge and a multiplicity of social issues and environmental phenomena with a focus on sustainable development. Raul believes the powerful engineering and scientific tools available to us should be broadly applied to try to better understand and solve social and environmental challenges via a methodical study of policy-making.
Joseph Saliba: Focus is in rethinking sustainable design, not just in civil infrastructures but every design.
Aaron Sathyanesan: Works on problems at the intersection of child health and brain development. Incorporating the Indian practice of "Jugaad" or frugal engineering, his team also develops open-source biomedical technology to enable sustainable research and development.
Andrew Schrader: Interested in developing sustainable, solar-thermal energy and thermal sciences technological solutions in support of humanitarian challenges. He said these technologies must be developed while accounting for real-world economic and political systems, societal norms and individual responsibility.
Todd Smith: Interested in all aspects of sustainable systems, with a special interest in alternative energy solutions and the science of climate change.
Elias Toubia: Interested in the sustainability of construction materials and integrating fire safety and sustainability in material selection.
Miranda van Iersel: Interested in sustainability in relation to the interaction of light with the environment, specifically the atmosphere (air) and ocean, rivers and lakes (water). This includes optical detection of microplastics in water, atmospheric turbulence around wind turbines, monitoring air pollution and access to fast internet through free space optical communication.
Erick Vasquez: Interested in developing value-added products from waste materials by using green chemistry approaches.
Takahiro Yamada: Interest and research areas include chemical and electrochemical conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons, hydrogen production, storage, and fuel cell technology, incineration and emission control technology and remediation of perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) contamination of ground water, soil and biosludge. He recently obtained funding from the EPA for a study about PFAS and their contaminated biosludge incineration, an issue possibly confronting Dayton and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.