Erica Smithwick
Director
Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography and director of the Penn State Climate Consortium, is a landscape and ecosystem ecologist. Her research aims to support sustainable land management decision-making under climate change, with particular focus on forest resilience to wildfire, natural carbon sequestration strategies, and Indigenous knowledge systems.
Jacqueline O’Connor
Associate Director
Jacqueline O’Connor is a professor of mechanical engineering and the director of the Reacting Flow Dynamics Laboratory. Her research efforts focus on decarbonization solutions for hard-to-decarbonize sectors like aviation, marine transport, and dispatchable power generation.
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Janet Swim
Associate Director
Janet Swim is a professor of psychology who uses experimental and survey research to examine the psychological underpinnings of people’s willingness to engage in personal and collective pro-environmental actions and support policies that affect natural processes and, by extension, all life. She works in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams composed of natural scientists, social scientists, artists, and educators.
Faculty Advisory Committee
The Faculty Advisory Committee includes Penn State faculty representatives from across the University’s colleges and campuses. They provide essential guidance and feedback on priorities, opportunities, and initiatives.
Charles Anderson
Professor of Biology
Mook Bangalore
Rebecca Bascom
Professor of Medicine and Public Health Sciences
Hester Blum
Professor of English
Seth Blumsack
Professor of Energy and Environmental Economics and International Affairs
Daniel Cahoy
Professor of Business Law
Suvrat Saurabh Dhanokar
Associate Professor of Supply Chain Management
Corey Gracie-Griffin
Associate Professor of Architecture
Benay Gürsoy Toykoç
Assistant Professor of Architecture
Erica Husser
Assistant Research Professor of Nursing
Gregory Jenkins
Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science
Christine Kirchhoff
Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Melissa Kreye
Assistant Professor of Forest Resources Management
David Miller
Associate Professor of Wildlife Population Ecology
Robert Nicholas
Mark Ortiz
Presidential Postdoctoral Scholar, Geography
Anne Pisor
David Rabago
Professor of Family and Community Medicine
Asher Rosinger
Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Kaitlyn Spangler
Peter Stempel
Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture
Brian Thiede
Associate Professor of Rural Sociology, Sociology, and Demography
Luke Trusel
Assistant Professor of Geography
Darren Williams
Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Physics
Karen Winterich
Professor of Marketing
Hannah Wiseman
Professor of Law
Colin Zarzycki
Assistant Professor of Meteorology and Climate Dynamics