Climate and Sustainability

As the climate changes due to human activities, our projects are focused on how society can adapt to live in a manner that has less of an impact on the natural environment.

  • CECE Director, Dana R. Fisher, gives a TED Talk

    CECE
    In October 2024, Dr. Dana R. Fisher, gave a TED talk on how to be an “Apocalytic Optimist”, which presents her findings about what it will really take to get us to the other side of the climate crisis based on her latest book, Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action. Check it out […]

  • CECE Postdoc, Julie González, Speaks with Telemundo on Extreme Weather Events in the Northeast US

    Dr. Julie A. González, Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow at CECE, spoke to Telemundo about the wildfires and droughts impacting New Jersey and New York, their connection to climate change, and the risks these events pose to communities as we face a very dry winter ahead. Click here to watch the full segment

  • American University Experts Weigh in on COP29

    Dana R. Fisher, William John Snape, III, Chelsea Koch, Stephen MacAvoy, Rosalind Donald, Simon Nicholson
    On 11 November, the 29th Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC’s COP-29) begins in Baku, Azerbaijan.  This round of negotiations is the last one before countries are expected to submit their updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the Paris Agreement by early 2025.  Since many countries are still off […]

  • Article: The Political Economy of Energy Security in Wartime Yemen

    Abeer Y Al-Eryani
    CECE Postdoctoral Fellow, Abeer Al-Eryani, has published a new article in Middle East Law and Governance, titled The Political Economy of Energy Security in Wartime Yemen. The study examines how war fragments traditional governance structures, alters subsidy frameworks, and destabilizes infrastructure, creating a complex energy landscape responsive to shifting power dynamics.  In addition to these […]

  • Using Remote Sensing to Uncover Changes in Haiti’s Land Use

    Scott Freeman, Michael Alonzo
    Narratives of Haiti’s degraded landscapes are as notorious as narratives of its political instability. How Haitians use their land, and its level and quality of vegetative cover have spurred millions in aid funding and have been the source of intense academic debate surrounding environmental well being of the country. Pressures like land grabs, climate change, […]

  • 2024 CECE Faculty Research Incubator Grant: Systems Lens to Increase Sustainable Procurement [...]

    Garima Sharma, Sarah Iverson, Nicole Darnall
    We are thrilled to announce the winner of the 2024 Faculty Research Incubator Grant! This year’s winning project comes from a collaboration across Kogod School of Business, the College of Arts and Science, and the School of Public Affairs. Entitled “Systems Lens to Increase Sustainable Procurement Success:  Co-creating Insights to Bolster Employee Engagement.”  The project by […]

  • Environmental Equity, Latino Communities, and Election 2024 Recap

    Julie A. Gonzalez
    With Hurricane Milton impacting Florida, closely following Hurricane Helene, it’s clear that extreme weather events devastate entire regions, affecting all residents. However, Latino communities are often disproportionately impacted due to pre-existing environmental vulnerabilities and economic inequalities. These realities underscore the immediate need for environmental justice solutions that prioritize those most at risk. On October 8, […]

  • [Research Paper] Making them pay: Comparing how environmental facts matter in two accountability [...]

    Rosalind Donald
    How do polluters come to pay? In many popular depictions–think the George Clooney film Michael Clayton–the story ends when whistleblowers bring the facts of a powerful entity’s wrongdoing into the public sphere. Exposure and censure, presumably, follow. But even when facts come to light, they do not automatically count. Think of the many revelations about fossil […]

  • CECE Secures Additional Funding to Expand ‘Climate in Our Nation’s Service’ [...]

    CECE is delighted to announce it has received additional funding from the AmeriCorps Seniors (ACS) program to expand its work on the ‘Climate in Our Nation’s Service’ research project, which is currently underway as part of the three-year collaborative agreement with AmeriCorps.    The additional $1.04 million in funding over two years will help the project […]

  • AU Welcomes Nicole Darnall, The Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in [...]

    Nicole Darnall
    Nicole Darnall is a distinguished scholar in sustainability who was recently appointed as the Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability at American University. Previously, she served as a Foundation Professor and Associate Dean at Arizona State University’s School of Sustainability. Darnall was also the director of ASU’s Sustainable Purchasing Research […]

  • CECE Whitepaper No. 1: The 4Rs of Climate Work: A Case Study of AmeriCorps

    CECE has published its inaugural whitepaper, focusing on climate work in service corps programs across the US. CECE Director, Dr. Dana Fisher authored the whitepaper that lays out a framework on the 4 Rs of climate work. The whitepaper uses data collected through semi-structed interviews with AmeriCorps leadership and staff to uncover how government agencies […]

  • Article: Same Old Story with a Different Ending: Homophily and preferential selection of [...]

    CECE Director, Dr. Dana Fisher, CECE Project Manager, W. Chris Jayko, and University of Exeter Professor, Dr. Lorien Jasny, published a paper studying the US Climate Policy Network. The paper takes a deeper look into how a climate policy, in this case the Inflation Reduction Act, was passed in such a polarised network. Read the […]

Climate and Sustainability Experts

Abeer Y Al-Eryani

Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Robert Albro

Research Associate Professor, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

Michael Alonzo

Assistant Professor, Environmental Science

Julie A. Anderson

Associate Program Director, Masters of Science in Sustainability Management (MSSM)

Valentina Aquila

Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science

Barbara Balestra

Director, Environmental Sciences Teaching Laboratory, Micro-Lab.

David Bartlett

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Management

Kristine Beran

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environmental Science

Robin Broad

Research Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health
Jennifer Brown

Jenn Brown

Program Manager, Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Claire Brunel

Associate Professor, Department of Politics Economics and Governance

Anny Cárdenas

Assistant Professor, Biology

Ernesto Castañeda

Director, Center for Latin American and Latino Studies

C. Anne Claus

Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology

Ken Conca

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Nicole Darnall

Arlene R. and Robert P. Kogod Eminent Scholar Chair in Sustainability

Parthiban David

Senior Associate Dean, Kogod School of Business

Rosalind Donald

Assistant Professor, Public Communication

Todd Eisenstadt

Research Director, Center for Environmental Policy

Larry Engel

Associate Director Center for Environmental Filmmaking

Dana R. Fisher

Director, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Scott Freeman

Senior Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Julie A. Gonzalez

Environmental Justice Postdoctoral Fellow, CECE

Garrett Graddy-Lovelace

Provost Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Edward Guetti

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Philosophy and Religion

Matthew Hartings

Associate Professor, Chemistry

David Hunter

Professor of Law, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Sarah Iverson

Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
Chris Jayko

W. Chris Jayko

Assistant Director, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity
Kyra Jones

Kyra Jones

Operations Manager

Victoria Kiechel

Senior Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Chelsea Koch

Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science Assistant Professor, Arctic Ecogeochemistry Lab/Department of Environmental Science

Megan Litke

Director of Sustainability, Office of Sustainability

Maya Livio

Assistant Professor, Climate, Environmental Justice, Media and Communication

Stephen MacAvoy

Associate Professor, Department of Biology

Magnolia Mead

CECE Fellow & Research Assistant

Sara Nawaz

Director of Research, Institute for Responsible Carbon Removal

Simon Nicholson

Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy

Jennifer Oetzel

Research Professor, Department of Management

Marcos A. Orellana

Director, Global Toxics and Human Rights Project

Angela Pashayan

Professorial Lecturer, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Claudia Persico

Associate Professor, Public Administration and Policy

Natalia Piland

CECE Collaborating Researcher, Interdisciplinary Scientist
Malini Ranganathan

Malini Ranganathan

Associate Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Jesse Ribot

Professor, Department of Environment, Development, and Health

Thurka Sangaramoorthy

Professor, Department of Anthropology

Judith Shapiro

Director of Graduate Studies, Dept of Environment Development and Health

Garima Sharma

Assistant Professor, Department of Management

Sauleh Siddiqui

Professor, Environmental Science

William John Snape, III

Professor and Director, WCL Program on Environmental and Energy Law

Stacey Snelling

Healthy Schools, Healthy Communities Lab

Maggie B. Stogner

Executive Director, Center For Environmental Filmmaking

David J. Vázquez

Associate Professor, Critical Race, Gender, and Culture Studies
Rachel Weiss

Rachel Weiss

Program Manager, Center for Environment, Community, & Equity

Paul Yoo

Assistant Professor, Finance