College of the Environment Graduate Faculty

 

Troy D. Abel  (UPES)

Professor. BS (public health), Indiana University; MPA (public policy analysis) and PhD (public policy and science and technology policy), George Mason University

  • Courses in environmental history and policy, environmental law and policy, environmental policy analysis, and science in the policy process.
  • Research interests focus on the dynamic tensions of environmental science and democratic politics in a variety of arenas including community-based environmental protection, environmental justice, and climate risk governance.

Andrew J. Bach (ENVS)

Professor. BS and MA (geography), University of California/Davis; PhD (geography), Arizona State University

  • Courses in physical geography, climate, soils, and water resources.

  • Research interests include glacial geomorphology, environmental change on Mt. Baker, Channeled Scablands, and soil genesis.  I am looking for a student who is interested in mapping glacial moraines deposited during the Little Ice Age. As well as students with a soil background who are interested in projects similar to this study:  Whelan, P., and A.J. Bach (2017) Retreating Glaciers, Incipient Soils, Emerging Forests:  One-Hundred Years of Landscape Change on Mt. Baker, Washington, U.S.A., Annals of the Association of American Geographers: 107:  336-349.  http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2016.1235480 

Charles A. Barnhart (ESCI/ENVS)

Professor. BS (Physics) and BS (Astronomy), University of Washington; PhD (Planetary Geophysics) University of California/Santa Cruz

  • Courses in Energy and Society, Energy and the Environment, Energy Technologies, and Life Cycle Assessment
  • Research interests focus on the interaction of Earth systems and societal energy use. I employ net energy analysis, life cycle assessment and GIS to explore the energy and environmental impacts of energy resources and technologies.

Gigi Berardi (UPES)

Professor. BA (biology), University of California/San Diego; MS (natural resources conservation) and PhD (natural resources, policy and planning), Cornell University

  • Courses in human geography, research and writing; Greening business policy and practice; graduate course on the history and philosophy of geography.
  • Research interests include environment and society, the study of natural resource-dependent communities and persistent rural poverty in the U.S., native Alaskan populations at risk.

Brian L. Bingham (ESCI/MESPES)

Professor. BS and MS (zoology), Brigham Young University; PhD (biology), Florida State University

  • Research interests include the ecology of marine invertebrates with an emphasis on cnidarian-algal symbiosis. Current work in my lab focuses on the common intertidal anemones Anthopleura elegantissima and A. xanthogrammica and the fitness consequences of hosting different symbionts.
  • Not accepting new students for Fall 2025.

Patrick H. Buckley (ENVS)

Professor. BS (civil engineering and geology), University of Notre Dame; MA (economic geography and South Asian studies) University of Washington; PhD (economic geography), Boston University

  • Courses include; East Asia – society and environment, US-Canada borderland resource management, pacific rim environment, sustainability in Hawaii, environmental issues along the Pacific Rim, global economy. GIS, and spatial analysis.
  • Research interests focus on: Climate Crisis and Sustainability in Hawaii – applying multi-regional modeling including input-output and cge techniques. Margaret McKenny Washington State’s first (?) environmentalist and saving the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Covid and viral maps.

Andrew G. Bunn (ESCI)

Professor. BS, The Evergreen State College; MEM (resource ecology), Duke University; PhD (environmental science), Montana State University

  • Courses in climate change, paleoecology, statistics and data science.
  • Research interests focus on impacts of climate change on terrestrial ecosystems - especially forests. Recent studies include reconstructions of temperature and precipitation variability using tree rings; work on boreal forest growth in relation to the global carbon budget.
  • Actively Recruiting New Student for Fall 2026.   I am recruiting an MS student in Environmental Science to join an ongoing collaboration between the Department of Environmental Sciences and the Department of Electrical Engineering at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. The project develops methods to locate free-ranging cattle on open rangeland using low-cost radio tags. The work supports improved rangeland management by advancing how we model livestock movement and its environmental effects. The student will model received signal strength (RSSI) surfaces and build location-prediction methods using spatial statistics and machine learning.  Required: experience with R and GIS, and interest in modeling.   Preferred: background in Python, environmental data analysis, remote sensing, or sensor networks.     

Rebecca A. Bunn (ESCI)

Professor. BS (civil engineering), Michigan Tech University; MS (environmental engineering), University of Colorado; PhD (environmental science), Montana State University

  • Courses in multivariate statistics, biostatistics, and plant-soil interactions.
  • Recent work includes meta-analyses, experiments examining the role of soil biota in propagation of native plants and management of soil biota in cultivated raspberry fields. 

Kate J. Darby (ENVS)

Professor. BS (chemical engineering ), Penn State; MS (environmental studies and certificate in not-for-profit management), University of Oregon; PhD (anthropology, with emphasis on interdisciplinary environmental social sciences), Arizona State University

  • Courses in environmental justice, human ecology and ethics, and food systems
  • Research interests focus on social and environmental justice, environmental justice pedagogy in higher education, food justice and sovereignty

Aquila Flower (ENVS)

Professor. BA (geography), Humboldt State University; MS (geography), University of Victoria; PhD (geography), University of Oregon

  • Courses in Geographic Information Science (GIS), Biogeography, and Climate Science
  • Research interests focus on using geospatial analysis, dendrochronology, and quantitative techniques to explore long-term environmental change in forest, alpine, and coastal ecosystems, particularly within the Salish Sea region.
  • Dr Flower is interested in accepting a new Graduate Student for Fall 2026

Marco Hatch (ESCI/MESPES)

Professor. AS Whatcom Community College, BS (fisheries) University of Washington, PhD (biological oceanography) Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California/San Diego

  • Courses include water quality, marine ecology, and Indigenous marine management
  • Research focuses on the nexus of Indigenous people and marine ecology, with a particular focus on clam gardens see clamgardens.com. I am also involved in a collaborate project to maintain an oceanographic buoy in Bellingham Bay. Additional I am working a number of initiatives to increase the number of Native Americans in marine ecology.

James M. Helfield (ESCI)

Professor. BA (English literature), Duke University; MES (environmental studies) York University; MSc (physical geography) University of Toronto; PhD (forest ecology) University of Washington

  • Research interests include ecology of rivers and riparian forests; linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems; fish habitat and ecology; watershed management and ecological restoration.
  • NOTE:  Dr Helfield will NOT be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2025/2026.      

Nabil Kamel (UPES)

Department Chair, Professor. BS (Architectural Engineering), Cairo University; MA (urban planning), Texas A&M; Ph.D. (urban planning), UCLA

  • Courses in Urban Planning, Planning Theory, Political Economy of Urbanization, Urban Design, Urban Geography, Regional and International Development.
  • Research areas of expertise include the production of uneven urban development, social and environmental justice, urban informality, post-disaster recovery. Current research includes informal urbanization patterns, everyday life and urban marginality, and urbanization and refugee camps.

Sam Kastner (ESCI/MESPES)

Assistant Professor. BA (physics, music), Skidmore College; MS & PhD (Civil & Environmental Engineering), University of Washington
  • Courses Teaching: Marine Physical Processes, Marine Science and Society, Biostatistics, physical oceanography electives.
  • Research Interests: Mixing and transport in the coastal ocean, including but not limited to river plumes, ocean surface waves, and the dynamics of hypoxia.

Robin Kodner (ESCI)

Associate Professor. BS (Paleobiology, History), University of Wisconsin - Madison;  PhD (Organismal and Evolutionary Biology),  Harvard University

  • Research interests include algal diversity and environmental interactions; microbial community structure and evolution over time (seasonal and geologic time scales;  snow algae diversity, ecology and evolution;  marine phytoplankton diversity, ecology, and evolution; environmental genomics and bioinformatics.

Tamara (Tammi) Laninga (UPES)

Associate Professor. BS (Environmental Policy), Western Washington University; MA (Geography; Graduate Interdisciplinary Certificate in Environmental Policy), University of Colorado, Boulder; PhD (Planning and Design), University of Colorado, Denver

  • Courses in urban planning and environmental policy
  • Research interests focus on community development and participatory engagement, land use regulations, and natural resource management.

Brooke Love (ESCI/MESPES)

Associate Professor, BS (Engineering Geology), Stanford University; MS and PhD (Chemical Oceanography), University of Washington

  • Courses include oceanography, marine chemistry, marine conservation and water quality.
  • Research interests focus on ocean acidification and global change, from planktonic food webs and marine vegetation, to recent work with forage fish, and developing proteomic tools to further our understanding in these areas. 

Erika E. McPhee-Shaw (ESCI/MESPES)

Professor. BA (physics), Dartmouth; Ph.D. (Physical Oceanography), University of Washington

  • Courses include Introduction to Climate Change, Applied Mathematics in Environmental Science, Coastal Seas and Climate Change, Oceanography of the Salish Sea, Fate and Transport.
  • Research Interests include dynamics of internal waves and surface waves, turbulence, circulation and transport of nutrients and oxygen over continental margins and in coastal and freshwater systems.

John McLaughlin (ESCI)

Professor. BA (biological sciences), BA (Biochemistry) and BA (Integrated Science), Northwestern University; MS (Biological Sciences) and PhD (Biological Science Population Biology), Stanford University

  • Courses in natural history, population biology, conservation biology, riparian conservation, and wildlife ecology.
  • Research interests include wildlife roles in restoration, butterfly responses to climate change, carnivore-habitat relationships, dynamics of animal populations, predator-prey interactions, and wildlife conservation.

Michael J. Medler (ENVS)

Professor. BS (philosophy) and MS (environmental studies), University of Oregon; PhD (geography), University of Arizona

  • Courses in GIS, natural resources, biogeography and wild land fire.
  • Research interests center on developing techniques that simplify the mapping and understanding of complex biophysical processes such as forest fire, fire hazard, or habitat.

 

James Miller (UPES)

Assistant Professor. Ph.D. (Sustainable Architecture), University of Oregon; M. Arch., University of Oregon; B.Arch., University of Notre Dame

  • Courses in Urban Planning, Housing Innovation, Indigenous Architecture and Planning, Place-keeping, Decolonizing the City, Settler Colonial Studies, Urban Design, Urban Resilience and Sustainable Communities.
  • Research interests include climate migration and transported place-keeping, indigenous architecture and spatial production, Settler Colonial Cities, Climate Change adaptation and resilience, post-disaster reconstruction and disaster resilience, remote housing, and localized building processes.

Manuel David Montaño (ESCI)

Associate Professor. PhD (Applied Chemistry) and BSc (Chemistry), Colorado School of Mines

  • Courses in chemical fate and transport, water quality, and environmental chemistry
  • Research interests include environmental analytical chemistry, geochemistry, colloid and nanoscale chemistry
  • Current projects include nanopesticide impacts on agricultural and wetland environments, polymer additive release from nanopolymer composites, and tracer development for microplastics research

Ian Moran (ESCI)

Assistant professor. BS (Environmental Sciences), Western Washington University and PhD (Toxicology) Oregon State University

  • Courses include environmental toxicology, environmental risk assessment, fish biology
  • Research interests include developmental and behavioral toxicity, hydrocarbon mixtures, stormwater pollution, open electronics, and computer vision.

O. Eugene Myers, Jr. (ENVS)

Professor. BS (environmental studies), Western Washington University; MA and PhD (psychology and human development), University of Chicago

  • Courses in environmental education, environmental history and ethics, and conservation psychology.
  • Research and creative interests include social sciences and conservation; life-span psychological development of relationships to animals and nature; culture and environmental ethical formation; children's environmental design and empowerment; positive psychology and environment; environmental education evaluation.

Mark Neff (ENVS)

Professor. BA (German Language and Literature), Whitman College; MS (Environmental Studies, certificate in Not-for-Profit Management), University of Oregon; PhD (Life Sciences, with focus on science policy and science/technology studies), Arizona State University.

  • Courses in environmental politics and policy, science-policy interactions, and environmental governance
  • Research interests include science and decision making in a polarized democracy; science, technology, and society; participatory governance of science and technology; sustainability; and science in environmental controversies.
  • Actively looking for new Graduate Student for Fall 2026

Rebekah A. Paci-Green (ENVS)

Department Chair, Associate Professor. BS (civil and environmental engineering), University of Washington; PhD (structural engineering and cultural anthropology), Cornell University

  • Courses Taught: U.S. Disaster Policy, Natural Hazards Planning, Disaster Risk Reduction, Human Ecology and Sustainability
  • Research interests focus on how communities understand and adapt to natural hazards, community-based risk communication, climate adaptation, community-based development in hazard-prone location, comprehensive school safety for natural hazards
  • Recruiting for Fall 2026: Full Research Assistantship position to support research on risk perception and mitigation preferences of coastal residents exposed to sea level rise and earthquakes. Strong preference for students with direct connection to Hawai'i. See here for research assistantship announcement details. Also open for 1-2 other Fall 2026 students with research interests in disaster risk reduction more broadly. These students may request a Teaching Assistantship.

David A. Rossiter (ENVS)

Professor. BA Hons. (geography), University of British Columbia; MA (geography) and PhD (geography), York University

  • Courses in human geography: cultural, historical, and political.
  • Research interests: Historical geographies of nature and recreation, British Columbia

John M. Rybczyk (ESCI)

Department Chair, Professor. BS (wildlife biology), Michigan State University; MS (ecosystem biology), Eastern Michigan University; PhD (oceanography and coastal science), Louisiana State University

  • Courses in wetlands and estuarine ecology, and general ecology
  • Research interests are ecological modeling, coastal system response to climate change, estuarine ecology, carbon cycling in wetland systems.
  • NOTE:  Dr Rybczyk is not seeking student for Fall 2026.

Imran Sheikh (ESCI/ENVS)

Associate Professor. BS (Biomedical Engineering), University of Wisconsin; MS and PhD (Energy and Resources) University of California/Berkeley

  • Courses in Energy and the Environment, Energy Efficiency in Buildings, and Electric Power Systems.
  • Research interests focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings sector, with a focus on electrification of residential space and water heating.
  • NOTE:   Dr Sheikh is ACTIVELY SEEKING a Graduate Student for Fall 2026.

David H. Shull (ESCI/MESPES)

Professor. BS (oceanography), University of Washington; MS (oceanography), University of Connecticut; PhD (environmental sciences), University of Massachusetts

  • Courses in oceanography, marine ecology, Marine Invertebrates
  • Research focuses on the structure and function of marine soft-bottom benthic communities and how they influence biological, chemical, and physical processes at the seafloor.

Froylán E. Sifuentes (ESCI/ENVS)

Associate Professor. BS (Chemical Engineering), Massachusetts Institute of Technology; MS and PhD (Energy and Resources), University of California, Berkeley.

  • Courses include sustainable building analysis and design, energy systems analysis, mechanical and environmental systems in buildings, and renewable electric power systems.
  • Research interests include decarbonization pathways for energy systems, mobility electrification, demand response, and the water-energy nexus of decarbonization the electricity grid.

Kathryn Sobocinski (ESCI/MESPES)

Associate Professor. BA, Connecticut College (Environmental Studies); MS, University of Washington (Aquatic and Fishery Sciences); PhD, The College of William and Mary, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (Marine Science)

  • Courses in marine fish ecology, fisheries science, fisheries oceanography, statistics and modeling
  • Research interests focus on juvenile fishes in marine ecosystems, fish habitats, and impacts of human disturbance in coastal ecosystems; use of statistical and individual-based models
  • NOTE:  Dr Sobocinski will not be accepting new graduate students for Fall 2026

Ruth M. Sofield (ESCI/MESPES)

Professor. BA (biology), West Virginia University; MS (environmental science) McNeese State University; MS (environmental science and engineering) and PhD (environmental science and engineering), Colorado School of Mines

  • Courses in environmental toxicology and environmental chemistry.
  • Research interests include the effects of water chemistry on bioavailability of dissolved metals; occurrence, chemical characterization, and toxicity of microplastics in the environment; chemical composition of air pollutants; and the relationship between toxicology and society.

Paul Stangl (UPES)

Associate Professor. BS (liberal arts), Kansas State University; MCRP (city and regional planning), Rutgers University; PhD (geography), University of Texas, Austin

  • Courses in the history and politics of planning, processes and methods in planning, planning for sustainable communities, planning studio and campus planning studio.
  • Research interests include pedestrian planning; urban landscapes, memory and meaning; representations of cities in cinema; urban social and cultural history; Berlin and San Francisco.

Angela Strecker (ESCI)

Professor and Director, Institute for Watershed Studies. B.Sc. Honours, University of Regina (Biology); Ph.D., Queen's University (Biology) 

  • Courses in invasive species ecology and management, statistics for environmental science, and limnology (the study of lakes).
  • Research interests include anthropogenic stressors in freshwater ecosystems, such as invasive species, climate change, habitat connectivity, and contaminants; approaches include field surveys, small-scale and large-scale experiments, and statistical modeling.

 

Grace A. Wang (UPES)

Professor. BS (political economy of natural resources), UC Berkeley; MS (forestry) and PhD (forestry), University of Minnesota

  • Courses include environmental studies and sustainability, natural resource and public land policy (Forest Service, National Parks, BLM)
  • Research interests include non-timber forest products, cultural resources, recreational visitor impacts, land manager decision making, and sustainability

Xi Wang (ENVS)

Assistant Professor. BA (English), Cornell University; MS (Environmental Studies) and PhD (Geography), University of Colorado-Boulder

  • Courses in electricity regulation and energy policy; climate governance and political economy, energy systems transitions; climate change and communities; issues of the environment and power.
  • Research interests include energy and climate governance, political economy, energy and industrial infrastructures, industrial labor and organization, climate vulnerability and adaptation, indigenous knowledge and spatial production.   

Cameron Whitley (ENVS)

Associate Professor.   BA (Sociology), University of Colorado at Boulder; MA and PhD (Sociology), University of Michigan

  • Courses in Environmental Sociology, Animals, People, and Nature, Environmental Conservation and Empathy, Environmental Inequality and Justice, Climate Change in Society, Advanced Topics in Environmental Conservation and Empathy, Advanced Topics in Environmental Sociology and Sociological Animal Studies.
  • Research interests are broadly focused in how our relationships with others (human and non-human) inform our attitudes and behaviors.

Nicholas C. Zaferatos (UPES)

Professor. BS (geography), State University of New York; MS (environmental planning), Western Washington University; PhD (urban planning), University of Washington.

  • Courses include urban planning, sustainable community development, planning theory, planning studios, American Indian reservation planning.
  • Research interests include growth management, community development, American Indian reservation development and intergovernmental relations, federal Indian policy, and Mediterranean sustainable community development.