Meet the leaders reshaping our relationship with our planet

Peter Schlosser leads the programs, activities and curriculum of the Global Futures Laboratory and its College of Global Futures. A top Earth scientist with expertise in the hydrosphere and how humans affect the planet’s natural state, Schlosser draws on more than four decades of research in the study of water movement and its variability in natural systems.

Gary Dirks is senior director of the Global Futures Laboratory and LightWorks, which capitalizes on ASU’s strengths to discover and invent energy solutions to the world’s fuel, electric and social challenges. Before joining ASU, Dirks was the president of BP Asia-Pacific and BP China.

Matthew Green develops advanced polymers for water purification, carbon capture and sustainable materials. As director of the Center for Negative Carbon Emissions, he’s testing a prototype technology that would remove CO2 from the air through the use of MechanicalTrees™.

Zachary Holman advances solar technology by developing new materials, processes and designs to enhance the efficiency of silicon and silicon-based tandem solar cells. A Moore Inventor Fellow, he is also the co-founder of Swift Coat, Sunflex Solar and Beyond Silicon, driving innovation in next-generation solar energy solutions.

Nathan Johnson leads efforts to accelerate the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals through innovation, builds public-private partnerships to develop energy decarbonization, and works with many industries and consumer products to reduce water use and waste and increase resource circularity.

Klaus Lackner is regarded as the founder of the idea of capturing and removing carbon from the atmosphere. His research includes closing the carbon cycle by capturing carbon dioxide from the air, carbon sequestration, carbon footprinting, innovative energy and infrastructure systems and their scaling properties, and energy and environmental policy.

Brian Sherman is the chief executive officer of NSF Engines: Southwest Sustainability Innovation Engine, where he brings decades of experience in entrepreneurship, public sector strategy and technology-based economic development to transform the desert Southwest into a economic hub based on sustainable technologies.

Ariane Middel developed a mobile meteorological station, MaRTy, to help urban climates measure heat at any time of day, on any street. Middel's work includes local and microscale climate modeling and geovisualization to investigate sustainability challenges related to heat, thermal comfort, urban heat islands, water use, energy use and human-climate interactions in cities.

Konrad Rykaczewski works with ANDI, a thermal manikin with 35 temperature sensors, heat flux sensors and pores that bead sweat to better understand how the human body adapts to extreme heat. ANDI is the first thermal manikin that can be used outdoors, enabling researchers to better understand heat stress on the human body.

Patricia Solis is executive director of the Knowledge Exchange for Resilience, a campuswide effort to link community needs with research innovations to build community resilience. Her work includes engagement to support the Arizona Governor's Office of Resiliency, especially related to extreme heat and strategic planning.

Jennifer Vanos is an expert in the effects of extreme heat and air pollution health, notably in vulnerable populations such as children, the elderly, outdoor workers and athletes. She can discuss how to keep cool and prevent problems like heat exhaustion/heat stroke. As co-author of the Southwest Chapter of the NCA5, Vanos developed new modeling to assess extreme heat’s impact on the ability to work outside.

Upmanu Lall is the director of the Water Institute at ASU, leading international research and action on water to predict and address water challenges in communities and on an international scale. He has developed and led several water and flood initiatives, and was named to the “Hot List of the world’s 1,000 top climate scientists” by Reuters.

Susan Craig is the director for Impact Water - Arizona, fostering community understanding and engagement in addressing the state’s water challenges and solutions. Her previous work includes impact-driven projects on water resilience, like the award-winning Arizona Water Blueprint, an interactive tool providing information to empower inclusive and informed decision-making.

Jay Famiglietti is director of science for the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative and a renowned hydrologist (formerly with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Lab) who researches water and climate change. He can discuss groundwater, freshwater, atmospheric rivers, droughts, floods, water security, how water works and moves and policy affecting its use.

Faith Kearns is a scientist and research communication expert focused on water, wildfire and climate change. She is currently the director of research communication with the Arizona Water Innovation Initiative, and has led science communication efforts at UC Berkeley, Pew Charitable Trusts and the California Institute for Water Resources.

Sarah Porter leads the ASU Kyl Center for Water Policy. She is an attorney with expertise in water use and management of the Colorado River, groundwater, and water equity and policy. She directed Audubon's Western Rivers project, a multi-state initiative to raise awareness of the challenges to Colorado River sustainability, and protect and restore flows for critical habitats and communities.

Enrique Vivoni is an expert in earth systems, climate change and sustainability. His research focuses on water, climate and ecosystem processes, and interactions with sustainability and management, with a specific emphasis on semiarid and arid regions of North America.

Paul Westerhoff is an expert in food, water and energy nexus, and environmental geochemistry. His research focuses on innovative ways to improve the quality and accessibility of water in various environments, and has received awards from the National Water Research Institute, the American Water Works Association and the Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors.

Dave White specializes in water, drought, sustainability and environmental policy, and leads the $40M state-funded Arizona Water Innovation Initiative. He was the lead author of the Southwest chapter of the White House's Fifth U.S. National Climate Assessment, focused on how climate change is impacting water resources.

Amber Wutich is a 2023 MacArthur Fellow and expert on water insecurity who leads the Center for Global Health. She directs the Global Ethnohydrology Study, a cross-cultural study of water knowledge and management in 20-plus countries. Her community-based fieldwork explores how people respond, individually and collectively, to extremely water-scarce conditions. She leads Action for Water Equity, developing collaborative solutions with water-insecure U.S. communities.

Greg Asner is among the world’s top conservation ecologists and a leader in using sophisticated tools and satellites to map ocean and land health — coral reefs, rainforest health and land biodiversity — from the sea and air. Director of the Center for Global Discovery and Conservation (Hawaiʻi), he leads the `Ākoʻakoʻa Reef Restoration Program which fuses cultural leadership, education, science and government service to communities of corals and people on Hawaiʻi Island.

Craig Carlson, president and chief executive officer of the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, is one of the planet’s leading marine biology researchers working to uncover the intricate relationships between microbial community dynamics and dissolved organic matter biogeochemistry in ocean systems.

Jnaneshwar Das leads research and development of autonomous robotic systems as director of the Distributed Robotic Exploration and Mapping Systems (DREAMS) Laboratory, leveraging remotely sensed data for advanced mapping, sampling and analysis in diverse environments: terrestrial, aquatic and extraterrestrial.

Cliff Kapono combines science and professional surfing to elevate scientific literacy and advocate for ocean conservation. His research in molecular bioscience and award-winning films on Indigenous activism and the environment have been featured in The New York Times, NBC, Surfer Magazine and more.

Amy Maas is an ASU BIOS researcher whose work sits at the intersection of physiology, ecology and biological oceanography. Maas studies how climate change disrupts the physiological functions and habitats of marine animals. She also works alongside the Oceanic Flux Program and the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series Study to provide greater context to physiological studies of various zooplankton.

Susanne Neuer is a biological oceanographer and marine ecologist who directs ASU’s new School of Ocean Futures. She studies the role of ocean life in the carbon cycle, sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide, the role of microorganisms in colonizing microplastic pollution in the ocean and harmful algal blooms in local reservoirs.

Stephanie Pfirman is a leading researcher on Arctic environmental change, sea ice dynamics, and climate adaptation, and serves as deputy directory in ASU's School of Ocean Futures. She has led major NSF-funded initiatives, was elected a fellow of the AAAS and has contributed to national policy and advisory efforts on climate and sustainability.

Jesse Senko links applied conservation science with innovation and governance to ensure a future for threatened species as well as coastal fisheries and the people who depend on them. His work has been widely published in leading conservation and policy journals, and featured in major media outlets including CNN, National Geographic and The New York Times.

Hannah Kerner is using AI and machine learning to address the world’s most pressing challenges, including food security, climate change and space exploration. As the AI lead for the NASA Harvest program, she is deploying research methods in real operations for stakeholders in industry, government and humanitarian organizations around the world.

Kathleen Merrigan is an expert in food security, food systems and sustainability, and currently serves as the executive director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems. Her research focuses on sustainable innovations for food and agriculture among urban cities as well as food deserts. Prior to her position at ASU, Merrigan was U.S. Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she created and led the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative to support local food systems.

Andrea Rissing researches diverse livelihood strategies among U.S. farmers, processes of agrarian change and local food system governance, and has led qualitative research for National Institute of Food and Agriculture on crop diversification.

Rajesh Buch advances circular economy initiatives and co-creates transformative sustainability strategies as director of business development for ASU’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service and Circular Economy Practice Lead, linking ASU researchers with global partners in business, government and international development.

Rolf Halden studies the harmful health effects of mass-produced chemicals in water resources, aquifers and agricultural soils as the director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. Halden’s team is responsible for completing the first whole-genome sequencing of naturally occurring bacterium capable of eating harmful toxins, and is currently researching toxic emissions, especially those created by industrial plants or biosolids (treated sewage sludge) found in fertilizer.

Alicia Marseille drives large-scale change at the intersection of sustainability, economic development and the circular economy. As senior director of ASU’s Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, she builds cross-sector coalitions and advances circular systems through innovative programs like the RISN Incubator and Circular Plastic Microfactory. 

Stephen J. Pyne writes extensively on the history and management of wildland and rural fire, with a focus on the U.S. and global fire landscapes. He has authored over 30 books, including broad fire surveys and works on exploration, science and environmental history.