Southern California Environmental Report CardOur Leadership
The IoE Executive Committee consists of distinguished faculty from numerous cross-disciplinary specialties.
Thomas B. Smith, IoE Acting Director
Keith D. Stolzenbach, IoE Associate Director
Richard F. Ambrose
Wolfgang Buermann
Ann E. Carlson
Randall D. Crane
J.R. DeShazo
Hilary Godwin
Steve Hubbell
Matthew E. Kahn
Glen M. McDonald
J. Cully Nordby
Suzanne E. Paulson
Rebecca R. Shipe
Victoria L. Sork
Michael K. Stenstrom
Richard P. Turco
Arthur M. Winer
Executive Committee Members:
Thomas B. Smith
Acting Director and Professor, Institute of the Environment
Director, Center for Tropical Research
Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
B.A. Natural Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison
M.S. Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Ph.D. Zoology, University of California at Berkeley
Areas of Expertise:
Evolutionary ecology, speciation, and conservation of vertebrates, especially in the tropics.
Research
As founder and Director of the Center for Tropical Research, Dr. Smith oversees a host of research projects and directs the research of a growing number of graduate and postgraduate scientists on projects based in tropical countries around the world. A central focus of his research is investigating how speciation occurs in tropical rainforests. Combining molecular genetics and field biology, he identified a new theory of how speciation occurs in rainforests. In a series of recent studies published in the journals Science, Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy, he has shown, along with colleagues, that for a wide range of taxa in rainforests worldwide, the processes of diversification and speciation take place not only within 'biodiversity hotspots' but also along environmental gradients or ecotones representing the transition from one habitat to another. The implications of this discovery are far-reaching. With climate change threatening large-scale shifts in species distributions and the habitats on which they depend, the hotspots of today may not be the hotspots of tomorrow. The results of Dr. Smith's research points to new and more effective ways of prioritizing regions for conservation. Dr. Smith has more than 20 years of experience working in the rainforests of Africa, Australia, Latin American and Hawaii, and has published more than 100 articles.
Director and Professor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Science and Engineering Program
B.S. Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine
Ph.D. Marine Ecology, UCLA
Areas of Expertise:
Applied Ecology; ecological aspects of coastal environmental problems in rocky intertidal, wetland and riparian habitats, habitat restoration.
Research
Professor Ambrose's research focuses on ways to protect and maintain the ecology of coastal areas; much of his work is conducted at the interface between environmental biology and resource management policy. Current research focuses on (1) restoration of degraded habitats, especially for coastal marine environments, and (2) assessment of the health of coastal ecosystems. A second general area of research focuses on assessment of the health of ecosystems.
Wolfgang Buermann
Adjunct Assistant Professor
UCLA Institute of the Environment and
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
B.S. in Physics-Engineering, Fachhochschule Weingarten
M.S. in Physics, University of Connecticut
Ph.D. in Geography, Boston University
Research
Professor Buermann's research focuses on what controls the exchanges of energy, water and carbon between land surfaces and the atmosphere and how it pertains to vegetation dynamics. This research is relevant to several environmental problems, including understanding changes in near-surface climate, pattern of biodiversity and the carbon cycle.
Professor of Law
Founding Director and Co-Director, Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic
B.A. UC Santa Barbara
J.D. Harvard
Areas of Expertise:
Domestic climate change legislation and litigation, Clean Air Act, environmental litigation, Supreme Court.
Research
Professor Carlson’s research interests include domestic global warming legislation and litigation, environmental law and the constitution, federalism and environmental law, and the role social norms play in affecting environmentally cooperative behavior. She has published recent articles on heat waves and climate change, California’s greenhouse gas automobile emissions standards and social norms and environmental behavior. She is the author with Daniel Farber and Jody Freeman of Environmental Law (7th Ed. 2007). She co-edited the 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Southern California Environmental Report Cards.
Randall D. Crane
Professor
Department of Urban Planning
Director of Undergraduate Programs
Ph.D. Urban Studies and Planning, MIT
Areas of Expertise:
Urban environmental and development problems.
Research
Some of Professor Crane's studies are applied planning problems, such as the provision of urban services in poor countries, governance reform, and transportation policy. Others involve more basic research on the costs and benefits of public policies, such as the influence of taxes on urban structure or the measure and meaning of sprawl. Recent projects include a study of water governance alternatives in the San Francisco Bay area, municipal governance and urban development strategies in Yemen, housing trends among low-income households in the U.S. (especially California), municipal capacity building and decentralization in Indonesia, the linkages among housing, transportation, and labor markets in growing cities, and the state of academic research on sprawl and smart growth.
J.R. DeShazo
Associate Professor
Department of Public Policy
Director, Lewis Center for Regional Public Policy
B.A. College of William and Mary
M.Sc. Oxford University
Ph.D. Harvard University
Areas of Expertise:
Environmental economics and policy; local public finance, with applications to urban infrastructure and protected areas; political economy; financial management of public services.
Hilary Godwin
Chair and Professor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Member, California NanoSystems Institute
B.S. Chemistry, University of Chicago
Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Stanford University
Areas of Expertise:
Molecular toxicology of heavy metals and environmental chemistry.
Research
Professor Godwin's research focuses on the basic chemical and biological mechanisms by which toxic metal ions affect neurological signaling and development. Current projects include: (1) determining the effects of lead on gene expression; (2) studying the biophysical interactions between lead and target proteins; (3) studying the rates and mechanisms of metal exchange in proteins; (4) studying the distribution of toxic metals in urban and rural environments and investigating environmental sources of lead exposure; and (5) developing new methods for detection of lead on surfaces and in cells.
Steve Hubbell
Professor
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Member, California NanoSystems Institute
B.A., Carleton College
Ph.D., UC Berkeley
Research
Community ecology; biodiversity
Matthew E. Kahn
Professor
Institute of the Environment, Department of Economics, Department of
Public Policy
B.A. Hamilton College
G.C. London School of Economics
Ph.D. Economics, University of Chicago
Areas of Expertise:
Urbanization, pollution caused by economic growth, energy demand, social networks, air pollution, regulation, climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Research
Professor Kahn's research focuses on measuring how environmental quality is affected by economic growth. Recently, he is conducting more research on the broad issue of climate change mitigation. A second general area of research focuses on measuring household demand for environmental quality.
Professor
Department of Geography
B.A. Hons. Geography, University of California Berkeley
M.Sc. Geography, University of Calgary
Ph.D. Botany, University of Toronto
Areas of Expertise:
Relationship between climatic variations and vegetation response at different spatial and temporal scales.
Research
In our lab we use fossil pollen, fossil stomates, plant macrofossils, tree-rings, geochemistry and historical records to reconstruct past climate variation and then examine vegetation changes caused by these variations. My lab facilities are relatively extensive and consist of four rooms with full facilities for pollen and plant macrofossil processing and analysis, tree-ring analysis and elementary sedimentological analysis. Field equipment includes livingstone and hiller sediment corers, tree-ring corers and chainsaws, GPS, radios, and misc. field camp supplies. Areas of active field research include the northern Great Plains and adjacent Rocky Mountains, the North American subarctic, Russia and Siberia.
Academic Director, Institute of the Environment
Research Scientist, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
B.S. Zoology, University of Wisconson, Madison
Ph.D. Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle
Areas of Expertise:
Integration of behavioral ecology and conservation biology, invasive species biology.
Research
My research focuses on the behavioral ecology and conservation biology of birds, with particular emphasis on understanding how native species respond behaviorally to exotic species invasions. Because exotic invasions can alter ecosystems very rapidly, it is crucial to assess whether native species possess enough behavioral flexibility, or plasticity, to cope with changes in their environment. Currently, I am examining how changes in habitat associated with the invasion of an Atlantic cordgrass into the salt marshes of San Francisco Bay affects populations of resident birds.
Suzanne E. Paulson
Professor
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Chair, Environmental Science Faculty Advisory Committee
B.A. Chemistry, University of Colorado
M.S. Plant Biology, University of Illinois
M.S. and Ph.D. Environmental Engineering Science, California Institute of Technology
Areas of Expertise:
Atmospheric Chemistry, Climate and Health Impacts of Aerosol Particles
Research
Professor Paulson’s research focuses on chemical and physical aspects of pressing atmospheric environmental problems: (1) Determining aerosol optical properties and their impacts on the Earth’s climate; (2) Investigating the chemical source of the toxicity of particulate pollution; (3) Gas-phase smog formation chemistry; (4) Environmental impacts of biofuels; (5) Measuring pollutant exposures in urban microenvironments.
Assistant Professor
Institute of the Environment, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
B.S., Biology, Pennsylvania State University
Ph.D., Marine Science, UC Santa Barbara
Areas of Expertise:
Marine phytoplankton ecology, physiology and biogeochemistry.
Research
Prof. Shipe's primary research interests are the ecology and physiology of marine phytoplankton. The major focus of her work has been directed at determining the relationships between diatoms and their environment, with specific attention to factors that control phytoplankton growth (from nutrient physiology to large scale climatic conditions such as ENSO cycles), and how these factors affect the contributions of phytoplankton to global matter budgets. The techniques she uses include laboratory work and cruises in both open ocean and coastal waters. She works in the Southern California Bight region, which consists of several basins and is a natural laboratory for her multidisciplinary approach to understanding the role of marine phytoplankton in biogeochemical cycles.
Professor
Institute of the Environment
Professor and Chair
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
B.S. Biological Sciences, University of California-Irvine
M.S. Zoology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Ph.D. Biological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Areas of Expertise:
Population biology, conservation genetics, and evolutionary dynamics of plant populations.
Research
My research addresses contemporary evolutionary processes in plant populations. In particular, I am interested in the interaction between gene flow and natural selection on the genetic structure of tree populations from an evolutionary and conservation perspective. Over the years, I have been interested in plant mating systems, seed dispersal, and demography of plants in tropical and temperate ecosystems. The scale of my research has ranged from the local site to landscape. Future research topics include phylogeography and hybridization of oaks. One major focus of my lab is the study of contemporary gene flow on a landscape scale. Previous work has shown that landscape modification alters patterns of pollen-mediated gene movement in wind- and insect-pollinated species. A second current focus of our laboratory is seed dispersal and its impact on gene flow and genetic diversity of plant populations. We are developing an innovative new statistical approach that will allow the comparison of dispersal by different dispersal agents, such as birds versus terrestrial mammals, or disturbed versus undisturbed habitats. Pilot studies are underway in California and the tropics.
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
B.S. Clemson University
M.S. Clemson University
Ph.D. Clemson University
Areas of Expertise:
Process development for stormwater management and wastewater treatment systems, including mathematical modeling and optimization.
Research
Recent experimental work has focused on estimating oxygen transfer in activated sludge plants, including high purity oxygen plants. Field studies are being conducted at plants to ascertain fine pore diffuser fouling rates and develop cleaning techniques. This work is coupled with theoretical and laboratory scale work to better determine the effects of surfactants on oxygen transfer through dynamic surface tension measurements. The results are now being applied to major energy conservation programs at several major treatment plants across the United States and Canada. Also, we are predicting the ability of energy conservation and process modifications at treatment plants for modifying the release of green house gases. Over the past 15 years we have developed ways for predicting pollutant emissions from stormwater runoff. We have developed several models to estimate pollutant emissions using the Santa Monica Bay watershed as a case study. These include empirical spreadsheet models as well as SWMM. Recent efforts have concentrated on calibrating both types of models. I am a participate or consultant to many agencies that are trying to improve the wastewater treatment or stormwater management.
Associate Director
Institute of the Environment
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Areas of Expertise:
How water movement affects the fate and transport of pollutants and natural substances, interaction between fluid motion and chemical and biological processes.
Research
Prof. Stolzenbach's research focuses on coastal water quality issues. Shipboard, satellite and fixed mooring measurements in the Southern California Bight and Santa Monica Bay are integrated with high-resolution, three-dimensional numerical model simulations to better understand coastal circulation patterns and the dynamics of coastal plankton populations. Fundamental studies of fine particle behavior in porous aggregates and deposited sediments contribute to the understanding of the fate of particle-associated contaminants. Measurement and modeling of atmospheric deposition quantifies the effect of this non-point source on urban runoff water quality.
Richard P. Turco
Professor
Institute of the Environment,
Department of Atmoshperic and Oceanic Sciences
B.S. Electrical Engineering, Rutgers University
M.S. Electrical Engineering/Physics, University of Illinois
Ph.D. Electrical Engineering/Physics, University
of Illinois
Areas of Expertise:
Atmospheric chemistry, radiation, climate and aerosol microphysics.
Research
Professor Turco's research program focuses primarily on theoretical analyses and modeling, in which observations are used to conceptualize, design and test complex numerical codes. The models are then applied to interpret field observations and refine theories of atmospheric composition, radiation, and climate processes.
Professor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Environmental Science and Engineering Program
B.S. University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D. Ohio State University
Areas of Expertise:
Air pollution, exposure assessment and atmospheric chemistry.
Research
Professor Winer's research program focuses primarily on experimental and modeling studies concerned with air pollutant exposure assessment, with an emphasis on children's exposure to toxic air contaminants, including diesel exhaust. Recent and current field studies involve measurements in several microenvironments important for children's exposure, including residential homes, portable classrooms and diesel school buses. The overarching goal of all these field-based research projects is to more accurately characterize air pollutant exposure in critical microenvironments, rather than relying on data from and handful of fixed-site outdoor air monitors.