Meet the Faculty

Thesis Chairs and Advisors

katherine-cushing

Katherine Cushing

Professor
Department Chair

Email: katherine.cushing@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-6951
Office: WSQ 118B
Office hours: 
Book an appointment - (receive zoom link in confirmation email)

Ph.D., Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
B.S., Industrial Engineering, Northwestern University

Top Research Interests

  • Water Reuse
  • Environmental Policy Implementation
  • Environmental Education
dustin-mulvaney

Dustin Mulvaney

Professor

Email: dustin.mulvaney@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5439
Office: WSQ 115A
Office Hours

Ph.D., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
M.S., Environmental Policy, New Jersey Institute of Technology
B.A., Chemical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Top Research Interests

  • Political Ecology
  • Science & Technology Studies
  • Solar Power Commodity Chains
  • Land Use & Recycling
rachel-omalley

Rachel E. O'Malley

Professor
Graduate Program Coordinator

Email: rachel.omalley@sjsu.edu
Phone: (831) 334-1066
Office: WSQ 118A
Office hours: Book an appointment.

Ph.D., Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz
B.A., Biology, Swarthmore College

Top Research Interests

  • Insect Ecology
  • Conservation & Restoration
  • Environmental Justice & Impact Assessment
  • International & CA Coastal Sustainable Agriculture
costanza-rampini

Costanza Rampini

Associate Professor

Email: costanza.rampini@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-8979
Office: WSQ 111C
Office Hours: 

Ph.D., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
B.A., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara

Top Research Interests

  • Human Dimensions of Climate Change
  • Risks & Disasters
  • Environmental Justice
will-russell

Will Russell

Professor

Email: will.russell@sjsu.edu
Office: WSQ 115B

Office Hours: 

Ph.D., Environmental Science Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley

Top Research Interests

  • Forest Disturbance & Recovery
  • Fire Ecology
  • Ecosystem Restoration
lynne-trulio

Lynne Trulio

Professor
Undergraduate Program Advisor

Email: lynne.trulio@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5445
Office: WSQ 115E
Office hours: Book an appointment.

Ph.D., Ecology, University of California, Davis

Top Research Interests

  • Conservation Biology
  • Human-Wildlife Interactions
  • Burrowing Owl Ecology & Conservation

Lecturers

benoit-delaveau

Benoît Delaveau

Lecturer

Email: benoit.delaveau@gmail.com
Phone: (650) 288-6653
Office: WSQ 115D

Office Hours:

M.S., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University
B.A., Sociology and Mass Communication, University of California, Berkeley

Top Research Interests

  • Green Energy
  • Green Building Infrastructure
heather-duplaisir

Heather Duplaisir

Lecturer

Email: heather.duplaisir@sjsu.edu
Phone:
(408) 924-5477
Office: WSQ 115D

Office Hours: 

M.S., Recreation, San Francisco State University
B.A., Psychology, San Francisco State University

Top Research Interests

  • Ecotourism, Sustainable, and Socially Responsible Tourism
  • Environmental Justice
  • Social Justice

Sabina Giri

Lecturer

Email: sabina.giri@sjsu.edu
Office: WSQ 115C

Office Hours: 

Janin Guzman Morales

Lecturer

Email: janin.guzmanmorales@sjsu.edu
Office: WSQ 115C

Office Hours: 

pj-iyer

Padmaja (PJ) Iyer

Lecturer

Email: padmaja.iyer@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 369-0939
Office Hours:

M.B.A., Marketing and Data Management, University of Illinois Chicago

Top Research Interests

  • Environmental Education
  • Environmental and Social Justice
  • Mining and Renewable Energy
lazzeri-aerts

Rachel Lazzeri-Aerts

Lecturer

Email: rachel.lazzeriaerts@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-7688
Office: WSQ 111B

Office Hours: 

M.S., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University
B.A., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Top Research Interests

  • Environmental Education
  • Natural Resource Analysis
  • Coastal Environments
ada-marquez

Ada Márquez

Lecturer

Email: ada.marquez@sjsu.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ada-edith-marquez/
Office: WSQ 111E

Office Hours: 

M.S., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University

Top Research Interests

  • Environmental Impact Assessments
  • California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
  • Land Use Planning
amy-petersen

Amy Petersen

Lecturer

Email: amy.petersen@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5477
Office: WSQ 115B

Office Hours: 

M.S., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University
B.A., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University

Top Research Interests

  • Resource Analysis
  • Environmental Research and Writing
  • Green Energy
mary-poffenroth

Mary Poffenroth

Lecturer

Email: mary.poffenroth@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-4831

Office Hours:

M.S., Science Communication, Imperial College London
M.S., Psychology, Fielding Graduate University
M.S., Biological Sciences, San Jose State University

Top Research Interests

  • Biological Science
  • Psychology
  • Science Communication
christina-siegel

Cristina Siegel

Lecturer

Email: cristina.siegel@sjsu.edu
Phone:
(408) 924-5477
Office: WSQ 115E

Office Hours: 

Ph.D., Forestry and Soil Biology, Virginia Tech
M.S., Forestry, Virginia Tech
B.S., Soil Science, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Top Research Interests

  • Soil Biology
  • Forest Management
  • Natural Resource Conservation
chiao-su

Chiao Su

Lecturer

Email: cheng.su@sjsu.edu
Office: WSQ 115A

Office Hours:

M.S., Mathematics and Economics

Research Interests:

  • Environmental Economics
  • Environmental Policy
  • Mathematics
jagruti-vedamati

Jagruti Vedamati

Lecturer

Email: jagruti.vedamati@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5455

Office Hours:

B.Sc., Physics, Utkal University
M.Sc., Environmental Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Ph.D., Ocean Sciences, Univ. of Southern California

Top Research Interests

  • Ocean Science
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Education

Emeritus

kathryn-davis

Kathryn Davis

Professor Emerita

Email: kathryn.davis@sjsu.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-davis-b05060a8/

Ph.D., Historical Geography and Environmental History, University of California, Berkeley
M.A., Gender History, San Fransisco State University
B.A., United States History, San Fransisco State University

Top Research Interests

  • Extreme Environments: Ocean & Desert
  • Environmental History
  • Historical Ecology
  • Race, Gender, Class & Nature
  • Women in Science
image of klee

Gary Klee

Emeritus Professor

kleegary@comcast.net
(408) 924-5455

Ph.D., Geography, University of Oregon

Top Research Interests

  • California Protected Lands (i.e., wildlands)
  • California Coastal Wetlands
  • Nature and Conservation Photography

 

In Memoriam

donald-aitken

Donald Aitken (1936-2022)

Professor

Ph.D., Physics, Stanford University
M.S., Physics, Darthmouth College

les-rowntree

Les Rowntree (1938-2019)

Professor

Ph.D., Environmental Geography, University of Oregon

frank-schiavo

Frank Schiavo (1939-2010)

Lecturer

M.S., Environmental Studies, San Jose State University