Early Career Network Profiles

Loan Diep

• Location: New York, NY

• Affiliation: Postdoc Fellow, The New School

• Keywords: Green Infrastructure, Environmental Justice, Political Ecology, Water and sanitation, Urban Rivers, Informal settlements

My work is centered on the context of informal settlements in cities of the “Global South”. My PhD was about the politics of green infrastructure in favelas in São Paulo, Brazil. I am interested in questions of equity and environmental stewardship. I also work on policy and advocacy, and explore NBS’ institutional context. I am currently co-leading NATURA’s Global NBS Roadmap project. Email

Yeowon Kim

• Location: Ottowa, Canada

• Affiliation: Assistant Professor, Carleton University

• Keywords: Resilient Infrastructure; Urban Flooding; Safe-to-fail

My work integrates quantitative and qualitative modeling and assessments to advance urban systems science and improve future resilience and sustainability across diverse cities. I research ways to improve infrastructure design and development strategies by linking safe-to-fail theory, hydrologic models, ecosystem science, infrastructure vulnerability analysis, decision support tools, and practitioner workshops.

Alysha Helmrich

• Location: Tempe, AZ, USA

• Affiliation: UREx SRN; ASU

• Keywords: infrastructure resilience; deep uncertainty; complexity

I am a PhD candidate in Civil Environmental, and Sustainable Engineering. (LinkedIn)

Lelani Mannetti

• Location: Atlanta, GA

• Affiliation: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Urban Studies Institute, Andrew Young School of Policy Analysis, Georgia State University

• Keywords: complex social-ecological systems, co-produced scenarios, natural resource policy and governance

Conservation ecologist working on novel frameworks for transformative change under climate uncertainty. Research interests include transdisciplinary approaches to foster inclusive governance for just and sustainable futures, in both rural and urban systems, and across local, national, and global policy spheres.

Luis Ortiz

• Location: New York, NY (USA)

• Affiliation: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The New School

• Keywords: urban climate, climate modeling, extreme heat, energy, climate impacts, land-atmosphere interactions, geospatial analysis

Researcher in urban climate, energy, and their interactions and impacts on infrastructure and people. Interested in evaluating how changing cities interact with a changing climate, and how these interactions intensify or mitigate impacts from the climate signal.

Stephen Elser

• Location: Tempe, AZ (USA)

• Affiliation: UREx SRN; ASU

• Keywords: green infrastructure, urban ecological infrastructure, ecosystem services, futures, scenarios, extremes

I’m a PhD candidate and I study how social, ecological, and technological factors influence how the ecosystem services from urban ecological infrastructure are perceived, provided, and prioritized in future visions. Interested in a career in science policy. (LinkedIn)

Michele Clark

• Location: Tempe, AZ (USA)

• Affiliation: Postdoctoral Research Scholar in Earth System Science for the Anthropocene (ESSA); ASU

• Keywords: Conservation ecology, social-ecological systems, ethnoecology, ethnobotany; diversity, equity, and inclusion

Yuliya Dzyuban

• Location: Singapore

• Affiliation: Postdoc, Cooling SIngapore, UREx SRN

• Keywords: Thermal Comfort, Urban Climate, Extreme Heat, Heat Perception

I am interested in interdisciplinary mixed-method work that investigates thermal comfort and thermal perceptions in hot urban settings

• Email

Katinka Wijsman

• Location: New York City & Amsterdam

• Affiliation: The New School

• Keywords: Coastal resilience, Infrastructure politics, Environmental and social justice, Interdisciplinary and feminist approaches

Environmental social scientist specialized in global and comparative politics with a focus on environmental and ecological questions. My research is focused on three interrelated fields of inquiry: the transformation of responsibility arrangements under climate change, the assemblage and governance of ecosystems, and the spatial and temporal dimensions of environmental politics.

Email

Clair Cooper

• Location: UK

• Affiliation: PhD Candidate

• Keywords: Nature-based solutions, Health & Well-being, Environmental Justice

I enjoy programming, statistical analysis, numerical weather models, and a warm cup of tea on a rainy day.

Email

Charlyn Green

• Location: Atlanta, GA, USA

• Affiliation: Georgia State University

• Keywords: Nature-based solutions, Health & Well-being, Environmental Justice

Climate resilience, well being and thriving, problem solving, social welfare policy

Email

Matthew Smith

• Location: Washington, DC

• Affiliation: Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, Florida International University

• Keywords: Coastal resilience, natural infrastructure, hybrid engineering, biogeochemistry

I’m an ecosystem ecologist interested in developing interdisciplinary strategies for climate ready communities and coastlines. Currently a NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow working with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for Water Resources and the Coastal States Organization.

Email

Cassandra Murphy

• Location: Maynooth, Ireland

• Affiliation: GoGreenRoutes

• Keywords: Nature Connectedness, Mental Health, Wellbeing, Sustainability

PhD researcher with a background in psychology looking at how nature connectedness in urban settings can improve wellbeing and sustainable behaviour.

Email

Eric Butler

• Location: Portland, Oregon, USA

• Affiliation: GoGreenRoutes

• Keywords: Urban landscapes, forests, biodiversity, connectivity and fragmentation, land conservation, research-management relationships, geospatial and GIS

Recent-ish MS graduate figuring out what I’d like to do long-term.

LinkedIn

Alex Putzer

Location: Pisa, Italy + Bos/Phil/NYC, USA

Affiliations: School of Advanced Studies Sant’Anna, MIT, UPenn, New School

Keywords: rights of nature, ecological jurisprudence

Phd in rights of urban nature, how to apply a non-anthropocentric ethics to an anthropogenic world. Email

ZBIGNIEW GRABOWSKI

Location: Mansfield, CT / Munich

Affiliations: Assistant Professor, University of Connecticut, Urban Systems Lab @ The New School / Urban Green Infrastructure Research Training Group @ Technical University of Munich

Keywords: Infrastructure, Equity, Justice, Social-Ecological-Technological Systems, Biocultural, Conservation, Restoration, Transformation

I work on the governance of infrastructure and ecosystems. I am interested in the emergence of sustainability transitions and associated knowledge systems and how they are applied in transformative settings.

Mariana Hernández-Montilla

Location: Dublin, Ireland

Affiliations: Trinity College Dublin

Keywords: Nature-based Solutions, Global South, transformative adaptation, science-policy interface, sustainability.

I am interested in understanding socio-ecological systems, conflicts, and complexities to improve conservation projects in developing countries. I have been involved in projects focused on biodiversity conservation, human-nature relationships, resilience, climate change on threatened species and ecosystems. Also, I have experience connecting people through science communication and photography. LinkedIn

Location: Singapore/Melbourne

Affiliations: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Nanyang Technological University (NTU Singapore)

Keywords: Citizen science, community participation, floods, disaster risk reduction, adaptation, constructed wetlands, water sensitive design, informal settlements, global south

My research focuses on climate change adaptation and community-based disaster risk reduction using nature-based solutions. My recent publications examine participatory methods (such as citizen science) and interrogate how communities can contribute to more nuanced and democratic decision making in the realm of nature-based solutions. Email

Hanna A. Rauf

Location: Singapore

Affiliations: Resilient and Inclusive Cities Lab @ Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore

Keywords: Informal Urbanism, Participatory methods, community-based adaptation, green infrastructure

I work on exploring the potentiality of NbS in informal settlements. Email

Laura Costadone

Location: Helsinki

Affiliations: Senior Researcher @Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)

Keywords: Greening plans, Participatory methods, Nature-based Solutions, Ecosystem Services, Climate Adaptation

My research focuses on identifying ways to enhance resilience in urban environments. I co-design and co-create pathways to uptake and implement urban sustainable development goals by engaging directly with municipalities, practitioners, decision-makers, and citizens. Email

Natalie Pierson

Location: New York City, USA

Affiliations: The New School

Keywords: Urban Environment, Nature-based Solutions, Public Health

Natalie is the Lab manager at The Urban Systems Lab. She has a BA in Environmental Studies and Interdisciplinary Science from The New School. She is interested in the intersection of urban environments and public health from the small scale (cellular processes) to the large scale (social change and policy). Natalie hopes to channel her love of science into equitable urban health and justice practices. She is currently working on the NATURA Global Roadmap project which is synthesizing global and regional knowledge of urban NBS research and practice. LinkedIn

Paul Drenning

Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

Affiliations:

Keywords: Gentle remediation options (GRO), Phytoremediation, Contaminated sites, Brownfields, Ecosystem services, Risk management

I'm a current PhD student at Chalmers University of Technology working with gentle remediation options (GRO) like phytoremediation to both manage risks at contaminated sites and provide ecosystem services. Email

Martina Kicic

Location: Croatia

Affiliations: Croatian Forest Research Institute

Keywords: urban forests, urban trees, resilience, ecosystem services

Email

Hopeland P

Location: Chennai, India

Affiliations:

Keywords: Biodiversity, ecology, sustainability, ecological masterplanning practitioner and researcher

I am an ecologist, sustainability researcher and practitioner working in India frequently using nature as a NBS and NBS solutions in my practice. Email

Maitreyi Koduganti Venkata

Location: Lansing, Michigan, USA

Affiliations: Indian Institute for Human Settlements, India

Keywords: Climate Change, Water Governance, Cities and Urban Studies, Gender and informality

Much of my work in the last eight years focused on climate sciences, agrarian and vulnerability studies, resource management, gender studies, sustainability and Research-into-Use. Email

Giesberta Shaanika

Location: Windhoek, Namibia

Affiliations: PhD candidate - University of Namibia (UNAM), University of St Andrews, FLOURISH project

Keywords: Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Flooding, Erosion, Urban Resilience, Informal Settlement, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), Participatory Methods

My research focuses on the role of nature-based solutions (NbS) in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and ecosystem health in informal settlements in northern Namibia. We employ participatory methods to co-design context-specific NbS measures with the residents. And yes, you guessed it—I’m a Geologist ☺. Let’s collaborate, engage, and learn from each other! Email

Marthe Derkzen

Location: Wageningen, the Netherlands

Affiliations: Researcher & Lecturer at Wageningen University & Research

Keywords: Urban greening, Justice, Health and wellbeing, Citizen initiatives

My work focuses on green cities, health and social justice. I conduct participatory action research on citizen initiatives for a healthy living environment. I much enjoy art-science collaborations. Email

Pablo Herreros Cantis

Location: Bilbao, Spain

Affiliations: Basque Center for Climate Change / The New School - Urban Systems Lab / Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals - Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona

Keywords: Urban Ecosystem Services, Complex Systems Mapping, Co-production, Risk Assessments, Urban Adaptation

Email