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: Tue 10:00-noon or by appointment
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: ENVS 133: Mon 2:00-3:00pm, Tue 2:00-3:00pm, or by appt. 
ENVS 124: Tue 12:00-1:30pm 

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: Tues 2:00-3:00pm via Zoom, or by appointment.

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: 
ENVS 150: By appointment
ENVS 173 & ENVS 250: Tue 10:30-11:30 am by appointment

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

In Person Office Hours:
Mon 12:00-1:15pm
Wed 12:00-1:15pm
Zoom Office Hours:
Tue 10:30-11:30am
Thu10:30-11:30am
Book your appointment

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: 
Tue 3:30-4:30pm
Also available by appointment.

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: 
Zoom by appointment.

pj-iyer

Padmaja (PJ) Iyer

Lecturer
Not teaching Fall 2024

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

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: Mon and Wed 9:30-10:15am and by appointment; (ENVS 158-80, after class or by appt.)

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: Tue 12:00-1:15pm by zoom, also available by appointment.

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: Thu 12:00-1:00pm via Zoom, also by appointment.

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
Not teaching Fall 2024

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

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: Wed 12:00-1:15pm, by appt (Mon/Wed)

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

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

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