Meet the Faculty

Thesis Chairs and Advisors

katherine-cushing

Katherine Cushing

Professor and
Department Chair

Office hours, sign up here!
Email: katherine.cushing@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-6951

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

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 and Graduate Program Coordinator

Office hours, sign up here!
Email:
rachel.omalley@sjsu.edu
Phone: (831) 334-1066

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

Assistant Professor

Email: costanza.rampini@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-8979

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
Phone: (408) 924-5450

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 and Undergraduate Program Advisor

Office hours, sign up here!
Email: lynne.trulio@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5445

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

Top Research Interests

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

Gary Klee

Professor

Email: kleegary@comcast.net
Phone: (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

*Not currently accepting Master of Science students

Lecturers

benoit-delaveau

Benoît Delaveau

Lecturer

Email: benoit.delaveau@gmail.com
Phone: (650) 288-6653

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

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
patrick-ferraro

Patrick Ferraro

Lecturer

Email: ptferraro5@gmail.com
Phone: (408) 293-1852

M.S., Environmental Engineering, San Jose State University
B.S., Civil Engineering, Loyola Marymount University

Top Research Interests

  • Water Resource Management
  • Water Policy in the U.S.
pj-iyer

Padmaja (PJ) Iyer

Lecturer

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
helen-killeen

Helen Killeen

Lecturer

Email: helen.killeen@sjsu.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkilleen

B.A., International Studies, American University
B.A., Environmental Studies, American University
Ph.D., Ecology, University of California, Davis

Top Research Interests

  • Marine Ecology
  • Natural Resource Policy
  • Environmental Education
lazzeri-aerts

Rachel Lazzeri-Aerts

Lecturer

Email: rachel.lazzeriaerts@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-7688

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/

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

Top Research Interests

  • Environmental Impact Assessments
  • California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
  • Land Use Planning
sung-jay

Sung Jay Ou

Lecturer

Email: sungjay.ou@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5566

Ph.D., Socio-cultural Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Top Research Interests

  • Anthropology
  • Indigenous Communities
  • Social and Ecological Sustainability
amy-petersen

Amy Petersen

Lecturer

Email: amy.petersen@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-5477

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

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

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
nadine-skinner

Nadine Skinner

Lecturer

Email: nadine.skinner@sjsu.edu
Website: https://nadineannskinner.wordpress.com/

Ph.D., International Comparative Education, Stanford University
M.P.A., Social Policy, Cornell University
B.A., Politics and History, University of California, Santa Cruz

Top research Interests

  • Environmental Education
  • Environmental and Social Justice
chiao-su

Chiao Su

Lecturer

Email: cheng.su@sjsu.edu

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

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