Steven Gray

Steven Gray is a full professor in the Department of Community Sustainability at Michigan State University (MSU). He holds additional appointments at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is a fellow at the Collective Intelligence Unit at the IT University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on socio-environmental modeling, knowledge diversity, and collective intelligence for sustainability, with over 100 peer-reviewed publications and a leading role in editing Environmental Modeling with Stakeholders: Methods, Theories and Applications.

Gray’s work is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, NOAA, USDA, and international bodies like the Belmont Forum. His lab develops the Mental Modeler software, applied globally in environmental planning contexts such as marine spatial planning, citizen science projects, coastal hazard mitigation, and agricultural conservation. Key projects include Collaborative Modeling of Mangroves and Seawalls (NOAA, 2023–2025) and Integrating Perspective-taking and Systems Thinking (NSF, 2021–2024).

Research interests emphasize participatory modeling, systems thinking, and leveraging stakeholder knowledge for environmental decision-making. Notable contributions include advancing frameworks for assessing cognitive diversity in stakeholder groups and analyzing the role of collective intelligence in conservation. Gray’s lab also addresses urban food systems, disaster resilience, and climate-smart agriculture through interdisciplinary collaborations.

Academic achievements include being named a fellow at the Collective Intelligence Unit and leading MSU’s Human-Environment Interactions Lab. Current projects focus on coastal resilience, fisheries management, and participatory approaches to complex environmental challenges.