Dr. Kurt Stanberry is a Professor at the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD), with 45 years of academic and professional experience (30 at UHD, 15 at other institutions). A licensed attorney in Texas , his work bridges legal studies, business ethics, and international law . He holds a Juris Doctor (JD) from the University of Houston, an MBA (with Health Care Administration emphasis) from Temple University, and a BA in Philosophy from Yale University. Teaching Interests: legal studies, ethics, international law, supply chain law Research Interests: energy policy, employment law, ethics, corporate social responsibility Recent scholarship focuses on anti-bribery policies, DEI initiatives via Open Educational Resources, equity crowdfunding, gender pay gaps, and non-compete agreements. His 2025 article on international business bribery rules and 2024 work on global anti-corruption tools highlight his policy engagement. Awards: PLM Endowed Professorship (2019) Service includes committee roles at UHD (Conflict of Interest, Faculty Awards, Academic Affairs), professional presentations on leadership and energy law, and consulting in small business legal matters since 1978.
Kevin J. Lynch is Professor of Law and Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where he has established himself as a leading scholar at the intersection of environmental law, property rights, and energy regulation. His scholarship spans multiple decades with increasing focus on climate adaptation challenges. Professor Lynch's research interests include: Environmental law and climate change adaptation frameworks Property rights and regulatory takings, particularly regarding oil and gas development Energy law, with specialized expertise in hydraulic fracturing regulations Civil procedure, especially regarding preliminary injunctions and discovery The public trust doctrine in natural resource management His recent scholarly trajectory shows a significant evolution toward addressing the legal challenges of high-warming scenarios. Lynch has published extensively on the constitutional boundaries of environmental regulation, particularly regarding property rights in energy contexts, with his most recent work examining forced pooling doctrines and adaptation governance in a 4°C world. His scholarship demonstrates both theoretical sophistication and practical relevance to current legal debates surrounding energy development and climate adaptation. As Executive Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Lynch oversees critical academic functions at the Sturm College of Law, including curriculum development, faculty appointments, and academic programming. His leadership role complements his scholarly work by positioning him at the intersection of legal education and evolving environmental governance challenges.
Adrianne C. Kroepsch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at the Colorado School of Mines, where she also serves as the NREP Graduate Program Co-Director. Her work centers on environmental governance in the American West, with a focus on water, unconventional oil and gas, and wildfire. She is deeply engaged in interdisciplinary research that bridges environmental policy, political ecology, and science and technology studies. PhD in Environmental Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder MS in Geography, University of Colorado-Boulder BS in Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University Her research explores the politics of environmental knowledge, particularly in hydrosocial systems. She investigates how decisions are made under uncertainty, how expertise is claimed and contested, and how governance adapts to climate change and resource extraction. Key themes include groundwater monitoring, cloud seeding, hydraulic fracturing, and post-wildfire water resilience. She employs qualitative methods such as interviews, discourse analysis, and ethnography. Her recent publications span journals like Water Alternatives , Geoforum , Environmental Communication , and Energy Research & Social Science . The articles reflect a consistent focus on environmental governance, scalar politics, and the interplay between science and policy. Trends include the institutionalization of uncertain technologies (e.g., cloud seeding), the politics of measurement (e.g., unmonitored groundwater), and community responses to energy and wildfire risks. Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Fellowship Edna Bailey Sussman Fellowship Hydrologic Science & Engineering Fellowship Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Dr. Kroepsch actively mentors graduate and undergraduate students, particularly in the Hydrology, Policy, and Management and Natural Resources & Energy Policy programs. She has secured significant external funding from the National Science Foundation, USDA, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Her outreach includes public writing for High Country News and The Conversation , and she co-developed a citizen science groundwater monitoring guide. She is involved in interdisciplinary collaborations across engineering, hydrology, and social sciences. She leads a dynamic research group focused on environmental governance, with current projects on dead pool scenarios in hydropower systems, the politics of cloud seeding, and collaborative watershed management for wildfire resilience. Her lab emphasizes interdisciplinary training and public engagement.
Nichola Harmer is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Plymouth, affiliated with the School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She serves as Admissions Tutor for Geography and teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programs, including Sustainable Futures, Citizenship, Territory, War, and Environmental Politics and Governance. Her research interests focus on environmental governance, sustainability, and the socio-political dimensions of environmental policy, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty eradication and environmental protection. Dr. Harmer supervises PhD research on fracking's rural community impacts and environmental legislation in Gibraltar. She also mentors undergraduate and masters-level dissertations in Geography and Sustainable Environmental Management. Her teaching emphasizes methodological rigor and interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary global challenges. Current roles include co-teaching on the MRes Human Geography program and serving as a personal tutor for Geography with International Relations students. Her work bridges academic research with practical applications in policy and community engagement.
Andreas Beerli is a Lecturer at the Department of Management, Technology, and Economics at ETH Zürich. He works as a postdoctoral researcher at the KOF Economic Institute and the Immigration Policy Lab, focusing on labor markets, immigration, and public policy. He co-founded Policy Analytics , a platform supporting evidence-based social programs. His research employs causal methods like field experiments and administrative data analysis. PhD in Economics from the University of Zurich Beerli's work bridges health economics , social policy design , and economic integration . He investigates how immigration affects labor markets and political attitudes, how technology shapes migration patterns, and how public policies can be rigorously evaluated for impact. His recent projects explore cannabis regulation , mental health interventions for refugees, and criminal justice reforms . His peer-reviewed articles analyze immigration's effects on Swiss firms and workers, skill-biased technology's role in migration, and technical change in Chinese manufacturing. Current working papers examine refugee employment restrictions, procedural justice in criminal trials, and cannabis policy. Media outlets like Foreign Policy , VoxEU , and Tagesanzeiger have featured his work. Beerli collaborates with institutions such as the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) , Kununu , Harvard's Access to Justice Lab , and the Swiss National Science Foundation . His methodological focus includes randomized evaluations , linked administrative datasets , and psychological mechanisms in policy design.
Thomas Kohl is Professor of Geothermal Energy at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), holding the EnBW Endowed Professorship since 2010. He serves as spokesperson for KIT's geothermal research initiatives and deputy director of the Baden-Württemberg State Research Center for Geothermal Energy (LFZG), advancing geothermal energy as a baseload, low-CO 2 power source for the energy transition. His research targets hydraulic stimulation techniques for deep geothermal reservoirs (3-5 km depth), analyzing rock mechanics and stress fields to prevent micro-earthquakes and groundwater contamination. Kohl evaluates data from Soultz-sous-Forêts and Bruchsal sites to model geomechanical behavior, emphasizing environmental safety distinct from shale gas fracking. He leads the GeoLaB project—an underground laboratory in a disused Black Forest mine—to study three-dimensional rock stimulation processes at real-world scales. Kohl collaborates with KIT's Institute of Mineralogy and Geochemistry on interdisciplinary solutions for groundwater protection and corrosion-resistant materials. His work leverages Baden-Württemberg's high-temperature geothermal potential (over 170°C at 3 km depth) to support district heating and electricity generation, addressing the state's goal of 90% greenhouse gas reduction by 2050 through sustainable heat-sector decarbonization.
Jeanine M Buchanich is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health , with over 25 years of expertise in occupational and environmental health epidemiology . Her work focuses on community health impacts from industrial exposures, disparities in mortality linked to social and environmental determinants, and overdose mortality trends during the opioid epidemic. She has led studies using linked administrative databases and collaborated extensively on interdisciplinary research. Education: BS (Psychology, 1993), MEd (School Counseling, 1996), MPH (Epidemiology, 1998), PhD (Epidemiology Teaching, 2007) – all from University of Pittsburgh Her research spans environmental hazards (e.g., fracking, ethylene cracker plants), mortality disparities , and adverse birth outcomes . Publications in Science , Nature Medicine , and British Medical Journal highlight her influence. She mentors students at all levels and has advised over 70 MS/PhD students. Buchanich actively contributes to public health practice through community-engaged projects and serves as a statistical lead in high-impact studies. She teaches courses like Public Health Communications and Data for Good , emphasizing the application of biostatistics to societal challenges.
Phil Bartie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Heriot-Watt University's School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences in Edinburgh. His research integrates spatial analysis with environmental and social issues, focusing on how geographic information systems can address urban sustainability challenges. Current affiliations include active supervision of PhD students and collaboration with interdisciplinary teams across environmental science and social policy domains. His research interests center on Geographic Information Systems (GIS), spatial data analysis, and environmental informatics, with specific applications in blue space accessibility, urban planning, and energy policy analysis. Work examines how natural environments impact wellbeing, particularly during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, and investigates public attitudes toward energy transitions using social media analytics and mixed-methods approaches. Key methodologies include geospatial modeling, Twitter activity mapping, and solicited research diaries for longitudinal wellbeing assessment. Recent publications reveal strong trends in spatial analysis of environmental-social intersections, particularly examining UK public discourse on fracking through Twitter geotagging, climate change belief systems influencing energy attitudes, and restorative benefits of inland blue spaces. His work consistently bridges technical GIS capabilities with societal challenges, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to sustainable cities and climate action. Phil Bartie actively supervises PhD students and contributes to research grants focused on urban environmental systems, though specific grant details aren't publicly enumerated. His REAL corpus dataset (2016) demonstrates expertise in creating multimodal language resources for spatial reference resolution. Research occurs within interdisciplinary teams addressing urban sustainability, with emphasis on translating geospatial analysis into practical urban planning applications and environmental policy recommendations. Current projects examine spatial dimensions of energy transitions and nature-based wellbeing interventions in urban contexts.
Amanda Maull is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Susquehanna University. She completed her PhD, MA, and BA in Sociology at Pennsylvania State University. Her research explores how historical context, cultural dynamics, and interest group interactions shape political action, with a current focus on the anti-fracking movement and energy policy in New York and Pennsylvania. Education: PhD, MA, BA in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University Her work in political sociology emphasizes the interplay between social movements, environmental activism, and institutional frameworks. She investigates how cultural narratives and organizational structures influence collective political behavior.
Dr. Sarah Sivers is a Professor in the School of Law & Social Sciences at Robert Gordon University, specializing in healthcare law and ethics. She holds a PhD in criminal law from the University of Edinburgh and serves as a Fellow of the Royal Society for Arts (FRSA) and Advance HE. Her research focuses on critical issues in medical ethics, particularly: End-of-life ethics and decision-making Advance care planning and directives Dispute resolution in pediatric treatment Autonomy, capacity and medical decision-making Legal frameworks for assisted dying Dr. Sivers' recent publications (2023-2025) demonstrate a strong focus on resolving conflicts between parents and clinicians regarding pediatric end-of-life care in Scotland, with multiple studies examining pathways to dispute resolution that avoid court intervention. Her work bridges theoretical legal frameworks with practical healthcare applications. Her scholarly recognition includes: Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (FRSA) Advanced HE Fellowship External examiner appointments at multiple universities Dr. Sivers actively supervises PhD students on topics related to medical ethics and law, with recent supervision including theses on Nigerian legal frameworks, environmental law, and commercial arbitration. She has served on both the North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee and the Clinical Ethics Committee for NHS Grampian, providing practical context for her academic work. Her research group collaborates with NHS Grampian on dispute resolution projects and contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health, inequality reduction, and justice systems.
Scott Franklin is a Professor and Department Chair in the School of Biological Sciences within the College of Natural and Health Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado. He has been at UNC since 2008, progressing from Assistant Professor to his current position as full Professor and Department Chair since 2014. Prior to UNC, he held faculty positions at the University of Memphis (1997-2008) and was a Research Fellow at the University of Joensuu, Finland. Dr. Franklin's educational background includes dual PhDs in Plant Ecology from Southern Illinois University (1996) and Biology/Forestry from the University of Joensuu, Finland (1996), an MS in Forest Ecology from Southern Illinois University (1990), and a BS in Biology/Conservation Management from Upper Iowa University (1988). His research focuses on vegetation dynamics in relation to disturbance , with particular expertise in fire ecology, flood ecology, and clonal plant ecology. Dr. Franklin studies both short-term and long-term responses of vegetation communities to natural and applied (restoration) disturbances, with special attention to spatial and temporal patterns of disturbances and their effects on severity. Dr. Franklin has received notable recognition including a J. William Fulbright Fellowship and an Editor's Choice Award for his work on terrestrial biomes. His research spans diverse ecosystems from the Colorado Front Range to the Qinling Mountains of China, with particular emphasis on aspen and bamboo ecology. Member of the Ecological Society of America Vegetation Classification Panel Member of the International Association of Vegetation Science Vegetation Classification Working Group Associate Editor for The American Midland Naturalist Associate Editor for Phytocoenologia Dr. Franklin actively mentors graduate students, with numerous PhD and MS students completing research under his supervision on topics ranging from sagebrush restoration to the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on vegetation. His lab maintains international collaborations, particularly with researchers in China and Slovakia. The Franklin Lab conducts both basic and applied research, with current projects including: Seeds of Success Study examining sagebrush restoration Aspen Clonal Ecology research in the Colorado Front Range Classification of the Pawnee National Grasslands Long-term Changes in Front Range Forests Ecological Impacts of Fracking Sites
Gerardo Castañeda-Garza serves as an Adjunct Researcher at the Institute for the Future of Education, Tecnológico de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education), Campus Monterrey. He is an active member of the Group for Research and Innovation in Education (GIIE) within the Development and Use of Educational Technology research line. His academic credentials include a Bachelor of Psychology and a PhD in Educational Innovation, both earned at Tecnológico de Monterrey. Dr. Castañeda-Garza specializes in interdisciplinary educational research with emphasis on energy literacy in Mexico. His work investigates energy education through MOOCs, analyzes energy representations in elementary textbooks, and explores learning analytics applications in Mexican higher education. Recent research extends to AI applications in mental health and visual narratives of energy loss during natural disasters, consistently addressing social resilience through educational frameworks. Analysis of his 2018-2025 publications reveals dominant themes in Mexican energy literacy assessment (60% of works), digital analysis of energy controversies (20%), and learning analytics implementation (15%). His research uniquely bridges energy policy education with sustainable development goals, particularly focusing on textbook content analysis and public perception studies across diverse Mexican regions. He actively contributes to the Group for Research and Innovation in Education (GIIE) and previously participated in the Binational Laboratory for Energy Sustainability. His expertise directly supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4 (Quality Education), 12 (Responsible Consumption), and 11 (Sustainable Cities), with current projects examining MOOC efficacy for national energy literacy improvement.
