The Global Change and Sustainability Center is a nexus for faculty who are broadly interested in the interactions among human and natural ecosystems and the global changes that are influencing dynamics, sustainability and connectivities across these systems.
GCSC-affiliated faculty conduct cutting-edge research focused on reconstructing the past, understanding current and complex environmental challenges, and predicting future scenarios – all with the same overall goal of sustainable solutions.
Researchers apply to affiliate with the GCSC in order to benefit from and contribute to interdisciplinary engagement, research, and graduate student training.
Currently, the Global Change and Sustainability Center is composed of faculty from eleven colleges at the University of Utah. Click through the tabs to view affiliated faculty from each college. Go here for an alphabetical list of faculty affiliates.
The departments of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and Metallurgical Engineering (MET E) have merged into a single academic department administered jointly by the College of Engineering and College of Mines and Earth Sciences.
Leif Anderson, Research Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
My research addresses how landscapes and glaciers respond to climate change. Explaining where hazardous glacial lakes form and drain allows for the future projection of hazards and water resources, as perturbation of downstream hydrology can have drastic effects on downstream ecosystems.
Lauren Birgenheier, Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Lauren studies sedimentology and stratigraphy, sequence stratigraphy, geochemistry, hydrocarbon/ petroleum geology, reservoir characterization, unconventional resources, as well as sedimentary successions record of paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic change that can be used to understand current and predict future climate change
Gabriel Bowen, Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Gabe Bowen uses light stable isotopes and other tools to study coupling between the carbon cycle, water cycle, and ecology and evolution, both today and in the geological past. He is particularly interested in understanding how the spatial structure of these coupled systems emerges from and reflects their functioning and changes therein.
Brenda B. Bowen, Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Brenda Bowen’s research interests are focused on the
inter-relationships between sediments and fluids in both modern and ancient sedimentary environments and the depositional and diagenetic processes that influence paleoenvironmental records.
Paul D. Brooks, Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Paul Brooks’ work integrates advances in quantifying water cycle dynamics with related disciplines of ecology, biogeochemistry, geology, and engineering to understand the resilience, resistance, and recovery of coupled human-natural systems to disturbance.
Thure Cerling, Distinguished Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Thure Cerling’s research focuses on the geochemistry of processes occurring at near Earth’s surface and the geological record of ecological change.
Marjorie Chan, Distinguished Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Marjorie Chan’s research interests are in clastic sedimentary geology, and multidisciplinary studies using aspects of facies, basin analysis, fluid flow, and modeling (with applications toward environmental and predictive problems).
Juan Carlos de Obeso, Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
My work is focused on understanding processes of water-rock interactions driving environmental and geologic changes as well as their potential to be enhanced towards a clean energy transition.
Zak Fang, Professor, Metallurgical Engineering in Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Research Statement:
Zak Fang’s work is focused on applying materials science in general, and powder materials in particular, to address the challenges of energy and environmental issues from a material perspective.
Diego Fernandez, Research Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Diego Fernandez’s field of study includes environmental records, geochronology and geoanalytical methods.
Michael Free, Professor, Metallurgical Engineering in Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Research Statement:
My research interests are focused primarily on metals and their interactions with solution environments. I am also very involved with industrial research that is often designed to save energy, reduce emissions, and more efficiently use resources.
Timothy Garrett
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Timothy Garrett’s research focus is in the field of cloud physics, and also includes the development of simple physical models for understanding civilization growth.
Gannet Hallar
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
The overarching theme of my research is using high quality measurements of trace gases, aerosol physical and chemical properties, and cloud microphysics to understand connections between the biosphere, atmosphere, and climate, along with the impact of anthropogenic emissions on these connections.
Jessica Haskins
Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
My research in atmospheric chemistry seeks to answer fundamental questions about which chemical pathways drive variability in air pollution formation in different environmental and emissions regimes and how we expect that to change in the future.
Sebastian Hoch
Research Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Sebastian Hoch’s research interests include atmospheric radiation, boundary layer processes, and surface climate.
John Horel
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
John Horel’s research is centered on the weather and climate of the western United States, data assimilation, mountain meteorology, fire weather, and Great Salt Lake studies.
Randall Irmis
Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Randall Irmis’ research investigates the evolution of terrestrial ecosystems in deep time, particularly in response to climate change. Much of this work focuses on vertebrate animals from the Mesozoic hothouse world, a possible analogue to our future human-induced climate state.
Marie Jackson
Research Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Marie Jackson’s research interests focus on the cementititous characteristics of Roman concretes and volcanic tephra deposits, and the implementation of these materials in environmentally-friendly concretes.
Paul Jewell
Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Paul Jewell’s field of study includes surface water hydrology, surficial processes, and the fluid dynamics of earth processes.
Cari Johnson
Professor, Geology & Geophyics
Research Statement:
Cari Johnson’s research is broadly aimed at interpreting the sedimentary record as it relates to basin evolution, and includes sedimentary geology, basin analysis, and petroleum geology.
William Johnson
Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
William Johnson’s field of study includes geological engineering, hydrology, colloid transport, and aqueos organic chemistry.
Mark Koopman
Research Assistant Professor, Metallurgical Engineering in Department of Materials Science & Engineering
Research Statement:
Mark Koopman’s research focuses on using powder metallurgy and basic principles of materials engineering to facilitate advancement in the production, storage and use of energy in mechanized systems.
Steven Krueger
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Steven Krueger’s research interests include numerical simulation of cloud systems, with particular emphasis on the interactions between large-scale and cloud-scale processes, as well as turbulence and mixing in clouds and the boundary layer, and numerical modeling of wildfires.
Marysa Lague
Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
I am a large-scale climate scientist specializing in land-atmosphere interactions, with a particular focus on the coupling between terrestrial processes, atmospheric dynamics, and the global energy and water budgets.
Fan-Chi Lin
Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Fan-Chi Lin’s primary research interest focuses on using passive seismic signals to image earth’s subsurface structure. An example is addressing how the hydrothermal system in Yellowstone might be affected by environment changes and human activities on various different temporal and spatial scales
John Chun-Han Lin
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
John Lin’s research seeks to understand the exchange of greenhouse gases, pollutants, and water between the land and the atmosphere by combining atmospheric modeling with in-situ and satellite data.
Peter C. Lippert
Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
I utilize the unique information encoded in the magnetic and chemical properties of geological materials to understand tectonic, paleoclimate, and paleoecological processes, and to recognize feedbacks between geodynamics, climate change, and surface processes.
Huilian Ma
Research Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
My current research topic focuses on investigating the influences of particle shape and surface charge heterogeneity on the transport and fate of particles in groundwater and/or subsurface water systems. Potential social impacts include production of safe drinking water, water resources protection, granular material handling, printing and coating, drug delivery, aerosol and fuel filtration.
Derek Mallia
Research Associate Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Derek Mallia's research interests are primarily focused on elucidating critical processes that drive wildfire behavior, smoke dispersion, and wind-blown dust. Derek is also interested in combining atmospheric models with statistical techniques to identify major sources of atmospheric pollutants and greenhouse gases in urban environments.
Daniel Mendoza
Research Assistant Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
As a Research Assistant Professor in Atmospheric Sciences and Pulmonary Fellow in the School of Medicine, I have been able to work in both basic science and health. My research interests are current health impacts of air quality and the intersection of metropolitan planning and detailed emissions inventory.
Jeffrey R. Moore
Associate Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Jeff Moore’s primary research focus seeks to understand erosional and damage mechanics of natural rock arches, based in ambient vibration sensing. He also explores anthropogenic effects on natural arches, e.g. visitor traffic at national parks, which interfaces with management questions and needs.
Chadlin Ostrander
Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
My research to this point uses geochemistry to reconstruct Earth’s ancient environments – an aim that is directly aligned with the GCSC’s mission. Lessons learned about Earth’s ancient environmental history serve as our best blueprint for predicting and forecasting Earth’s future. Earth is changing, but this is not the first time this has happened. What lessons can we learn from an ancient Earth?
Zhaoxia Pu
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Zhaoxia Pu’s research interests include numerical modeling, data assimilation and predictability of high-impact weather systems.
Thomas Reichler
Associate Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Thomas Reichler is a climate modeler and analyst who is interested in large scale aspects of the atmospheric circulation and how it relates to climate change.
Kathleen Ritterbush
Assistant Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Kathleen Ritterbush is a paleocologist researching stasis and change in marine invertebrate ecosystems of the Mesozoic and Paleozoic. She investigates how organisms influence marine habitats and how they respond to widespread environmental change
Kip Solomon
Professor, Geology & Geophysics
Research Statement:
Kip Solomon’s field of study includes groundwater hydrology, environmental geology, and geological engineering.
Jim Steenburgh
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Jim Steenburgh’s research examines the weather and climate of the western United States and other mountainous regions of the world, with emphasis on orographic and lake-effect precipitation, front-mountain interactions, and weather analysis and forecasting.
Courtenay Strong
Associate Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Courtenay Strong’s research interests include the relationship between sea ice dynamics and atmospheric curculation variability, Pacific atmosphere-ocean feedback, the role of tropospheric Rossby wave breaking in the North Atlantic Oscillation and Northern Annular Mode, and historical trends in the position and strength of jet streams.
Jessica Wempen
Assistant Professor, Mining Engineering
Research Statement:
Jessica Wempen’s research applies remote sensing for mine and environmental monitoring, with emphasis on monitoring surface deformation related to underground extraction of natural resources and on spectral imaging to monitor environmental impacts of mining and to identify potential sources of important resources, including copper and rare earth elements.
Edward Zipser
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Research Statement:
Edward Zipser’s research interests include regional and global distribution of storms, understanding why heavy rainfall is more frequent in the deep tropics, and helping develop improved recognition and forecasting of severe storms.