2035 Initiative Faculty
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Matto Mildenberger, Director & ENVENT Lab
Matto is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His research explores the politics of climate change here in the United States and around the world.
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Sarah Anderson, Vice-Director & Anderson Research Group
Sarah is a professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science. She studies how politics shapes the environmental policies that we do (or don’t) get from the US political system. Sarah works on wildfire and disaster resilience.
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Leah C. Stokes, ENVENT Lab
Leah is the Vonk Chair of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Department of Environmental Studies. She works on energy, climate and environmental politics. Leah is also a Senior Policy Counsel for Rewiring America and a Senior Policy Advisor at Evergreen Action.
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Paasha Mahdavi, EGAPE Lab
Paasha is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. His research explores the impact of oil and gas resources on governance and environmental politics.
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Ranjit Deshmukh
Ranjit is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California Santa Barbara, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. He studies the intersection of energy, environment, and economics, specifically in low carbon energy systems, clean energy access, and electricity markets.
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Mark Buntaine, EDL Lab
Mark is a professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and is affiliated with the Department of Political Science. His work addresses how governments and international organizations can be made accountable for delivering environmental and development policy goals.
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Eric RAN Smith, Smith Research Group
Eric is a professor in the Department of Political Science, and is affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Department of Environmental Studies. He studies environmental politics, public opinion, and elections.
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Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez, Environmental Justice Observatory
Cesar is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science. His research explores the political economy of climate change and deforestation, including the global dimensions of environmental justice.
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Eric Masanet
Eric is the Duncan and Suzanne Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies at UCSB. His research develops energy and materials systems models to identify technology and policy pathways for decarbonizing industrial systems. From 2015-2017, he led the Energy Demand Technology Unit at the International Energy Agency in Paris.
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Grace C. Wu
Grace is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Program at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on how to balance land use for climate solutions and conservation. She seeks to understand the impact of energy infrastructure on land use and conservation, and to develop practical strategies for avoiding negative impacts.
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David Sherman
David is a professor in the Psychological & Brain Sciences Department and Director of the Social Climate Science Lab. He studies psychological barriers to green behaviors and climate policy support and how to overcome them.
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Will Nomikos
Will is an assistant professor in the Political Science Department at the University of California Santa Barbara. He researches how identity and domestic politics shape international intervention using a mix of computational, experimental, econometric, and field methods.
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James Salzman
Jim is the Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law with joint appointments at the Bren School and UCLA Law School. In 12 books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, his broad-ranging scholarship has addressed topics spanning drinking water, trade and environment conflicts, ownership engineering, and the legal and institutional issues in creating markets for ecosystem services.
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Simone Pulver
Simone is an associate professor & program vice-chair in the Environmental Studies Department. Her research focuses broadly on the intersection of economic action and environmental harm and seeks to integrate theoretical frameworks related to global governance, organizational theory, and economic and environmental sociology.
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Alexandra Phillips
Alex is an assistant teaching professor in the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Her teaching and research focus on environmental communication to scientists, policymakers, and the public. As an oceanographer, Alex is especially interested in understanding the marine impacts of climate change. Previously, she worked for US Senator Alex Padilla as a AAAS fellow on climate, energy, and ocean policy.