The Team
Four Interdisciplinary Research Committees — Energy, Water, Ecosystem Health, and Spatial and Discipline Integration — met consistently to develop a work plan outlining the research required for implementation. This work plan process was overseen by a Project Steering Committee, with full-time dedication from Mark Gold and Cassie Rauser. The preliminary work plan was reviewed by an esteemed scientific and technical advisory committee.
Steering Committee
Mark Gold
Associate Vice Chancellor for
Environment & Sustainability
Water Committee
Cassie Rauser
Director, Sustainable LA Grand Challenge
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research
Cara Horowitz
Ecosystem Health Committee
Hilary Godwin
Spatial & Discipline
Integration Committee
Alex Hall
Water Committee
Brad Shaffer
Ecosystem Health Committee
Richard Wirz
Energy Committee
Michelle Popowitz
UCLA Grand Challenges
Interdisciplinary Research Committees
Energy Committee
Ann Carlson
Energy Systems, Climate Change, Environmental Law & Policy
J.R. DeShazo
Energy & Water Economics & Policy
Rajit Gadh
Smart Grid Energy Management & Delivery
Diana Huffaker
High-efficiency Nanotech-based Photovoltaics
Gregory Okin
Physical Geography, Soil, Dust & Renewable Energy
Suzanne Paulson
Characterization of Air Quality & Effects on Health & Climate
Richard Wirz
Alternative Energy Generation & Storage
Ecosystem Health Committee
Richard Ambrose
Coastal Environmental Assessment & Restoration
Tom Gillespie
Biogeography & Remote Sensing
Ursula Heise
Biodiversity & Environmental Humanities
Cara Horowitz
Environmental Law & Policy
Mike Jerrett
Geographic Exposure Modeling & Land Use Characterization
Brad Shaffer
Applied Ecosystem Conservation
Water Committee
Mark Gold
Water Policy & Coastal Resource Management
Alex Hall
Climate Science & Regional Climate Modeling
Eric Hoek
Nanomembranes, Sewage Treatment, & Recycled Water
Christine Lee
Remote Sensing for Water Quality Monitoring
Dennis Lettenmaier
Hydrology & Hydrology Climate Interactions
Steve Margulis
Hydrologic Processes & Climate Change
Maite Zubiaurre
Cultural Diversity in Attitudes about Refuse
Spatial & Discipline Integration Committee
Dana Cuff
Urban Design, Sensing Technologies & Architecture
Hilary Godwin
Public Health Impacts of Climate Change
Juan Matute
Sustainable Transportation & Land Use
Ted Parson
Environmental Law & Science Policy
Stephanie Pincetl
Energy & Water Use Policy
Gaurav Sant
Sustainable Construction Materials
Eui-Sung Yi
Architecture & Strategic Urban Design
Scholarly and Technical Advisory Committee
UCLA is very appreciative of the following thought leaders who are serving as external advisers.
Christopher Boone
Arizona State University
Dean, School of Sustainability and Professor, School of Human Evolution & Social Change, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Urban geography, environmental justice and public health with respect to global environmental change
Mikhail Chester
Arizona State University
Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental & Sustainable Engineering and Affiliate Faculty, School of Sustainability
Energy and environmental life cycle assessment; resilient infrastructure and climate change
Mark Z. Jacobson
Stanford University
Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Senior Fellow, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Mapping of alternative energy future; computer modeling and analysis of atmospheric impacts of energy technologies
Rob McConnell
University of Southern California
Professor, Preventive Medicine and Director, Children’s Environmental Health Center
Health impacts of air pollution and environmental health policy
David Spence
University of Texas, Austin
Professor, Business, Government & Society and Law
Law and politics of energy regulation and economic regulation in the public utility industry
Christy Brigham
CSU, Northridge
Chief of Planning, Science and Resource Management, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Adjunct Professor, Biology
Restoration ecology and impacts of invasive species on native biodiversity
Jay Famiglietti
Jet Propulsion Laboratory and University of California, Irvine
Senior Water Scientist, NASA JPL and Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth System Science
Hydrology and climate change with focus on groundwater
Alexandra Klass
University of Minnesota
Professor, Law and Resident Fellow, Institute on the Environment
Energy law, environmental law, natural resources law, tort law, and property law
Ben Schwegler
Walt Disney Imagineering and Stanford University
Vice President & Chief Scientist, Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development; Adjunct Professor, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Sustainable design and engineering of the built environment; novel water treatment technologies
Nancy Sutley
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Chief Sustainability and Economic Development Officer
Environmental policy, public health and the environment, and energy and climate change issues