WELCOME TO NEW ECI FACULTY

Leah VanWey, Sociology
Leah VanWey joins Brown as Associate Professor of Sociology, core faculty of the Environmental Change Initiative, and a faculty associate of the PSTC. VanWey comes to Brown from Indiana University. Her work examines migration, land use, and household livelihoods in developing country settings, particularly Brazil.  She incorporates multiple methods including quantitative, qualitative, and spatial data.

Meredith Hastings, Geological Science
Meredith Hastings joins Brown as an Assistant Professor in Geological Sciences and core faculty of the Environmental Change Initiative.Her research focuses on the movement of nitrogen between the atmosphere and the geo-biosphere. Using data collected on rain, aerosol, snow and ice core samples, as well as global models, she studies the impact of various sources and chemical pathways of nitrate production in remote and urban environments, on both short and long timescales.

Environmental Change Initiative

The nature of environmental problems requires a broad interdisciplinary approach that brings together scientists and students from the physical, life and social sciences as well as the public policy arena. Brown’s Environmental Change Initiative fosters interdisciplinary collaborations across the campus and with colleagues around the world.

Urgent environmental problems occur at all scales from local to global. By integrating and relaying information between specialists, ECI builds relationships that cross scales.

Solving environmental problems not only requires creating new knowledge but also effectively communicating problems and solutions to various stake holders, from everyday citizens to elected officials. ECI helps researchers communicate specialized knowledge toward effective solutions.