UMass Boston

People

The Sustainable Solutions Lab is governed by an Oversight Committee made up of deans from five schools at the university and a representative from the Collaborative of Asian American, Native American, Latino and African American Institutes.

Rebecca Herst (she/her) is the Director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab and leads the mission to ensure that anti-racist health promoting policies are central to climate resilience efforts.

 

Bob Chen
Interim Dean, School for the Environment

(617) 287-7491
bob.chen@umb.edu

Expertise: Coastal Carbon Cycling, Salt Marsh Systems, Coastal Resilience, Coastal Environmental Sensor Networks, Transdisciplinary Research and Education, Ocean and Environmental Education and Outreach, Blending Art and Science.

Rita Kiki Edozie
Interim Dean, McCormack Graduate School, and Professor of Global Governance, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance

617.287.7231
RitaKiki.Edozie@umb.edu

Expertise: African affairs and politics, global development, comparative democratization, international relations, international political economy, race and identity

Bo Fernhall
Dean of Manning College of Nursing and Health Sciences

617.287.3918
bo.fernhall@umb.edu

Tyson King-Meadows
Professor of Political Science, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6500
Tyson.KingMeadows@umb.edu

Expertise: Public Opinion

Tara L. Parker
Dean, College of Education and Human Development, Professor, Higher Education

617.287.7728
Tara.Parker@umb.edu



Venky Venkatachalam
Dean and Distinguished Professor

617.287.7702
venky.venkatachalam@umb.edu

Expertise: Innovation management, technology commercialization, emerging technologies, Green economy, knowledge-based systems, neural networks, decision support systems, genetic algorithms, electronic commerce, enterprise integration, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning systems, cross-cultural issues in information systems.

J. Cedric Woods
Director, Institute for New England Native American Studies
Director, Critical Ethnic and Community Studies Program

617.287.5784
Cedric.Woods@umb.edu

Expertise: Tribal government, American Indian education, economic development, chronic disease prevention

Sustainable Solutions Lab Core Team

Rebecca Herst
Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab

617.297.6630
rebecca.herst@umb.edu

Gabriela Boscio Santos
Associate Director, Sustainable Solutions Lab

N/A
gabriela.boscio@umb.edu

Ellen Douglas
Associate Dean, Professor of Hydrology, School for the Environment

617.287.7437
ellen.douglas@umb.edu

Expertise: Sea Level Rise Hydrodynamics

David Levy
Professor of Management

617.287.7860
david.levy@umb.edu

Expertise: Organizational Theory

Rosalyn Negrón
Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6812
Rosalyn.Negron@umb.edu

Expertise: Major areas & specializations: Urban anthropology, linguistic anthropology, medical anthropology, United States, Latinos, diversity, ethno-racial relations, immigration, health disparities, research methods, social networks. Other major interests: language & identity, decision-making, equity in STEM, climate equity, transdisciplinarity, public policy, documentary filmmaking.

J. Cedric Woods
Director, Institute for New England Native American Studies
Director, Critical Ethnic and Community Studies Program

617.287.5784
Cedric.Woods@umb.edu

Expertise: Tribal government, American Indian education, economic development, chronic disease prevention

Jessica Whiteley
Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, Department of Exercise and Health Sciences

617-287-3807
Jessica.Whiteley@umb.edu

Expertise: Health Promotion Interventions

Sustainable Solutions Lab Faculty Affiliates

Ping-Ann Addo
Department Chair, Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6845
ping-ann.addo@umb.edu

Expertise: Socio-cultural anthropology, Tongan/Pacific Islander material culture, and contemporary cultural migration to New Zealand and the U.S.

Gonzalo Bacigalupe
Professor of Counseling and School Psychology, College of Education and Human Development

617.287.7631
Gonzalo.Bacigalupe@umb.edu



Pratyush Bharati
Professor of Management Information Systems

617.287.7695
Pratyush.Bharati@umb.edu

Expertise: Social Media and Organizations, Green Information Systems, Social Media and Social Movements, International Production of Software and Services, Diffusion of Information Technologies in SMEs.

Anne Blaschke
Associate Lecturer, American Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6772
anne.blaschke@umb.edu

Expertise: Gender, Race, Women and sports, U.S. history

Monnica Chan
Assistant Professor, Higher Education

617.287.3164
monnica.chan@umb.edu



Joseph N. Cooper
J. Keith Motley Endowed Chair of Sport Leadership and Administration

N/A
JosephN.Cooper@umb.edu

Expertise: Sport management, gender and race in sport, racism and other forms of oppression, higher education, qualitative research

Ellen Douglas
Associate Dean, Professor of Hydrology, School for the Environment

617.287.7437
ellen.douglas@umb.edu

Expertise: Sea Level Rise Hydrodynamics

Sari Edelstein
Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6700
sari.edelstein@umb.edu

Expertise: 19th Century American Literature and Culture; Women Writers; Environmental Humanities; Age Studies; Print Culture Studies; Feminist and Queer Theory

Lorena Estrada-Martínez
Assistant Professor of Environment and Public Health, School for the Environment

617.287.7052
Lorena.Estrada@umb.edu

Expertise: Public health, social determinants of health inequities, Latino and immigrant health, behavioral and mental health, life-course and development, climate change impacts on mental health, community-building and resilience.

Pacey C. Foster
Associate Professor of Management

617-287-7089
pacey.foster@umb.edu

Expertise: Creative industries

Dania V. Francis
Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Liberal Arts

N/A
Dania.Francis@umb.edu

Expertise: Racial economic disparities, economics of education, stratification economics

Susan Gauss
Interim Dean, Honors College and Associate Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.5521
Susan.Gauss@umb.edu

Expertise: Modern Mexican History

Nardia Haigh
Associate Dean and Associate Professor

617.287.7731
Nardia.Haigh@umb.edu

Expertise: Scenario Planning, Strategic Management, Climate Change, Corporate Sustainability, Hybrid Organizations, Social Enterprise

Lisa Heelan-Fancher
Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing

617.287.7476
Lisa.Heelan-Fancher@umb.edu

Expertise: Maternal and Child Health

Keren Horn
Associate Professor of Economics, College of Liberal Arts

N/A
keren.horn@umb.edu

Expertise: Urban Economics

Michael Johnson
Professor, MPA Graduate Program Director, Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, McCormack Graduate School

617.287.6967
michael.johnson@umb.edu

Expertise: Management science planning models for public-sector facility location and service delivery, with applications to assisted housing and senior services

Keith Jones
Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6792
Keith.Jones@umb.edu

Expertise: Anglophone and African diasporic literatures and cultural production, European- and African-descended literatures of the United States and the Americas, black diaspora and black study, native studies, white settler colonialism, and post-colonial theory, coloniality and decoloniality, gender and queer studies, poetry and poetics, cultural studies and cultural theory, critical theory and critical pedagogy

Meghan Kallman
Associate Professor, International Development, School for Global Inclusion and Social Development

617.287.4292
Meghan.Kallman@umb.edu

Expertise: Organizations

Paul Kirshen
Professor of Climate Adaptation, School for the Environment

617.287.7440
Paul.Kirshen@umb.edu

Expertise: Water Resources Engineering and Management

Rishabh Kumar
Assistant Professor of Economics, College of Liberal Arts

N/A
rishabh.kumar@umb.edu

Expertise: Economic History, Inequality and Macroeconomics.

David Levy
Professor of Management

617.287.7860
david.levy@umb.edu

Expertise: Organizational Theory

Camille Curtis Martinez
Lecturer

617-287-6074
camille.martinez@umb.edu

Expertise: Environmental communication

Jose E. Martinez-Reyes
Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts and School for the Environment

617.287.4871
Jose.Martinez-Reyes@umb.edu

Expertise: Environmental Anthropology, Political Ecology, Agroforestry, Biocultural Diversity Conservation, Material Culture, Social and Critical Theory, Ecomusicology, Mexico, Caribbean, Fiji, Galicia

Georgia Mavrommati
Assistant Professor of Ecological Economics, School for the Environment

617.287.7440
georgia.mavrommati@umb.edu

Expertise: Bioeconomics

Dana Miranda
Assistant Professor

617.287.6530
dana.miranda@umb.edu

Expertise: Africana Philosophy

Alexander F More
Associate Professor of Urban Public Health

617.287.6839
alexander dot more at umb dot edu

Expertise: Climate change and health

Rosalyn Negrón
Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6812
Rosalyn.Negron@umb.edu

Expertise: Major areas & specializations: Urban anthropology, linguistic anthropology, medical anthropology, United States, Latinos, diversity, ethno-racial relations, immigration, health disparities, research methods, social networks. Other major interests: language & identity, decision-making, equity in STEM, climate equity, transdisciplinarity, public policy, documentary filmmaking.

Laurie Nsiah-Jefferson
Graduate Program Director, Gender, Leadership, and Public Policy Graduate Certificate

617.287.5554
LA.NsiahJefferson@umb.edu

Expertise: Intersectionality

Amit Patel
Associate Professor, Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, McCormack Graduate School

617.287.6938
Amit.Patel@umb.edu

Expertise: Urban Poverty, Health Disparities, Statistical and Simulation Methods, GIS

Antonio Raciti
Associate Professor of Community Planning and Ecological Design, Department of Urban Planning and Community Development, School for the Environment

617.287.7440
Antonio.Raciti@umb.edu

Expertise: Ecological restoration

Kenneth Reardon
Professor of Urban Planning, School for the Environment

617.287.7440
Kenneth.Reardon@umb.edu

Expertise: Neighborhood and Community Planning

Lorna Rivera
Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617-287-7388
Lorna.Rivera@umb.edu

Expertise: Women's literacy

Karen Ross
Associate Professor and Conflict Resolution Graduate Program Director, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance; McCormack Graduate School

617.287.7489
Karen.Ross@umb.edu

Expertise: Peace education, dialogue, research methodology, grassroots peace-building, social movements, nonviolent action

C. Eduardo Siqueira
Professor of Environment and Public Health, School for the Environment

617.287.4863
Carlos.Siqueira@umb.edu

Expertise: Environmental Justice

Allison B Smith
Assistant Professor of Sport Leadership and Administration

N/A
Allison.Smith6@umb.edu



Rajini Srikanth
Dean of Faculty and Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.5531
Rajini.Srikanth@umb.edu

Expertise: Human rights and literature; American literature (including Asian American literature, Native American literature, and literature of the American South); interdisciplinary approaches to literature; literature in the context of comparative race and ethnicities; pedagogy of literature; literatures of the Middle East

Evan Stewart
Assistant Professor of Sociology, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6250
Evan.Stewart@umb.edu

Expertise: Political and cultural sociology, public opinion, civic engagement, religion and secularism, social psychology, survey research, quantitative methods

Elizabeth L. Sweet
Associate Professor of Equitable and Sustainable Development

718.287.5634
Betsy.Sweet@umb.edu

Elizabeth Sweet
Associate Professor of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts

N/A
Elizabeth.Sweet@umb.edu

Expertise: Biocultural Anthropology

Romilla Syed
Associate Professor of Management Science and Information Systems

617.287.7704
Romilla.Syed@umb.edu

Expertise: Behavioral and organizational information security and privacy

Katalin Szelényi
Graduate Program Director, Associate Professor, Higher Education

617.287.7765
Katalin.Szelenyi@umb.edu



Susan Tan
Assistant Professor of English, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6700
susan.tan@umb.edu



Shirley S. Tang
Professor of Asian American Studies, School for Global Inclusion and Social Development, College of Education and Human Development

N/A
Shirley.Tang@umb.edu

Expertise: War, gender, and migration | race and development | Southeast Asian American cultural and community studies | Chinese / Asian diasporic pop culture | collaborative / participatory research methodologies | storytelling via media production | AANAPISI / MSI research and practice

Lynnell L. Thomas
Associate Vice-Provost for Inclusive Excellence, Professor of American Studies
College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6553
Lynnell.Thomas@umb.edu

Expertise: African American Studies, American Literature and Culture, New Orleans Culture and History

David Timmons
Associate Professor of Economics, College of Liberal Arts

N/A
david.timmons@umb.edu

Expertise: Environmental and ecological economics

Michael Tlusty
Associate Professor of Sustainability and Food Solutions, School for the Environment

617.287.7440
michael.tlusty@umb.edu

Expertise: Sustainability Science

Heather Trigg
Research Scientist II in the Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research, Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6838
Heather.Trigg@umb.edu

Expertise: Social and economic effects of colonization, paleoethnobotany

Anthony Van Der Meer
Senior Lecturer II in Africana Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.6255
Tony.Vandermeer@umb.edu

Expertise: Leadership and change, community economic development, traditional African belief systems

Stacy D. VanDeveer
Professor and Chair, Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance; McCormack Graduate School

617.287.7489
stacy.vandeveer@umb.edu

Expertise: Global resources and energy politics

Paul Watanabe
Professor of Political Science and Director of the Institute for Asian American Studies, College of Liberal Arts

617.287.5652
Paul.Watanabe@umb.edu

Expertise: American Foreign Policy, American Political Behavior, Ethnic Group Politics, and Asian Americans

Jessica Whiteley
Sr. Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, Department of Exercise and Health Sciences

617-287-3807
Jessica.Whiteley@umb.edu

Expertise: Health Promotion Interventions

Kerrie Wilkins-Yel
Assistant Professor of Counseling and School Psychology, College of Education and Human Development

617.287.7608
Kerrie.Wilkins@umb.edu

Expertise: Intersectionality, Women and girls of Color, Social Justice, mental health, addressing inequities in the world of work, academic and career development, STEM, developing culturally sustaining interventions

J. Cedric Woods
Director, Institute for New England Native American Studies
Director, Critical Ethnic and Community Studies Program

617.287.5784
Cedric.Woods@umb.edu

Expertise: Tribal government, American Indian education, economic development, chronic disease prevention

Julie A. Wright
Interim Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor, Department of Exercise and Health Sciences

617.287.3808
Julie.Wright@umb.edu

Expertise: e-Health Self-Care Interventions

Lingling Zhang
Associate Professor, Department of Nursing

617.287.7845
Lingling.Zhang@umb.edu

Expertise: Health Equity

Sustainable Solutions Lab

Join Our Email List
100 Morrissey Blvd.
Boston, MA 02125