Interest Groups
Role of an Interest Group
The interest groups will bring together individuals with a diverse set of skills and expertise to contribute to a common goal. They will collaborate on specific tasks or projects and support ongoing communication, coordination of efforts and defined objectives.
Overall, the C4E and the interest groups seek to engage and connect members of the college community, outside community, and beyond and facilitate activities geared toward solving environmental challenges and sustainability goals.
Environmental Justice & Environmental Ethics Interest Group
Environmental Justice and Environmental Ethics are central concepts in a number of different disciplines but mean different things to different people, and this diversity of understanding can present a barrier to interdisciplinary work in this arena. This interest group is interested in discussing different conceptions of these topics and has started its work by assembling an annotated reading list that might serve as a starting point for these future discussions.
Group Members:
SoMAS
Mary Collins
Giovanna McClenachan
Other
Manisha Desai (Sociology)
Heather Lynch (IACS/E&E/C4E)
Nick Wilson (Sociology)
Josh Zhang
Offshore Wind Interest Group
Offshore wind energy is a growing industry along the east coast of the United States, particularly in the waters just off Long Island. We have considerable expertise in different facets of this industry across campus (e.g., engineering and design, energy grid issues) as well as a number of researchers working to understand the potential impacts of offshore wind development on the marine ecosystem, notably seabirds and marine mammals. The goal of this interest group is to initiate conversations across these different areas of specialty on campus, and to coordinate collaborations between campus researchers and others (e.g., industry, government agencies) working on offshore wind energy development and monitoring.
Group Members:
SoMAS
Yong Chen
Jackie Collier
Christine Gilbert
Carl Safina
Paul Shepson
Gordon Taylor
Lesley Thorne
Joe Warren
College of Arts & Sciences
Donna DiGiovanni
Benjamin Hsiao
Reuben Kline
Heather Lynch
Joshua Rest
Engineering
Dimitris Assanis
Jason Trelewicz
Yifan Zhou
Other
Krystina Braid (SPIR)
Cynthia Colon (OWTI-SPD)
Mohammad Delasay (CoB)
Steve Englebright (SC Legislature)
Bettina Fries (Medicine)
Graduate Programs Interest Group
The Graduate Program interest group seeks to reimagine approaches to professional/graduate education in the broad areas of climate, sustainability, clean energy, environmental justice, etc.; and to develop interdisciplinary graduate, professional, and continuing education programs.
Group Members:
SoMAS
Donovan Finn
Christine Gilbert
Kevin Reed
Other
Alexander Orlov (MS & CE)
Louis Pena (CoB)
Ryan Vander Wielen (Political Science)
PFAS Interest Group
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals that can be found in the environment in many forms, including water, soil, food, etc. The PFAS interest group seeks to connect faculty across campus working on environmental health risks, effects on wildlife, etc. to discuss possible research opportunities and solutions.
GROUP MEMBERS:
SoMAS & Other
Stephanie Arsenault
Natalie Castro
Yong Chen
Mary Collins
Heather Lynch (IACS, E&E, C4E)
Anh Nguyen
Lokesh Padhye
Kevin Shaffer
Sarah Valencia
Yi Zhang