Faculty

An associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science since 2016, Dr. Amalia Kokkinaki holds a PhD degree from the University of Toronto in Canada and joined USF after completing her postdoctoral research at Stanford University. She is an environmental engineer with expertise in groundwater flow, fate and transport of contaminants, and biological treatment of organic pollutants. Her research is in the nexus of mathematical and statistical modeling of the physical, chemical and...

Professor Benning received her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology. Her research interests include landscape ecology, urban ecology and resource conservation and management. Her most recent research focuses on remote sensing and GIS technologies in the study of tropical rainforest dynamics in Hawaii and riparian corridors in southern African savannas.

Professor Karentz is a marine biologist with expertise in plankton ecology and ultraviolet photobiology. Her work has focused on investigating the ecological implications of Antarctic ozone depletion, specifically identifying strategies for protection from UV exposure and understanding mechanisms for repair of UV–induced damage. She has over 30 years of field experience in Antarctica.

In addition to research, Deneb mentors early-career scientists through the US National Science Foundation...

William Karney received his BA from Haverford College and his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to his position at USF he did postdoctoral work at the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley.

At USF, William teaches organic chemistry and environmental chemistry. His research, performed in collaboration with Professor Claire Castro, involves the use of computational chemistry to understand the structures, energetics, and...

John M. (Jack) Lendvay was born and raised near Cleveland, Ohio. Since an early age, he has been interested in environmental issues as one of his childhood memories is the Cuyahoga River Fire of 1969. This interest and his love of science led him to study Chemistry as an undergraduate student at Hiram College, where he graduated in 1983. After college, he joined the US Navy as a Nuclear Submarine Officer and served predominantly on USS Simon Bolivar until 1988. After working in industry for a...

Allison Luengen received her MS in Marine Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). She then completed her PhD in Environmental Toxicology, also at UCSC. Following her PhD, she moved to the East Coast for postdoctoral research with Dr. Nicholas Fisher in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. As a postdoc, Professor Luengen worked with radioisotopes to look at how methylmercury bioavailability to phytoplankton was affected by dissolved...

Tom MacDonald received his PhD from Stanford University. Professor MacDonald's research focuses on designing computer simulations of problems of pollution migration and using the results to engineer systems to contain pollutants and prevent further spreading. He has also published his research on the neural network application for bioremediation. Recently he has co-authored papers dealing with environmental risk and the precautionary principle.

Paul is from southern California and earned his PhD from the University of Calgary after completing an MA in Geography from Cal State University - Long Beach (CSULB). His research is at the intersection of modern digital geospatial technologies and geologic mapping, aimed at the assessment, documentation, and application of complete geospatial workflows to analyze and better understand fundamental environmental, geologic, and geomorphologic challenges. His current focus implements drone-based...

April Randle's research is broadly focused on how ecological factors shape the behavioral and morphological traits of species and influence species' distributions and interactions. She has conducted research on a range of taxa including: tropical trees (forest restoration), primates (foraging behavior), temperate flora (plant ecology, mating system evolution, plant-pollinator interactions), marine mammals (population size estimation of large cetaceans), tropical freshwater fish (adaptations to...

Diane Roberts, Professor of Accounting, is motivated by a deep concern for unethical financial reporting and non-transparent corporate accounting, considering the potential for catastrophic effects on the environment, community trust, and the global economy.

Having long been interested in environmental issues and professional accounting, Roberts engages her students in discussions that address both honorable and unlawful corporate practices, as well as historical cases that will naturally...

Dr. Saah has been broadly trained as an environmental scientist with expertise in a number of areas including: landscape ecology, ecosystem ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, ecosystem modeling, natural hazard modeling, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial analysis. He has used these skills to conduct research primarily at the landscape level in a variety of systems. Dr. Saah has participated in research projects throughout the United States and Internationally...

Tanu Sankalia is a tenured full professor in the Department of Art + Architecture, and coordinates the Urban Studies Concentration within the Environmental Studies Program. He teaches courses in urban planning and design, architectural and urban history, and architectural design. He was trained in urban design at UC Berkeley, and in architecture at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated with a gold medal for the best diploma thesis.

Professor Sankalia's research and...

Simon Scarpetta is an evolutionary biologist, paleontologist, and herpetologist with a particular appreciation for lizards and salamanders. He received a PhD in Geosciences from The University of Texas at Austin in 2021, and recently finished an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology at UC Berkeley. His research incorporates molecular and paleontological data to determine evolutionary relationships and timescales of the lizards of North America, in the context of climatic changes...

Calla Schmidt received a PhD in Earth Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research spans physical hydrology and biogeochemistry and aims to understand the connection between hydrology and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. She has done research on nutrient cycling during groundwater recharge, nitrogen pollution in highway runoff and presently she is working on a project investigating the transfer of nutrients discharged by wastewater treatment plants into the base of...

Professor Siehr works on energy–based solutions to multiple environmental problems–from local air pollution to global climate change–combining engineering with tools from political economy and organizational analysis. With a geographical focus on China, Japan, and the US, her research and teaching examine energy and carbon saving strategies; emissions inventories; city climate action; environmental and energy policy analysis; urban sustainability, international cooperation; and environmental...

Cam is a cartographer, spatial data scientist, and educator. In various roles, Cam has applied GIS in the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors. He currently works in map production and leads international GIS training programs for the World Health Organization. Cam sits on the board of BayGeo, where he organizes and instructs educational workshops.

Cam enjoys using cartography to transform data into visual stories. He has published maps about a variety of topics including housing...

Aaron Frank's areas of interest include Environmental Law, Environmental Ethics, and Wildlife Policy. He is the Founder and President of the California Wildlife Center and sits on the Board of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. In 2013, Aaron won a USF Distinguished Teaching Award.

Susan Hopp is a strategist, educator, and practitioner of sustainable and regenerative management. Since 2007, she has applied her years of experience with technology companies, both startups and multinationals, to building sustainability momentum in business. She spotlights the business case for sustainability as a key integrated strategy informing culture and organizational practices and has worked with organizations across industries to help them formalize their sustainability strategy and...

Gordon Johnson is the manager of the environmental affairs regulatory department at the PBF Energy LLC Refinery in Martinez, California. Gordon has been teaching energy classes in the MSEM program since 1998 and is on the academic advisory board for the USF Energy Systems program.

He has extensive experience in wastewater treatment, groundwater and soil remediation, air regulatory compliance, hazardous waste minimization and elimination, new regulation advocacy, and environmental permitting...

Fernanda Lopez Ornelas is a Mexican biologist and environmental manager who has always been passionate about nature and environmental phenomena. She earned her biology degree in Mexico and completed her Master of Science in Environmental Management at USF, where she developed a strong interest in geospatial technologies and GIS. She is proud to be part of the first group to obtain the GIS Certificate recently developed by USF’s Geospatial Analysis Lab (GsAL). Lopez Ornelas has a particular...

Aviva Rossi's research interests include biogeography, natural history, mammalogy, climate change, and conservation. Her current work focuses on quantifying the natural history of small mammals, including the niche space, resource selection, and modeled distributions. The ultimate goal of her work is to better understand how species are likely to respond to climate change in a way that can inform management.

In addition to her research, Ms. Rossi has over 20 years of experience working in the...

Raymond James (Jim) Brown joined the USF faculty in fall 1970 as an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department. Over his 37 years at USF, Jim taught General Biology, Organic Evolution, Comparative Anatomy, Vertebrate Embryology, and California Wildlife. Later in his career, he directed the Graduate Environmental Management Program and helped establish the Environmental Science Department. He was the first chair of the department and taught Environmental Science and Environmental Monitoring...

John Callaway received his PhD in Oceanography and Coastal Sciences from Louisiana State University in 1994. Prior to his position at USF, John was the Associate Director of the Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory (PERL) at San Diego State University.

At USF, Professor teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in introductory environmental science, applied ecology, wetlands, and restoration ecology. His research expertise is in wetland restoration, specifically wetland plant ecology and...