| Name | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas Skuzinski | Director | tskuzinski@niu.edu |
| Melissa Burlingame | Assistant Director/Program Advisor | mburlingame@niu.edu |
| Rave Meyer | Office Manager | rmeyer@niu.edu |
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
washley@niu.edu
Walker Ashley, Ph.D. is an atmospheric scientist and physical geographer with interests in natural hazards and societal interactions, severe storms, and GIS applications in meteorology. His research focuses on the climatology of weather hazards, how human exposure and vulnerability factors contribute to weather-related disasters, the geographies of weather hazard mortality, the storm morphology of hazardous thunderstorm events, and weather impacts on transportation systems.
Human-environment interactions, land use change, or the impacts of severe storms on human/built environments.
Professor Bennardo investigated linguistic and mental representation of spatial relationships in Tonga (Polynesia); he discovered a foundational cultural model rooted in space and that contributes to the construction of other domains such as possession, traditional navigation, traditional religious beliefs, kinship, and social relationships. Bennardo has recently investigated the cultural model of nature of primary food producers in small communities affected by climate change in a worldwide research project.
Bennardo has opportunities if you are interested in projects about finding ways to increase the presence of social science research in the global and local discourse about sustainability. A major proponent of Cultural Model Theory, he is actively pursuing opportunities to investigate climate change stressors on farmers' decision making in small communities around the world and in the U.S. Midwest (including Northern Illinois).
Ask Professor Borre about student research opportunities.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
mbrown18@niu.edu
Professor Brown's work focuses on questions related to physical hydrogeology (the occurrence and flow of groundwater and aquifer properties). Part of that work is investigating the impacts of transport and retention of microplastics (plastic particles <5 mm) in groundwater, surface water, and the groundwater/surface water interface. Her laboratory uses fieldwork, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling to study microplastics in the hydrologic cycle. She often has undergraduates working in the lab with graduate students and/or individual projects. In addition to microplastics research, she studies injection-induced earthquakes and increasing accessibility for scientists with disabilities.
Ask Professor Brown for more student opportunities.
Professor Bruno is an environmental historian of Russia and the Soviet Union with an interest in many aspects of human interactions with the natural world. His main scholarly ambition is to demonstrate the pertinence of environmental perspectives to major questions in Russian history. This goal has led him to write about animals and avalanches, energy and economy, revolution and repression, waste and water, science and socialism, and other themes. In this scholarship, he highlights the role of nature as an actor in history and the place of the Russian environmental experience in comparative and global history. A focus on specific locations—the Russian Arctic and the Siberian taiga, for instance—also characterizes his approach to environmental history. His first book examines the environmental history of economic transformation in the Russian north during the twentieth century and his second book explores the history of the 1908 Tunguska explosion and the efforts to understand it. He is in the process of starting two new book projects. One will reconsider the growth imperative under Soviet socialism in light of recent theorizing about the Anthropocene and prospects for degrowth and the other will follow anarchist geographer Peter Kropotkin's return to Russia in 1917 as a means to reflect on the political ecology of the Bolshevik revolution.
Students interested in conducting environmental history research on any aspect of the past are welcome to contact Professor Bruno about developing their own independent projects that may be eligible for support from NIU's engaged learning funds. Additional opportunities may be available for students with knowledge of the Russian language.
Professor Buck specializes in medical and scientific illustration as a means of visually communicating and disseminating medical and scientific content. The goal is to engage the intended audience while increasing understanding. He is a strong advocate for "equitable visualization" which includes diversity in representation to increase health equity and inclusion. While his research has encompassed many medical, health, and science topics, he likes to identify the connections and causal relationships between individual health and the health of the environment.
Visual media (i.e., scientific illustration, art, video, photography) to compare healthy to unhealthy or damaged ecosystems to highlight ecology restoration efforts.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
jdodd@niu.edu
Professor Dodd is interested in the applications of stable isotope geochemistry in various geological and environmental settings.
Professor Dodd offers opportunities for student research in a variety of topics. Many of these research projects are funded and involve international travel. One current research project engaging geochemical analyses of the Icaiche Formation in Yucatan, Mexico to determine the formation's hydrochemical importance.
Professor Engel is interested in utilizing the principles of philosophy to challenge people's morals, attitudes, and beliefs, and then to encourage abandonment of those that are unjustifiable. Engel's research is primarily focused on animal rights and the philosophies of animal ethics. Engel also focuses his efforts on engaging students and challenging their skills to help build successful habits.
Ask Professor Engle for more student opportunities.
Professor Fox is interested in the intersections of land use and environmental law. In particular, her research focuses on the impacts of human development on land, what constitutes environmentally sound development, and how such sound development can be incentivized. She teaches an introductory environmental law course that covers major environmental statutes, along with administrative law, state and local government law, and property law.
Ask Professor Fox for more student opportunities.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Women and Gender Studies
cgallaher@niu.edu
Prof. Gallaher is currently serving as the Campus Sustainability Coordinator. Her research integrates aspects of both physical and human-environment geography, focusing on how we sustainably manage our environment in ways that incorporate social justice concerns. Most of her research revolves around sustainable food and agriculture systems and environmental risk perception. Her research sites have included the U.S., East Africa, and Mexico.
There are numerous opportunities for students to work on campus sustainability projects. Please contact Prof. Gallaher to learn more.
Biological Sciences
sgrayburn@niu.edu
Prof. Grayburn's research is focused on
Professor Hanna does work in moral theory and applied ethics, including bioethics and environmental ethics. He is interested in the ethics of procreation and our moral obligations to nonhuman animals and future generations.
There are opportunities for students to do self-directed research or independent study projects on environmental ethics, especially the moral dimensions of climate change.
Engineering Technology
thogan2@niu.edu
Professor Hogan provides human health risk assessment and risk communication for many environmental contamination issues, including water contamination (radiation and nitrates), bioremediation of solvents in groundwater, large scale mercury contamination of homes, and vapor intrusion in businesses, schools, and homes.
Ask Professor Hogan for more student opportunities.
As a faculty associate of the Institute for the Study of Environment, Sustainability and Energy, Professor Houze seeks opportunities to collaborate with colleagues and students who share an interest in environmental histories of manufacturing, architecture, and the planning of sustainable communities through conservation, historic preservation, and creative design practices that foster equity and justice. Her research on exhibitions, parks, and open-air museums as expressions of cultural heritage present the opportunity for students to work with archival sources, digital humanities, academic publishing and an international community of design scholars.
Ask Professor Houze for more student opportunities.
Professor Irwin's research integrates observational techniques and lab analyses to assess how primate health responds to seasonality and habitat degradation. In other words, he writes down what primates do and analyzes things like feces and foods in the lab. The goal of all of this is twofold - to understand ecological adaptations in the wild (especially adaptations to seasonality), and to understand how the threat of habitat degradation affects primate health - hopefully leaving us able to do something proactive about it.
Students interested in lemurs can get involved in basic research with Professor Mitch Irwin, whose research focuses on how lemurs respond to habitat degradation in Madagascar. One can engage in field research, either through Professor Irwin's field school "Madagascar Past and Present," or targeted individual study experiences. In DeKalb, there are plenty of opportunities for lab work in parasitology, nutrition, or entering and managing datasets from Madagascar.
Professor for Environmental Studies and Biological Sciences
hjones@niu.edu
Professor Jones is a restoration ecologist and works at the intersections of ecological theory, community ecology, invasive species biology, and ecosystem ecology. Her research interests include how theory can be applied to maximize restoration potential, understanding how biodiversity and ecosystem functioning respond to disturbance, and researching the role ecosystem engineers can play in ecosystem restoration. The unifying theme of Professor Jones' research is applying basic ecological theory to answer fundamental applied questions.
Students interested in restoration, conservation, or the intersection between climate change and restoration are encouraged to apply to student opportunities available in Holly Jones' lab. Professor Jones' lab will train students to foster curiosity about how ecosystems work and their underlying ecology and to pursue ecological research that enhances environmental stewardship. Their research focuses on how best to prioritize restoration, the links between ecosystem restoration/conservation and human well-being in the face of global climate change, and maximizing restoration gains and investigating restoration trajectories at the local, regional, and global scale.
Professor Klis is a microeconomist who applies the techniques of game theory to questions of public economics and externalities. She has particular interest in environmental externalities, including emissions, transboundary pollution, overfishing and overharvesting of natural resources. Her research has a special focus on international agreements intended to limit negative environmental externalities, using game theory to understand how the structure of an agreement can affect membership and effectiveness. This also leads to the study of implementation of environmental initiatives and optimal resource management.
We have put together a database of legal mechanisms in environmental treaties, as well as updated a dataset of Superfund sites. Professor Klis has been involved with interdisciplinary projects with Melissa Lenczewski and Megan Brown, and is currently managing logistics of a convergence accelerator proposal on water quality with several NIU faculty.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
mkonen@niu.edu
Professor Konen's research program focuses on human impacts on soils and surficial processes. Current projects are examining soil carbon dynamics in agricultural systems and restored and remnant prairie and savanna. He also has been quantifying post-settlement erosion-sedimentation rates. Other research projects are focusing on soil-landscape relationships in glacial, periglacial, and eolian environments.
Field and laboratory opportunities are available for students to investigate human impacts on soils, hydrologic properties, and landscapes. This includes agricultural, restored prairie, and never cultivated prairie and savanna sites at Nachusa Grasslands and comparable locations in the region.
Biological Sciences
jkoop@niu.edu
Invasive species pose a major threat to global biodiversity. Aside from direct effects on ecosystems, invasive species can be or introduce invasive parasites and pathogens. Transmission of parasites to novel hosts can lead to epidemics that devastate local host populations. Despite a major effort by researchers, our understanding of the parameters that enable successful parasite invasions is still relatively limited. Broadly, my research uses a multidisciplinary approach of evolutionary biology, invasion biology, and conservation biology to investigate the evolutionary ecology of invasive parasites.
Students interested in research are encouraged to check out the lab's website. Students are typically asked to volunteer their time (two to four- hours/week) for an initial semester. During this time, they become familiar with ongoing projects in the lab and the mentorship style of the professor. Students are encouraged to use this time to explore potential research questions of their own. Assuming expectations are met during the volunteer period, students could take on an undergraduate research assistant position for academic credits the following semester to work on a more independent research project and further develop skills related to the scientific method and scientific communication.
Assistant Professor for Environmental Studies and Political Science
ckuehl@niu.edu
Professor Kuehl's research interests are at the intersection of international relations and environmental politics. He is interested in what makes people more likely to support environmental policies at differing scales and across issue areas. His primary work explores the social factors that shape the likelihood that important actors, like states and individuals, will participate in environmental governance. He is also interested in water conservation behavior, sustainability literacy, and pedagogy.
Students interested in questions of environmental policy, public opinion, water conservation and sustainable behaviors should get in touch with Prof. Kuehl. He also advises students in the regular campus wide sustainability survey (BARKS).
Professor for Environmental Studies and Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment
lenczewski@niu.edu
Professor Lenczewski studies organic pollution, polluted groundwater, and the changes in microorganisms associated with the pollution. Her main research investigates the impacts of tourist activities on groundwater in Yucatan, Mexico. Professor Lenczewski also studies water quality and resources in local communities and in low-income countries (especially Myanmar and Cambodia).
There are always opportunities for students interested in lab work, and in field work in Illinois and Mexico.
Associate Professor for Environmental Studies and Engineering Technology
kbmartin@niu.edu
Professor Martin's primary research interests include renewable energy systems, industrial energy efficiency, hydrogen economy development designs, and hybrid electric vehicles. Professor Martin served as the team leader for the Missouri S&T EcoCAR team which researched, designed, developed, and tested a full-size fuel cell plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. He has been involved in research projects sponsored by U.S. FTA, U.S. DOE, U.S. DLA, U.S. DOT-RITA, AFRL, and Missouri DNR.
Development of urban electric vehicles. Passive solar tracking systems. Renewable energy analysis and modeling of integrated wind, solar, biomass, and fuel cell systems.
Associate Professor for Environmental Studies and Anthropology
ekmckee@niu.edu
Professor McKee specializes in environmental and Middle East anthropology. Past research has examined land and water conflicts and socio-environmental activism in parts of Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. Current research investigates how Palestinians and Israelis react to water scarcity, resource competition, and water conservation campaigns. One branch examines popular understandings of desalination and its ecological, social, political, and economic impacts. Closer to home, Professor McKee examines small-scale agriculture and local food systems in the American Midwest, with plans for future comparative studies in the United States and the Middle East. Across these field sites, she is interested in the drawing and policing of group boundaries; experiences of agriculture, urbanization and environmental change; and environmental sustainability activism.
Students interested in gaining research experience in political ecology, water conservation, water justice and international water disputes, Middle East studies, alternative agriculture and local/regional food systems are encouraged to contact Professor McKee. Opportunities are available for individuals with Hebrew or Arabic proficiency, as well as English speakers. Research opportunities include the following, as well as additional projects tailored to students' skill sets: creating/compiling teaching tools to accompany forthcoming book (topics: water, conflict, scarcity, Palestine); collection of data on farmers' market sales and CSA memberships; literature reviews of research on food hubs, local and regional food system, and food sovereignty; and, comparative analysis of food systems curricula.
Engineering Technology
wmills11@niu.edu
Professor Mills research interests include: occupation and environmental exposure monitoring and modeling; Environmental Fate and Transport-Measurement and Modeling; Real-time Sensor Technologies for Environmental Health & Safety; Pollution Control/Pollution Prevention Technologies; Workplace Ergonomics and Statistical Data Analysis and Data Visualization.
Kevin Martin and William Mills, professors in the Department Engineering and Engineering Technology, lead the Building Energy Efficiency and Management (BEEAM) laboratory. Students and faculty working with the BEEAM lab focus on building energy efficiency through research on building technologies including lighting systems, variable frequency drives (VFDs), and solar photovoltaic energy resources. The BEEAM laboratory is used to teach students energy auditing concepts and to research spectrally enhanced lighting and LED luminaire design, application specific energy reductions from VFDs, and passive solar tracking system.
Professor Mogren is a 20th century United States environmental and legal historian interested in the dynamics of the interactions between people and nature. His research encompasses the social, cultural, and legal/public policy history of radioactive waste disposal and the uranium mining and processing industry. He has also worked in agricultural and local agricultural history, especially the evolution and influence of the Farm Bureau movement during the twentieth century. Currently, he explores gender issues in the hunting community, especially those that shaped bow hunting in American during the twentieth century. He is also interested in the expression of environmentalism during the Progressive Era, in particular the evolution of urban parks and forest preserves. In his work, he highlights the reciprocal interactions between people and the natural world in different geographical regions (the American Southwest, the agricultural regions of the upper Mid-West, and urban centers) and the ways that those dynamic relationships influence public policies as well as change the natural world.
Students interested in conducting environmental history research on any aspect of the past are welcome to contact Professor Mogren about developing their own independent projects that may be eligible for support from NIU's engaged learning funds. Additionally, students in Professor Mogren's Environmental History course are required to develop individual research projects that reflect a student's academic major and interests including community outreach and service projects.
Mechanical Engineering
npohlman@niu.edu
Professor Pohlman seeks to find efficiency in operation as a means of conserving energy. His research is to understand the fundamental principles of granular transfers (i.e. agriculture corn, coal, stone, biomass, etc) which will then help improve the efficiency in transportation and utilization. He recently received a research grant to study laboratory-scale biomass containers to achieve transportation density and lignin pre-treatment processes.
Technology Summary: Biomass is a widely available but severely under-utilized natural resource that could offer sustainable economic opportunities for rural Illinois. Two elements are preventing market viability from a commercial standpoint: Transportation efficiency of low-density materials Passive chemical conversion processes can serve as pre-treatments to create new markets for biofuels and specialty chemicals The objectives of this research are to confirm that packing densities of feedstocks can be sufficiently efficient to warrant longer transport distances while being flexible to meet any downstream conversion process.
Technology Impact: The expected advantages of the ISC storage system include higher density, more efficient handling of ISC, flexibility to be stored outdoors, better stability of feedstock over a wide range of moisture contents due to low rates of oxygen transport, improvement in the biological stability and improved susceptibility of the chemically treated feedstock to future conversion processes. This research project aims to develop science-based strategies to reduce the cost, improve the quality, and increase the quantity of feedstocks for conversion to biofuels and bioproducts.
Granular materials are easy to view and fun to watch flow with high speed cameras. Students can help collect data for particle tracking velocimetry to understand the acceleration and jamming tendencies. Equipment and safety training is the starting point to working with some hands-on data collection.
Professor Ross is an environmental epidemiologist who has previously focused on neurotoxicants (mostly pesticides, heat, metals, and VOCs).
Ask Professor Ross for more student opportunities.
Biological Sciences
ksamonds@niu.edu
Professor Samonds' research integrates comparative anatomy, systematics, and biogeography with field paleontology to address topics in vertebrate evolution. Her paleontological field research aims to shed light on the origin and evolutionary history of Madagascar's modern fauna, one of the most unique and endemic on the planet.
Opportunities are available for students to prepare, identify, and describe subfossils from Madagascar. As small mammal communities are correlated with major habitat types, this data is useful for making paleoenvironmental reconstructions.
Professor Shibata is an international scholar, who evaluates social and environmental determinants of health quantitatively to assist decision-makers in designing and implementing appropriate systems that will protect local and global public health effectively.
Professor Shibata has mentored and trained students, young professionals, and professors from all over the world through Global Environmental Health LAB (GEH LAB), a not-for-profit organization. GEH LAB promotes and supports safe and healthy environments on a local, regional, and global scale conducting collaborative public health-related research, scientific engagement, and capability building activities. GEH LAB conducts variety of interdisciplinary projects associated with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Please contact Professor Shibata for research, study abroad, and internship opportunities.
John Siblik, M.F.A, is a visual artist that seeks to find new ways of creating images inspired by the landscape and environment. Topics of interest include water quality and waterways, historical and political constructs related to the landscape and the environment, systems analysis, community engagement, integrating art into master planning, and sustainability planning in rural and urban environments.
Biological Sciences
psingh1@niu.edu
Professor Singh is a molecular microbiologist whose lab focuses on studying the role of the intestinal microbiome in the growth and health of the host. Prof. Singh's research identifies factors that are important for food safety specifically caused by bacterial pathogens including but not limited to Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and Salmonella. Her lab also focuses on identifying bacterial pathogens and genes important for antimicrobial resistance.
Animal intestinal microbiome, bacterial pathogen testing, antimicrobial resistance gene detection.
Public Administration
tskuzinski@niu.edu
Professor Skuzinski's scholarship focuses on the interplay of rules, norms, and cultural worldviews in shaping administrative and political decisions within and among local governments.
Ask Professor Skuzinski for more student opportunities.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
jsong@niu.edu
Ask Professor Song for more student opportunities.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
nstansell@niu.edu
Professor Stansell's research applies a wide range of methods to better understand past climatic changes on a range of timescales. His research includes stable isotope geochemistry and paleolimnology in western North America, Central America and South America, proglacial lake sediments and cosmogenic radionuclide dating in tropical Andes, and high latitude climate and carbon dynamics.
Ask Professor Stansell for more student opportunities.
Political Science
bswedlow@niu.edu
Professor Swedlow's overall interest is the relationship between political culture and environmental views or constructs of nature.
Students interested in studying the politics of environmental, health, and safety regulation can participate in Professor Swedlow's research on these topics as research assistants and/or by taking POLS 324 Politics of Environmental, Health, and Safety Regulation or POLS 611 US Regulatory Politics in Comparative Perspective.
Biological Sciences
wswingley@niu.edu
Professor Swingley's research focuses on three approaches to tackle the central challenges in analyzing complex environmental communities: 1) to develop novel computational techniques to inform a new generation of genomic and community genomic data; 2) to model the co-evolution of organisms and the environment; and 3) to illuminate the evolutionary origin and history of phenotypes and environmental adaptation.
Students interested in research in all areas of microbiology and microbial ecology are encouraged to inquire about student opportunities in the Swingley lab. Research in the lab focuses on integrating microbial processes with environmental changes, in a variety of systems, from man-made waste sites, to early Earth or extraterrestrial environments analogs, to prairie restorations. And we are also very interested in outreach, equity, and all aspects of making science a more welcoming and inclusive community. Students will learn skills in both traditional microbiology--including culturing, microscopy, and biochemical characterization--as well as modern sequencing and sequence analysis--including DNA isolation and amplification and high-throughput sequence parsing and analysis. For more information, please visit the Swingley lab website.
Ask Professor Tang for more student opportunities.
Earth, Atmosphere and Environment
jwilson41@niu.edu
Professor Wilson's research interests include public and environmental health, medical geography, and hazards. Currently he has been focusing on geographic information systems (GIS) applications and geographical approaches in environmental health (air pollution and water quality) and hazards (radiation and populations vulnerable to storm surges). He is also interested in agricultural systems.
Students can engage in a wide range of mapping and GIS projects on environmental and public health topics. Research opportunities can also include Open-Source GIS applications in Citizen Science, Public Participatory GIS, and Volunteered Geographic Information.
Prof. Shupei Yuan is interested in strategic environmental communication, including the communication style and media use that help the public make decisions regarding climate change issues. More specifically, she looks at how various types of environmental communicators (such as scientists, bloggers, or journalists) use communication strategies in their messages to achieve effective communication outcomes.
Students who are interested in science or environmental communication should contact Prof. Yuan directly. Currently Prof. Yuan is working on a series of narrative environmental message testing and building up a project around science misinformation debunking.
Engineering Technology
lguo@niu.edu
Dr. Guo's research focuses on renewable energy and power electronics, with emphasis on reducing reliance on traditional power generation methods while enhancing power system reliability and quality. Her work involves integrating sources like solar and wind into power systems, utilizing advanced techniques for efficient clean energy utilization to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainability. Dr. Guo's studies include intelligent and nonlinear control strategies for power converters, improving efficiency and stability in power conversion processes for sustainable energy systems. She also explores microgrid power management, employing innovative methods like fuzzy logic, neural networks, and particle swarm optimization to optimize power extraction from solar and wind sources. Additionally, Dr. Guo has developed virtual laboratories and cyber-physical systems for microgrids to educate the next generation of power engineers, equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to address the evolving challenges in sustainable energy and power electronics.
Developing intelligent and nonlinear control strategies for power converters and microgrids to improve efficiency and stability in power conversion processes for sustainable energy systems.
Biological Sciences
mhenson@niu.edu
Aquatic environments are ecologically diverse, economically important ecosystems undergoing rapid environmental change such as salinization, pollution, temperature rise, and eutrophication. These changes threaten the essential services they provide, such as habitat, climatic regulation, and infrastructure. The Aquatic Microbiology Lab’s research focuses on microbes, tiny but powerful organisms that act as “first responders” to environmental change. Disturbances, whether natural or human-induced, can have significant impacts on microbial communities that can alter biogeochemical cycling processes, leading to imbalances in nutrient availability. We combine traditional lab-based experiments with field-based observations to dive into the numerous ways microbes influence ecosystem health by investigating the relationships between microbial diversity, community dynamics, and ecosystem processes. Collectively, the Aquatic Microbiology Lab’s work will contribute to improved modeling of future environmental disturbances and the preservation, restoration, and sustainable management of aquatic environments.
Students interested in aquatic ecology, water quality, or microbial ecology/physiology/genomics are encouraged to check out the Aquatic Microbiology Lab’s website. Our lab studies microorganisms using field- and lab-based tools to understand the numerous ways microbes influence ecosystem health. Students should be able to work in the lab between 3-4 hours per week (typically split over two days). Students should expect to gain skills in field-based sampling, molecular techniques (e.g., DNA isolation, PCR, gel electrophoresis), sequencing, genomics, basic bioinformatics, aseptic technique, cultivation, flow cytometry, and basic R. Research topics include microbial physiology; microbial cultivation; microbial ecology; environmental microbiology; oligotrophic ecosystems; estuary ecosystem; freshwater microbiology.