Profiles in "Urban Social-ecological Systems" Expertise Area

  • Grimm is an ecosystem scientist who studies desert streams and cities and their resilience to extreme events. She is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
  • Johnston’s research focuses on policy informatics, the study of how computational and communication technology is leveraged to specifically understand and address complex public policy and administration problems.
  • Nelson's research focuses on cycles of social complexity and connectivity among the ancient cultures of northwestern Mexico and the American Southwest and on human roles in and responses to the desertification of grasslands.
  • Hackett's interests focus on sociology and the social organization and dynamics of scientific research.
  • Turner studies human-environment relationships from the ancient Maya to contemporary sustainability science. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, among other honors.
  • Milan Shrestha is an Associate Teaching Professor at ASU. His current research interests focus on disaster risks and vulnerability in mountains, urban-rural linkages of land system change, and food and agricultural systems.
  • Lauren Kuby manages ASU's Stardust Center for Affordable Homes and the Family, As a two-term Tempe councilmember, she's been recognized as a national champion for climate solutions and cities as incubators of innovation.
  • Sugiyama's major research focuses on the Mesoamerican social histories, particularly of Teotihuacan, ancient urbanism, iconography, and symbolism; theory and method, particularly cognitive archaeology.
  • Dr. Hall is a conservation scientist, Assoc. Dean in the College of Global Futures, and award-winning teacher who studies ecosystem resilience and complex interactions between people and nature near protected areas.