Climate at Vanderbilt J.B. Ruhl

Brooke Ackerly is a Professor of Political Science with secondary appointments in the Law School and Peabody School. She studies political theory and is currently working on the intersection of global economic, environmental, and gender justice. She has been on the editorial boards of Politics and Gender and is the founder and principal investigator of the Global Feminisms Collaborative.

In this episode our guest is Dr. Calynn Dowler. She is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies whose research and expertise lies at the intersection of religious studies and environmental anthropology. She received her BA in Political Science and German from Gettysburg College, her Masters of Migration Studies from the University of Sussex, and her PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University.

Kip Viscusi is a University Distinguished Professor with appointments in the Department of Economics, the Law School, and the Owen Graduate School of Management. He is also Co-Director of the Law & Economics program, in which students receive a J.D. and a Ph.D. in Law & Economics. His work focuses on risk analysis and benefit-cost analysis and has been influential in shaping government policies, including on the social cost of carbon, and the field of law and economics generally.

Dr. Patrick Greiner received his PhD in Sociology from University of Oregon in 2018, and is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and
Assistant Professor of Public Policy Studies here at Vanderbilt. He is also a Dean’s Faculty Fellow of Vanderbilt’s Grand Challenge in Climate and Society. Professor Greiner’s research centers on providing greater insight into the complex co-constitution of social inequalities, environmental changes, and their consequences.

Dr. Charles Doktycz is a Climate Risk and Resilience Analyst for Argonne National Laboratory. He received his BS in Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University, focusing on climate change and the cost of inaction due to the rising threats of extreme weather. He has a range of interests and experience in climate change issues, including climate modeling, community resilience development, risk analysis, and international environmental law.

Dr. Yolanda J. McDonald is an Assistant Professor in the  Department of Human and Organizational Development and a Faculty Affiliate on Vanderbilt's Program in Climate and Environmental Studies. Dr. McDonald is also the Lead Investigator of the Vanderbilt University Drinking Water Justice Lab. She  earned her M.A. in Sociology from the University of Texas at El Paso, and her Ph.D. in Geography from Texas A&M University, focusing on healthcare access inequities. Building on that theme, she is currently a National Institutes of Health, Health Disparities Research Institute Scholar.