Leadership

John Sheppard

Interim Director

Professor, Computer Science

Interests: Artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science, reasoning under uncertainty, health management, data mining,  algorithms

Bonnie Sheehey

Associate Director

Assistant Professor, History & Philosophy

Interests: Ethics, Philosophy of Technology, Social & Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Race

 

Kirke Elsass

Graduate Research Assistant

PhD Candidate, History

Interests: Environment, geology, geography, and industrialization

Angus Cummings

Graduate Research Assistant

PhD Candidate, History

Interests: History of land management and conservation

Maggie Althaus

Graduate GIS Mapping Fellow

M.S Candidate, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences

Interests: Conservation, GIS, and environmental sciences

Sarah Cairoli

Program Manager/Grant Coordinator

Program support for the Initiative including assisting the Director in communications, events, and grant coordination

Eric Austin 

Professor, Political Science

Interests: Public administration, leadership ethics, public safety, environmental policy

Brooke Bocast

Assistant Professor,  Sociology & Anthropology

Interests: Africa, global health, medical anthropology, gender and sexuality

Beth Burroughs

Professor and Department Head, Mathematical Sciences

Interests: Mathematical modeling in mathematics classrooms; mathematics coaching in elementary mathematics classrooms; gender issues in mathematics education

Mary Ann Cummings

Assistant Teaching Professor, Gianforte School of Computing

Interests: Computational theory, software engineering, ethical and social issues in computing

Ed Dratz

Professor, Chemistry and BioChemistry

Interests: Metabolism, enhanced nutrition and health, proteomics

Paul Gannon

Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Interests: Sustainability, Energy, Materials

Xin Han

Assistant Professor, Political Science

Interests: Interdisciplinary Studies, Development, Governance, Digital Politics

Brock LaMeres

Professor, Electrical Engineering

Director, Montana Engineering Education Research Center

Interests: Computer engineering, engineering education, social and ethical responsibilities of engineers

Timothy LeCain

Professor, History & Philosophy 

Interests:  Environmental History, History of Technology, Animal History, Neo-Materialism

 

Rob Maher

Professor, Electical & Computer Engineering

Interests: Digital audio signal processing, audio forensic analysis, analysis and synthesis of music, and acoustics, engineering ethics & professional responsibilities

 

Sara Mannheimer

Assistant Professor and Data Librarian, Library

Interests: Digital preservation, open data, big data ethics, research data management

 

Bruce Maxwell

Professor, Land Resources and Environmental Sciences

Interests:  Agroecology, invasive plant ecology, ecological modeling

 

Jamie McEvoy

Associate Professor, Geography, Department of Earth Sciences

Interests:  Political ecology, science and technology studies, political ecology of water management, climate change vulnerability and adaptation,policy and governance at the climate-water-energy nexus

 

Gretchen Minton

Professor, English

Interests: Shakespeare and early modern drama, relationships between science, environment and society in literature

 

Michael Reidy

Professor of History, History & Philosophy

History of science, technology, and  environment, history of mountaineering, history of exploration

 

Liz Shanahan

Professor, Political Science

Interests: Public policy, environmental policy and politics, narrative policy frameworks, social ecological systems

 

Cindy Stillwell

Professor, Film and Photography

Interests: Filmmaking focused on human beings in relationship with nature. 

 

Kristin Ruppel

Associate Professor, Native American Studies and Director of the Native Land Project

Interests: Federal Indian law and policy,federal-Indian trust reform, American Indian self-determination, and research methodologies for working in and with Native communities, especially with regard to ecologies of place, Native food systems, local economic development, and the praxis of ethical, equitable research partnerships.

 

Blake Wiedenheft

Associate Professor, Microbiology and Immunology

Interests: Genome editing/CRISPR, virology, immunology

 

Scott Young

Associate Professor, User Experience and Assessment Librarian

Interests: Service and participatory design, accessibility, ethics and social justice in library sciences.