Mark Borsuk
James L. and Elizabeth M. Vincent Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Co-director of the Center on Risk in the Duke Initiative for Science and Society, Duke University
Mark Borsuk’s research concerns the development and application of mathematical models for integrating scientific information on natural, technical, and social systems. He is a widely cited expert in Bayesian network modeling with regular application to environmental and human health regulation and decision making. He is also the originator of novel approaches to climate change assessment, combining risk analysis, game theory, and agent-based modeling.
David Brown
Snow Family Business Professor and Faculty Director, Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE), Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
David Brown's research focuses on designing and analyzing algorithms for decision problems involving uncertainty and complex tradeoffs. Part of the GRACE project funded by the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency, Professor Brown is actively working with researchers at Duke and several other institutions on improving the efficiency and reliability of electricity grid operations in the face of uncertainty in renewable energy sources. His research also includes developing and analyzing solution techniques for problems such as network revenue management, dynamic pricing in shared vehicle systems, stochastic scheduling problems, and sequential search problems. Professor Brown is Faculty Director for the EDGE Center at Fuqua.
Meagan Dunphy-Daly
Assistant Professor of the Practice in Experiential Education in the Division of Marine Science and Conservation and Associate Dean for Experiential Education and Undergraduate Research, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Meagan Dunphy-Daly is a marine conservationist and director the Nicholas School Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, which provides undergraduate students with intensive, hands-on mentored research opportunities. She teaches and mentors undergraduate scholars and graduate students on 1) using big data to inform policy decisions and 2) outreach programs based in experiential learning to enhance diversity in STEM careers. Dunphy-Daly’s newest research is on plastic pollution where she co-founded the Duke University Plastic Pollution Working Group and leads a research team focused on solving the plastic pollution problem. She has developed multiple outreach initiatives to increase diversity in STEM fields and provide high school students with the tools and experience to be successful in college and beyond.
Mark Huang
Co-founder, General Partner, LongLeaf Studios
Mark Huang has more than 15 years of cleantech venture experience having founded SeaAhead, Inc., one of the first US venture platforms focused on bluetech and co-founded Novus Energy Partners in 2008, a U.S.-European cleantech venture capital fund. Prior to Novus, Huang was with GE for 10 years as a senior vice president of GE Energy Financial Services where he led the effort to start GE’s cleantech corporate venture capital efforts.
Katie Kross
Managing Director of the Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE) in the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University
Katie Kross is a sustainability educator, career expert, and speaker. As Managing Director of the Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment (EDGE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, she designs and directs new education and thought leadership programs, manages operations, and connects MBA students with classes, project opportunities, career support, and other resources to pursue their interests in the energy and sustainability sectors. She helped design and create the Center in 2010 as a hub for Energy & Environment thought leadership at Fuqua, and plays an instrumental role in the strategic direction of the Center’s industry- and student-oriented offerings. In particular, she co-founded and leads the Center’s ClimateCAP Initiative, a partnership of 35+ business schools advancing education about the business risks of climate change, and serves as the managing editor of the Center’s innovative MBA EDGE thought leadership platform.
Judy Ledlee
Executive in Residence and Executive Director of Design Climate, Duke University
Judy Ledlee is passionate about cleantech innovation and commercialization. She developed her passion for cleantech innovation during her doctoral studies at Duke University where she researched emerging water treatment technologies. Ledlee co-founded a startup for hydraulic fracturing wastewater recycling. She continued her cleantech career in the water industry working for Evoqua, Black and Veatch, and ZwitterCo. Ledlee continues working on entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial activities and is excited to create opportunities for new generations of students to develop innovations from addressing climate challenges through Design Climate.
Shannon Parker
Executive in Residence, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University; BioCoastal; Co-founder and Head of Business, ReefCycle
Shannon Parker is specializes in building sustainable operations, supply chains, and circular business models. In 2024, Parker was recognized as an Exceptional Performer and Rising Star with NC Tech’s NEXT Tech Awards. She began her career with a strong foundation in operations. As an industry professional formerly certified in production and inventory management (CPIM) and Lean Six Sigma, Parker combines her expertise in operations and sustainability to create businesses that balance profitability with the well-being of people and the planet.
Before returning to Duke she spearheaded commercial supply and sustainability strategy at Circ, a textile-to-textile recycling start-up backed by Inditex and Breakthrough Energy Ventures. She also oversaw regulatory and industry engagement, collaborating with industry partners, including brands and supply chain players, to create circular pathways from feedstock to product. With a robust background in developing foundational operations and impact strategies for climate tech startups, Parker brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Before Circ, she founded and successfully sold Carbon Insights, a fintech startup specializing in environmental analytics.
Ty Roach
Scholar in Marine Science and Conservation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University; CEO and Lead Scientist, Coral Reef Arks
Ty Roach provides an integrative approach to marine science, combining multi-omic molecular techniques with biophysical assays and microbial manipulations, as well as spatial modeling and mapping, to provide a novel perspective on ecology and restoration science. His work has largely focused on ways that bacteria and viruses are involved in mediating organismal responses to local and global stressors. At the local scale, he has focused on the role of host-associated microbial communities in mediating ecological interactions between organisms.
At a larger scale, Roach has investigated the effects of global stressors, such as ocean warming, by examining the effects of heat stress on coral, algal, and oyster microbiomes and metabolomes. Recently, he has also developed probiotic and phage therapy treatments to help corals and shellfish tolerate thermal stress. Roach’s research aims to combine molecular techniques and experimental microbial manipulations to investigate the role of the different holobiont components in organisms’ responses to stressors at multiple scales and ultimately use this knowledge to design and test novel tools for ecological restoration.
Stephanie Rousso
Managing Director, Oceans@Duke, Duke University
Stephanie J. Rousso is an ecologist with more than two decades of experience in cocreating conservation strategies for migratory endangered species. Most of her work has focused on sea turtles; however, she has experience with other endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species including the arroyo toad, Quino checkerspot butterfly, and Florida sand skink.
More recently, Rousso moved into marine spatial planning related to international small-scale fisheries (SSF) ecosystem management. Specifically, her focus is on reducing and mitigating SSF bycatch of ETP species with artisanal fishers in Pacific México. Quickly realizing that grant-funded research was not enough for small, on the ground strategic collaborations between scientists and fishers, her interest evolved into becoming an "oceanpreneur." She is passionate about creating community-based, conservation-positive solutions through a sustainable blue economy lens by involving the seafood consumer to support wild, traceable, and responsibly caught seafood.
Brian Silliman
Rachel Carson Distinguished Professor of Marine Conservation Biology, Director of Duke Wetland and Coasts Center, Director of Duke RESTORE, Duke University
Brian Silliman holds both B.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Virginia, and completed his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Brown University. In recognition of his research achievements, Silliman was named a Distinguished Fulbright Chair with CSIRO in 2019; a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences in 2015; a Visiting Professor with the Royal Netherlands Society of Arts and Sciences in 2011; and David H. Smith Conservation Fellow with The Nature Conservancy in 2004. He has also received several awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists (2006), a Young Investigator Grant Award from the Andrew Mellon Foundation (2007), and a NSF Career Grant Award (2011).
Dr. Silliman has published 21 book chapters and over 180 peer reviewed journal articles, and co-edited four books: Human Impacts on Salt Marshes: A Global Perspective (with T. Grosholtz and M. D. Bertness), Marine Community Ecology (with M. Bertness, J. Bruno and J. Stachowicz), Effective Conservation: Data not Dogma (with P. Karieva and M. Marvier) and Marine Disease Ecology (with D. Behringer and K Lafferty). His teaching and research are focused on community ecology, conservation and restoration, global change, plant–animal interactions, and evolution and ecological consequences of cooperative behavior.
Neal Simmons
President and CEO, Eagle Creek Renewable Energy LLC
Neal Simmons brings to Eagle Creek strategic leadership skills and strong innovation and technical expertise. Simmons previously served as Senior Vice President of Engineering & Major Projects at ECRE, as Vice President of Engineering at Cube Hydro, and as a professor of mechanical engineering at Duke University for 15 years. At Duke, he played a key role in the formation of Energy Engineering program. Simmons remains committed to the importance of energy education and continues to teach courses at Duke on renewable energy technologies, modern power systems, hydroelectric generation, and engineering innovation.
He has also overseen the rehabilitation, automation, and management of several damaged and underperforming projects. Simmons has started two successful engineering companies and has been granted over 25 US patents, which are licensed worldwide. He has over 90 peer reviewed publications and conference proceedings. Simmons graduated from Bucknell University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and from Duke University with a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science.
Jason Somarelli
Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine, Duke University; Founder of Therian Biotransformation
Jason Somarelli’s team is trying tackle the plastic waste pandemic in the following ways: 1) developing new enzymes and microbial systems to biodegrade plastic, 2) using bioinformatics to identify enzymes with plastic degrading capability, 3) understanding the influence of plastic ingestion as a carrier of environmental toxins, and 4) engaging students in research aimed at improving societal understanding of humanity's negative impacts on the environment and human health.
Dr. Somarelli also has research aims that look at understanding what roles gene regulation and phenotypic plasticity – our bodies’ ability to change in response to the environment – play in metastasis and drug resistance. To understand these processes, he borrows concepts and tools from the fields of ecology and evolution. He frames his research into a comparative evolutionary approach by comparing how cancer differs in its frequency and severity between species that may unlock potential new ways to intervene in human cancers.
Toddi Steelman
Vice President and Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability, Duke University
Toddi Steelman serves as the Vice President and Vice Provost for Climate and Sustainability at Duke University. In this role, she leads the Duke Climate Commitment - a university-wide initiative that unites education, research, operations, and public service to fully engage the Duke community in developing and implementing solutions to climate change.
Steelman is internationally recognized for her research expertise in wildland fire. An elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Steelman explores: how can people, communities, and institutions work better together to respond to complex problems—especially when the stakes are high, the science is uncertain, and the solutions require collaboration across sectors.
Zachary Widel
Assistant Director in the Office of Translation and Commercialization, Duke University
Zachary Widel supports a range of physical sciences and digital innovations technologies through the Office of Translation and Commercialization. Previously, he was the Associate Technology Manager on the technology transfer team of the University of Illinois, Chicago.
Jesko von Windheim
Lynn Gorguze-Scott Peters Professor of the Practice of Environmental Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University; President and CEO, GridSeer
Jesko von Windheim is an experienced entrepreneur and executive with a proven ability to create value in high-technology environments. He has a successful track record for demonstrating top-tier results in company building and new product development activities. He also chairs the Business and Environment Concentration for the Masters of Environmental Management program.
