Faculty

Professor Benning received her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology. Her research interests include landscape ecology, urban ecology and resource conservation and management. Her most recent research focuses on remote sensing and GIS technologies in the study of tropical rainforest dynamics in Hawaii and riparian corridors in southern African savannas.

Professor Karentz is a marine biologist with expertise in plankton ecology and ultraviolet photobiology. Her work has focused on investigating the ecological implications of Antarctic ozone depletion, specifically identifying strategies for protection from UV exposure and understanding mechanisms for repair of UV–induced damage. She has over 30 years of field experience in Antarctica. In addition to research, Deneb mentors early-career scientists through the US National Science Foundation (NSF...

William Karney received his BA from Haverford College and his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to his position at USF he did postdoctoral work at the University of Washington and the University of California, Berkeley. At USF, William teaches organic chemistry and environmental chemistry. His research, performed in collaboration with Professor Claire Castro, involves the use of computational chemistry to understand the structures, energetics, and...

An assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science since 2016, Dr. Amalia Kokkinaki holds a PhD degree from the University of Toronto in Canada and joined USF after completing her postdoctoral research at Stanford University. She is an environmental engineer with expertise in groundwater flow, fate and transport of contaminants, and biological treatment of organic pollutants. Her research is in the nexus of mathematical and statistical modeling of the physical, chemical and...

John M. (Jack) Lendvay received his MSE and PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan and is a licensed Civil Engineer with the State of California. His undergraduate studies were completed at Hiram College where he learned the value of a liberal arts education and received his BA in Chemistry. Dr. Lendvay's research interests focus primarily on the relationships between land use and water quality in coastal streams. He is currently working with colleagues and...

Allison Luengen received her MS in Marine Sciences from the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). She then completed her PhD in Environmental Toxicology, also at UCSC. Following her PhD, she moved to the East Coast for postdoctoral research with Dr. Nicholas Fisher in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University. As a postdoc, Professor Luengen worked with radioisotopes to look at how methylmercury bioavailability to phytoplankton was affected by dissolved...

Tom MacDonald received his PhD from Stanford University. Professor MacDonald's research focuses on designing computer simulations of problems of pollution migration and using the results to engineer systems to contain pollutants and prevent further spreading. He has also published his research on the neural network application for bioremediation. Recently he has co-authored papers dealing with environmental risk and the precautionary principle.

Dr. Purdy’s research leverages satellite observations, models, and geospatial analysis to study hydrology, water resources, ecosystems, and the environment from farm fields and watersheds to global scales. Before arriving at USF, Dr. Purdy was a postdoctoral scholar at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. His roles included supporting the validation state-of-the art satellite observations with on-ground observations, developing open-source software to ease the use of NASA data to support water...

April M. Randle’s research is broadly focused on how ecological factors shape the behavioral and morphological traits of species and influence species' distributions and interactions. She has conducted research on a range of taxa including: tropical trees (forest restoration), primates (foraging behavior), temperate flora (plant ecology, mating system evolution, plant-pollinator interactions), marine mammals (population size estimation of large cetaceans), tropical freshwater fish (adaptations...

Diane Roberts, Professor of Accounting, is motivated by a deep concern for unethical financial reporting and non-transparent corporate accounting, considering the potential for catastrophic effects on the environment, community trust, and the global economy. Having long been interested in environmental issues and professional accounting, Roberts engages her students in discussions that address both honorable and unlawful corporate practices, as well as historical cases that will naturally...

Dr. Saah has been broadly trained as an environmental scientist with expertise in a number of areas including: landscape ecology, ecosystem ecology, hydrology, geomorphology, ecosystem modeling, natural hazard modeling, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and geospatial analysis. He has used these skills to conduct research primarily at the landscape level in a variety of systems. Dr. Saah has participated in research projects throughout the United States and Internationally....

Tanu Sankalia is a tenured full professor in the Department of Art + Architecture, and coordinates the Urban Studies Concentration within the Environmental Studies Program. He teaches courses in urban planning and design, architectural and urban history, and architectural design. He was trained in urban design at UC Berkeley, and in architecture at the School of Architecture, Ahmedabad, from where he graduated with a gold medal for the best diploma thesis. Professor Sankalia's research and...

Calla Schmidt received a PhD in Earth Science from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her research spans physical hydrology and biogeochemistry and aims to understand the connection between hydrology and the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients. She has done research on nutrient cycling during groundwater recharge, nitrogen pollution in highway runoff and presently she is working on a project investigating the transfer of nutrients discharged by wastewater treatment plants into the base...

Professor Siehr works on energy–based solutions to multiple environmental problems–from local air pollution to global climate change–combining engineering with tools from political economy and organizational analysis. With a geographical focus on China, Japan, and the US, her research and teaching examine energy and carbon saving strategies; emissions inventories; city climate action; environmental and energy policy analysis; urban sustainability, international cooperation; and environmental...