Selected Profiles
Nabil Nasr
Assistant Provost and Director, Golisano Institute for Sustainability and CIMS
Nasr is the founding director of the Golisano Institute for Sustainability and the director of the Center for Integrated Manufacturing Studies (CIMS). For more than 20 years, Nasr has been a leader in research and development efforts in sustainability. He has developed strong ties to industry through efforts to implement and improve sustainable design processes at hundreds of companies from diverse sectors. Nasr also led the development of RIT’s doctoral program in sustainability, one of the first in the nation to focus specifi cally on the discipline.
Matt Fronk
Director of the Center for Sustainable Mobility
Fronk has been a leader in fuel cell research and development for close to two decades. He directs research programs in hydrogen fuel technology, fuel cell development, alternative fuels, and hybrid vehicle systems. Prior to joining RIT, Fronk spent over 30 years at General Motors in a wide variety of engineering and leadership positions. Most recently he served as director of GM’s Fuel Cell Research Laboratory, located in Honeoye Falls, N.Y. He has also served on a number of government and industry committees and task forces, including the U.S. Department of Energy’s Workshop on Manufacturing R&D for the Hydrogen Economy.
Amit Batabyal
Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics
Batabyal is using dynamic and stochastic modeling techniques to create theoretical models to assist resource managers in better assessing how shocks, such as biological invasions and droughts to ecological-economic systems, affect cattle production, food safety, and the sustainability of these systems.
Recently named interim academic director of the GIS, Batabyal is a renowned international economist who brings his expertise and interests to lead and enhance the GIS academic programs.
He has published over 450 books, journal articles, book chapters, and book reviews in the above and other fi elds. He is the recipient of many national and international awards including the RIT Trustees Faculty Scholarship Award in 2007.
Sandra Rothenberg
Associate Professor and Zutes Faculty Fellow, E. Philip Saunders College of
Business
Rothenberg is a national expert in corporate environmental strategy. She is the director of the Saunders College’s MBA concentration in sustainable management, co-director of the RIT Sustainable Print Systems Laboratory, an affiliate researcher with RIT’s Lab for Environmental Computing and Decision Making, and a researcher for the International Motor Vehicle Program at MIT. Rothenberg was awarded the Sloan Jr. Faculty Fellowship in 2004 and the Bernard Rabinowitz Fellowship for Leadership and Service in 1991. She has also worked as a research associate for the Harvard Global Environmental Assessment Program, U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, and MIT Technology, Business and Environment program.
Karl Korfmacher
Director, Environmental Science Program and Professor, School of Biological
Sciences
Korfmacher’s research focuses on environmental and ecological applications of geographic information systems (modeling and monitoring) and campus sustainability projects.
Elizabeth Hane
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Hane collaborates with students and other faculty on several research projects, including sugar maple regeneration and northern hardwood calcium cycling.
Christy Tyler
Assistant Professor, School of Biological Sciences
Tyler leads the NSF-funded Aquatic Ecology Lab’s research examining the interaction between aquatic organisms and their biological and physicochemical environment.
Callie Babbitt
Assistant Professor, Golisano Institute for Sustainability
Babbitt’s research interests are in the areas of lifecycle inventory data development, assessing and minimizing environmental impacts of end-of-life management for electronic equipment, and environmental and social assessment of emerging energy systems.
John Morelli
Russell C. McCarthy Professor and Chair, Civil Engineering Technology,
Environmental Management & Safety Department
Morelli is the founding chair of the environmental management BS degree program. Under his direction, the program evolved into environmental sustainability, health and safety. Morelli was also the principal developer of RIT’s MS degree program in environmental, health and safety management. Says Morelli, “While the profession of environmental management has evolved through several manifestations, it is clearly time for another evolutionary jump. The developing role of the environmental manager is a principal research area, specifically focusing on fostering sustainability in our economic, environmental, and social systems.” Morelli is the founding director of the Environmental Management Leadership Initiative.
Ken Reed ’71
Alumnus Dr. Ken Reed (left) and Mick Stadler (right) established a startup company, Cerion Energy Inc., out of RIT’s Venture Creations business incubator. The company develops a diesel fuel additive using nano-particles that tremendously improves energy efficiency while reducing harmful emissions. A separate formulation added to lube oil reduces the friction of internal moving parts, providing additional fuel economy and reducing engine wear. The pair assembled a team of faculty members to work on the research project. Together, they were able to develop a novel chemistry. Three provisional patents have been filed on the technology, which preceded four additional applications. Several new materials are also being investigated.
Gabrielle Gaustad
Assistant Professor, Golisano Institute for Sustainability
Gaustad’s research interests include identifying and removing barriers and disincentives to secondary usage of materials, evaluating effective technologies for upgrading recycled materials, and designing and selecting recycling-friendly products.