People
The Urban Sustainability Research Group is deliberately collaborative across levels. Research faculty work directly with doctoral students, who mentor master’s students, and all mentor undergraduate researchers. Members come from a wide range of national and disciplinary backgrounds, spanning geography, planning, engineering, industrial ecology, economics, and data science.
Since 2010 the group has trained seven doctoral graduates, five postdoctoral scholars and research scientists, and more than 25 master’s and 20 undergraduate researchers.
Faculty
Joshua P. Newell
Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability and Program in the Environment; Director, Urban Sustainability Research Group
Urban sustainability, resource consumption, environmental justice, supply chains, geospatial AI
Staff
Shannon Sears
Senior Project Manager
Research administration, project systems, data governance, external partnerships
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Research Scientists
Dimitris “Jim” Gounaridis
Assistant Research Scientist and Lecturer, School for Environment and Sustainability
Land change dynamics, remote sensing, spatial analysis, simulation modeling, geospatial AI
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Brandon Marc Finn
Assistant Research Scientist, School for Environment and Sustainability; Lead, Informal Sustainability Lab
Mining and urbanization, informal labour and housing, governance, informal sustainability
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Faculty Affiliates
Benjamin Goldstein
Assistant Professor, School for Environment and Sustainability; Founder and Lead, Sustainable Urban-Rural Futures (SURF) Lab
Sustainable systems, climate and energy, food systems, cities, mobility and the built environment
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Post-Docs
Jinchao Song
Research Fellow, Center for Sustainable Systems, Urban Sustainability Research Group and SURF Lab
GIS, remote sensing, urban environment, transportation
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Doctoral Students
Charlotte Sedlock
Ph.D. candidate, joined 2023, expected 2028; co-chaired with Benjamin Goldstein
Supply chains, decarbonization regulation, smallholder farmers, sustainability certifications, just transitions
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Chandler Sachs
Ph.D. candidate, joined 2023, expected 2028
Transboundary resource flows, climate and natural hazard impacts on critical infrastructure, complex systems, social vulnerability
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Master’s Students
Noel Boland
M.S. Sustainability (Sustainable Systems), 2025 to present
Urban systems, urban-rural teleconnections, built environment, planetary urbanization, sustainable supply chains, resource stewardship
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