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Steering Committee, 2024-2027

The Steering Committee is the primary advisory group for the George Perkins Marsh Institute, providing broad strategic guidance for all Institute activities. Members represent a broad range of Departments within Clark University.

  • Denise Humphreys Bebbington

    Research Associate Professor, Sustainability and Social Justice

    Denise Humphreys Bebbington is Research Associate Professor in the Department of International Development, Community and Environment at Clark University in Massachusetts, USA. She is Faculty Convener of A new Earth conversation at Clark, Co-Director of the Center for the Study […]

  • Timothy Downs

    Professor, Sustainability and Social Justice

    Tim Downs is a specialist in environmental science and engineering with over 30 years field experience designing and managing collaborative projects in the UK, the United States, Latin America and Africa. His research focus is on how humans change the […]

  • Lyndon Estes

    Associate Professor, Geography

    I am an environmental scientist who investigates the drivers and impacts of agricultural change, with a particular focus on Africa. I conduct my research using new Earth Observation technologies and a range of modeling techniques, and work within inter-disciplinary projects […]

  • Ellen Foley

    Professor, Sustainability and Social Justice

    Ellen Foley is a medical anthropologist whose research addresses the social production of disease with a focus on how intertwined global, national, and local social forces shape vulnerability to disease, health status, and access to medical care, particularly in sub-Saharan […]

  • Dr. Karen Frey is a professor of earth system science in the Graduate School of Geography. Her research interests involve the combined use of field measurements, satellite remote sensing, and geospatial analytics to study large-scale linkages between land, atmosphere, ocean, […]

  • Robert Goble

    Part-time Instructor, Sustainability and Social Justice

  • I am an urban geographer with interests in the meanings and understandings of place, local politics, legal geography, qualitative methodologies, and social movements (particularly neighborhood activism). My research focuses on the United States, including past research in the Twin Cities […]

  • James Murphy

    Professor, Geography

    Director, Geography

    Jim Murphy’s research elucidates the structures, agencies, relationalities, and spatialities shaping contemporary economic geographies and examines the prospects for more just, sustainable, and resilient forms of development in the Global South (esp. Africa).  This work draws on concepts, theories, and […]

  • Laurie Ross

    Professor, Sustainability and Social Justice

    Director, Sustainability and Social Justice

    Laurie Ross brings expertise in developing and supporting long-term community-university partnerships that address the social determinants of youth violence. The intractability of youth violence requires horizontal knowledge and strategy production (i.e. responses that are co-created by individuals and communities affected […]

  • Rinku Roy Chowdhury completed her bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Environmental Science at Wellesley College, a master's degree in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development at the University of Georgia, and a Ph.D. in Geography at Clark University. Before returning […]

  • Dr. Williams is a professor of earth system science within Clark’s School of Geography and is director of the environmental sciences program at Clark.  His expertise is in terrestrial ecosystems, global environmental change, and climate change.   He and his team […]

Ex-Officio

  • Dana Bauer

    Assistant Director, George Perkins Marsh Institute

    Research Scientist, Economics

    Dr. Dana Bauer is an interdisciplinary researcher with particular interests in conservation and sustainability. She applies economic and ecological theory towards the assessment of ecosystem services and the analysis of policies and programs that aim to protect them. Her current […]

  • Robert Johnston

    Professor, Economics

    Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute

    Dr. Johnston received a B.A. from Williams College in 1990 and a Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in 1996. He has been at Clark since 2008. He is Director of the George Perkins Marsh Institute and Professor of […]