Anthony Harding is an environmental economist with research interests at the intersection of innovative technologies and climate policy. He uses economic theory and applied econometrics to analyze the extent of socioeconomic risks from climate change, how policy and technologies can moderate these risks, and what impacts, intended or otherwise, policies may have. Before returning to Georgia Tech, Harding was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. He earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the School of Economics and a B.S. in Mathematics and Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Dr. Graham joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in January 2023. She completed a President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at Georgia Tech, and completed her MS and PhD in Environmental Engineering and Science at Stanford University. Prior to that, she received her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in Chemical Engineering.

Dr. Graham’s research interests focus on the fate and transport of pathogens and antimicrobial resistance genes in the built and natural environments. Her previous research projects have focused on wastewater-based epidemiology, quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA), and the removal of pathogens in green stormwater infrastructure. Her lab aims to use molecular biology, microbiology, and modeling tools to address issues of water, climate, and health domestically and internationally.

Fanijo’s research centres around sustainable and smart-resilient buildings/civil infrastructure with a particular interest in decarbonizing infrastructure using novel low-carbon construction materials and alternative energy sources. Buildings contribute to more than one-third (39%) of the global energy-related CO2 emissions and 35% of global energy consumption, mainly from manufacturing, building materials and transportation. As such, advanced research on developing innovative construction materials is urgently required to address the carbon emissions from materials and construction processes of buildings' life cycle. His research approach includes examining the fresh properties and rheology, early-age cracking, microstructure evaluation, mechanical and durability performance, and life cycle assessment of building systems (particularly cementitious composites) made with these sustainable construction materials. 

He has also conducted research across different disciplines, including cementitious and concrete composites; corrosion monitoring and mitigation; concrete durability; green concrete technology using recycled and by-product materials; 3D printing of cementitious materials; highway pavement; geopolymers; fibre-reinforced concrete; advanced sensing technologies and automation; and non-destructive structural monitoring and evaluation. 

Fanijo received his B.S. in Building Construction with first-class honours from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. In 2019, He earned an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho. Subsequently, he got his PhD in Civil Engineering (with a simultaneous Master’s degree – MEng in Material Science and Engineering) from Virginia Tech in 2022. He has worked on numerous funded research projects and published in various peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. Fanijo has also received numerous national and international awards for his excellence in research, with his recent NSBE Golden Torch Award recognized as the graduate student of the year 2022. 

At Georgia Tech, he is passionate about teaching construction materials and methods and their critical role in the design and construction of buildings. Fanijo developed and currently teaching the Construction Materials and Methods Course so that Building Construction students can have in-depth knowledge of building materials and systems, their properties, and their intrinsic relationship to structural systems and environmental performance. He also develops and teaches courses on Green Construction Technology, Concrete Durability and Sustainable Construction Materials and Techniques. 

Fanijo is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and LEED Green Associate with more than five years of working experience in the construction sector.

Dr. Boukouvala is originally from Piraeus, which is the port of Athens in Greece. As the daughter of an airforce pilot, she travelled a lot with her family. Her first international move was actually to the USA, where she spent one year in Montgomery, Alabama. She later on lived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Crete, Greece, before returning to Athens to get her B.S Degree in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University in Athens. In 2008, she moved back to the US to obtain a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Rutgers University in NJ. She then worked as a Postdoctoral Associate in both Princeton University and Texas A&M University. In August 2016, Dr. Boukouvala returned to the South East US, as an Assistant Professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech. 

Her research interest in Process Systems Engineering (PSE) started during her PhD years, where she worked under the supervision of Dr. Marianthi Ierapetritou, on modeling and optimization of continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing. Her background on optimization and data-driven modeling was enhanced during her years as a postdoc with the late Christodoulos A. Floudas. Dr. Boukouvala is a proud 4th generation member of the academic family tree of the father of PSE, Roger Sargent.

Dr. Gunter is an Assistant Professor in Aerospace Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from Rice University, and later his M.S. and Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in orbital mechanics. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Dr. Gunter was on the faculty of the Delft University of Technology (TU-Delft) in the Netherlands, as a member of the Physical and Space Geodesy section. His research activities involve various aspects of spacecraft missions and their applications, such as investigations into current and future laser altimetry missions, monitoring changes in the polar ice sheets using satellite data, applications of satellite constellations/formations, and topics surrounding kinematic orbit determination. He has been responsible for both undergraduate and graduate courses on topics such as satellite orbit determination, Earth and planetary observation, scientific applications of GPS, and space systems design. He is currently a member of the AIAA Astrodynamics Technical Committee, and also serves as the Geodesy chair for the Fall AGU Meeting Program Committee. He has received a NASA group achievement award for his work on the GRACE mission, and he is also a former recipient of a NASA Earth System Science Graduate Fellowship. He is a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), the American Geophysical Union (AGU), and the International Association of Geodesy (IAG).

Ellen is Director of the Master of Science in Urban Design degree, an authority on sustainable suburban redevelopment, and a leading urbanist. Author of over 100 articles, she is co-author with June Williamson of the retrofitting suburbia book series documenting successful retrofits of aging big box stores, malls, and office parks into healthier and more sustainable places. Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs, (Wiley, 2009, 2011) received a PROSE award as the best architecture and urban planning book of 2009 and has been featured in The New York Times, Time Magazine, Harvard Business Review, NPR, PBS, TED and other prominent venues. Case Studies in Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Strategies for Urgent Challenges (Wiley, 2020) expands on the first book examining how new retrofits are helping communities disrupt automobile dependence, improve public health, support an aging population, leverage social capital for equity, compete for jobs, and add water and energy resilience. 

Ellen serves on several national boards and committees, is former Chair of the Board of the Congress for the New Urbanism, lectures widely and conducts community workshops. In both her teaching and research she focuses on helping communities address new challenges that they were never designed for – whether that’s through her unique database of successful suburban retrofits or studio classes on anticipating autonomous vehicles, coping with climate change or suburban blight. She taught at UVA and MIT before joining Georgia Tech as Architecture Program Director from 2000-2009.

Dr. Omar I. Asensio is an Assistant Professor in the School of Public Policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focuses on the intersection of big data and public policy, with applications to energy systems and consumer behavior, smart cities, and machine learning in transportation and electric mobility. He directs the Data Science and Policy Lab at Georgia Tech, where he collaborates with the private sector and city governments on data innovations in policy analysis and research evaluation. He is a faculty affiliate at the Institute for Data Engineering and Science (IDEaS), the Machine Learning Center, and the Strategic Energy Institute. Dr. Asensio’s research has been published in leading journals such as Nature Energy, Nature Sustainability, and PNAS. His work uses statistical and computational tools to advance our understanding of how large-scale civic data and experiments can be used to increase participation in civic processes, while addressing resource conservation and environmental sustainability. Dr. Asensio’s research also has been featured in policy advisory communications by the European Commission, NSF Public Affairs, the World Bank, and national governments — including the U.K., and the IndiaAI initiative.

Dr. Asensio is a member of the New Voices 2021-2023 cohort of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) 40-for-40 fellowship, and the ONE-NBS Research Impact on Practice award by the Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE) Division of the Academy of Management. Dr. Asensio serves as Associate Editor of Data and Policy journal published by Cambridge University Press. He holds a doctorate in environmental science and engineering from UCLA with field specialties in economics. He is a faculty participant in the Research University Alliance (RUA) Research Exchange and is engaged in multiple activities to increase the representation of women and under-represented students and professionals in STEM fields. 

Anjali Thomas is an Associate Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and Director of the Nunn School Program in Global Development. Her research focuses on the political economy of development, and employs quantitative analyses of data derived from India and other developing country contexts. Her specific substantive interests include the politics of service provision, democratic institutions and the link between climate change and local level politics. Prior to joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, Anjali was a faculty member in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. She obtained her Ph.D. from New York University in 2010.