Valerie Thomas is the Anderson-Interface Chair of Natural Systems and Professor in the H. Milton School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, with a joint appointment in the School of Public Policy. 

Dr. Thomas's research interests are energy and materials efficiency, sustainability, industrial ecology, technology assessment, international security, and science and technology policy. Current research projects include low carbon transportation fuels, carbon capture, building construction, and electricity system development. Dr. Thomas is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and of the American Physical Society. She has been an American Physical Society Congressional Science Fellow, a Member of the U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board, and a Member of the USDA/DOE Biomass Research and Development Technical Advisory Committee. 

She has worked at Princeton University in the Princeton Environmental Institute and in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, and at Carnegie Mellon University in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy.

Dr. Thomas received a B. A. in physics from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Cornell University.

Dr. Chirico is a lifelong yellow jacket bringing over 20 years of sustainability experience as the inaugural Associate Vice President (AVP) of Sustainability at Georgia Tech. In this role, she oversees the Office of Sustainability and Utilities Management. She led the development and publication of the Institute’s first Climate Action Plan and co-led Georgia Tech’s Institute Sustainability Plan, Sustainability Next. In addition, she works across the Institute on emissions reductions, clean energy, water management, circular economy, sustainable technology and strategy. She holds a PhD in public policy from Georgia Tech, a master’s in public health (MPH) with a major in environmental health, and a Bachelor of Science in management from Georgia Tech. She is LEED GA accredited and holds certifications in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), WaterSense, Climate Action Planning, and Home Energy Survey Professional (HESP).

Rebecca Watts Hull is assistant director, faculty development for sustainability education initiatives for the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), with a courtesy appointment in the School of History and Sociology. Rebecca works with faculty to incorporate Education for Sustainable Development into their course design and teaching practices. She partners with other units to lead strategic initiatives related to sustainability education, including Sustainability Next’s Education for Sustainable Development implementation plan. Prior to her current role, Rebecca served as a Service Learning and Partnerships Specialist with the Center for Serve-Learn-Sustain (SLS), and she continues to collaborate closely with Georgia Tech's community-based learning initiatives. She facilitates the "Scaling up Sustainability Across the Curriculum Community of Practice" of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) which supports collaboration among sustainability education professionals at dozens of colleges and universities. Rebecca also serves on AASHE's Advisory Council and STARS Steering Committee. Before her work at Georgia Tech, Rebecca held sustainability and educational leadership roles in the public, private and nonprofit sectors with responsibilities that included faculty development, science and environmental curriculum design, and community-based environmental education and advocacy. Rebecca earned an M.S. and Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in History and Sociology of Technology and Science, focusing her research on social movements and organizational change, and holds an M.S. in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan. She has taught Sustainability Leadership at Emory University, Environment and Sustainability Studies at Agnes Scott College, and American Environmental History, Social Movements, Community Organizing, and Organizing for Social Change at Georgia Tech.

Mr. Caravati is a Principal and Founder of Applied Plasma Arc Technologies, LLC and a Senior Research Scientist and Professional Geologist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), the applied research arm of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Dayton, Ohio, and a Master of Science in Geology-Hydrogeology track from the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida. He earned a Master’s degree in Business Administration (International Business) from the Stetson School of Business and Economics at Mercer University in Atlanta. He began work with GTRI in 2002.

Mr. Caravati served as a Hydrogeologist, Project Manager, and Project Director for a wide range of water resources and water quality projects in the United States, Mexico and England. He has led numerous water resource investigations that included delineating watersheds using aerial imagery and GIS tools, well installation and testing programs, monitoring and field data collection programs, and developing ground water flow and contaminant transport models for predictive studies. Since 2008, he served as Director of the Environmental Safety and Occupational Health Programs at GTRI, and as Program Manager for environmental engineering research for a global services provider. Mr. Caravati also served as a research lead in Georgia Tech’s Plasma Arc Research Facility. 

Mr. Caravati’s areas of research include the design and prototyping of dry sanitation systems; testing of chemical and biological sensor systems for environmental applications; modeling of renewable energy systems for rural areas; water supply and wastewater studies for sustainability and energy efficiency; and water resource investigations for rural watersheds in developing countries. He serves as a Research Advisor to Georgia Tech’s Engineering Students Without Borders chapter, and in 2007 he led or participated in projects in Angola, Bolivia, and Yellowstone National Park, and served in an advisory capacity for projects in Kenya, Japan, Korea, Guam, and Ireland.

Jennifer Leavey is a principal academic professional in the School of Biological Sciences and assistant dean for Faculty Mentoring for the College of Sciences. She also coordinates the College's educational programs related to science and sustainability including the Georgia Tech Urban Honey Bee Project and the Living Building Science Vertically Integrated Project Team.   

Ingeborg Rocker is a senior executive of sustainable Industry Innovation & Transformation. In 2014, she joined the international software company Dassault Systemes, as the Vice President, where she developed Sustainable Cross- Industry Innovations from strategy to realization. Within this context, she launched the Smart City Project 3DEXPERIENCity, virtualizing Singapore City State and developed cyber-physical systems with the manufacturing and construction industry, placing software and hardware in the loop for the enhanced simulation, optimization, automation, operation, and maintenance of assets and processes. I. Rocker’s ongoing work focuses on sustainable cross-industry innovation fostering a circular economy. 

Ingeborg is a practicing architect, who worked as lead designer with Peter Eisenman on the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin. In 2006, she co-founded Rocker-Lange Architect, a research-focused architecture firm located in Boston and Hong Kong. The office works across scales on computer-generated sustainable product design, architecture, and urbanism. The office has been recognized for its written and design work emphasizing the role the digital medium plays in the conception and realization of sustainable cross-scale design interventions. 

She holds a Dipl.-Ing in Engineering from the RWTH Aachen, an MSAAD from Columbia University, and a MA, and Ph.D., from Princeton. She is an enthusiastic educator, researcher, and academic with extensive teaching experience at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University, where she worked as an Associate and Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Design, and served as the Director of MARCH 1 Admissions, the Director of the Digital Workshop Series, the Director of the International Exchange Programs, and the Coordinator of MARCH Core- and Option studios. She is a dedicated researcher and advised more than 40+ thesis and doctoral students. 

Dr. Rocker is an academic and industry thought leader who frequently presents on sustainable industry innovation, transformation, and associated business models. Her work has been internationally published and contributes to the discourses in the industry and academy. She has presented and exhibited her work internationally and received local, national, and international recognition and awards.

Dr. Jennifer Hirsch is an applied cultural anthropologist recognized internationally for fostering university and community engagement in sustainability and climate action. At the Georgia Institute of Technology, she is the inaugural Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities Research & Education (SCoRE), creating a culture of collaboration in which students, faculty, and staff engage in long-term relationships with community, government, and industry partners to build sustainable communities.

Dr. Hirsch’s research and teaching interests focus on: 1) equity in the sustainable built environment; 2) grassroots sustainability innovation; and 3) community leadership in energy equity.

Dr. Hirsch is also a co-founder and lead coordinator of RCE Greater Atlanta – a Regional Centre of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development - officially acknowledged in 2017 by the United Nations University. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor at Georgia Tech’s School of City and Regional Planning. She serves on the faculty of The Asset-Based Community Development Institute hosted by DePaul University and on the Board of Directors of AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education).

Before coming to Georgia Tech, Dr. Hirsch worked in Chicago as Associate Director of Study Abroad at Northwestern University; as Urban Anthropology Director at The Field Museum of Natural History; and as an independent consultant with clients such as the City of Cleveland, Enterprise Community Partners, the U.S. Green Building Council, The Institute of Cultural Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Joliet Junior College. Dr. Hirsch received a Bachelor’s degree in American Culture from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.