ESI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Climate Communications Coordinator
- Research
- Writer, Editor and Developer
Aaron Krol is a writer, editor and developer of ESI's public climate change communications, including the TILclimate podcast and the MIT Climate Portal. Working with scientists, engineers and subject matter experts across MIT and beyond, he provides easy-to-understand, non-partisan information on climate change science and solutions for a broad public audience.
Formerly, Aaron worked as a science journalist, covering genetics, computational biology, and medical informatics for the magazine Bio-IT World. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College and has received poetry fellowships from organizations including the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and is the author of the children's book A Cloud in a Jar. He grew up in Baltimore and lives in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Job Titles:
- Ralph Landau Professor, Director, David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice
- Research
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor, Dept. of Earth, Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences
- Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Research
- Visiting Scholar
Angélica María Mayolo Obregón is the Former Minister of Culture of Colombia. She has held numerous other roles in public service in Colombia, having formerly served as Executive President of the Chamber of Commerce in Buenaventura and the Secretary of Economic Development in the Mayor's Office of Cali, among other high-level advisory positions. She holds a Bachelor's in Administrative Law from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali and a Master's in International Law from UCLA.
Obregón specializes in administrative law, with knowledge and experience in economic development, cultural and creative industries, sustainability, international cooperation, and high-impact projects in vulnerable populations. Her honors include the 2019 Policarpa Salvarrieta Medal, awarded by the Congress of the Republic of Colombia in recognition of her work to advance women's equality and economic empowerment. Obregón is currently an MIT MLK Fellow and a consultant for the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative where she leads the Afro-Interamerican Forum on Climate Change, an international network that works to highlight the critical role of Afro-descendant populations in global climate action.
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Professor of Practice, the Fletcher School, Tufts University / Professor Kates - Garnick 's Tufts Website
Job Titles:
- Department of Civil
- Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Executive Director, RepublicEn
Job Titles:
- Professor of Chemical Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Principal Research Scientist, Department of Mechanical Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Research
Briana is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Environmental Solutions Initiative. In 2021-2022, Briana served as an ACLS Emerging Voices Postdoctoral Fellow in MIT Anthropology, where she helped to organize the 2022 Living Climate Futures initiative and symposium. She is currently partnering with the Indigenous-led nonprofit organization called Se'Si'Le on an initiative to build place-based, cross-cultural solidarity across urban spaces and Indigenous territories. Since 2019, Briana has also worked with Landscape for Humanity to advance community-engaged research on participatory landscape design in transitional housing communities. Briana holds a Ph.D. in environmental sciences, studies, and policy from the University of Oregon. An AICP accredited urban planner, Briana's master's degree, in urban and regional planning, urban design, and real estate, is from Portland State University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Research Assistant
Caroline is a PhD candidate in MIT's doctoral program in History; Anthropology; and Science, Technology, and Society (HASTS). She studies emerging local and regional policy debates about energy transitions in Chile and California, focusing on discussions around green hydrogen and lithium-ion batteries. She is a research assistant with ESI's Mining, Environment, and Society program and previously worked with ESI's Natural Climate Solutions program, Here & Real program, and Rapid Response Group. She is a 2023-24 fellow with the Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability and sits on MIT's Net Zero by 2026 Faculty Review Committee.
Caroline's research has been published in the journals Social Studies of Science and Wetlands, as well as in white paper series published by the ESI and by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Her dissertation research has been funded by the Social Science Research Council and, at MIT, the Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center, Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, MIT Energy Initiative, and MIT International Science & Technology Initiatives.
She holds a B.A. in Geosciences and American Studies from Williams College, an M.Phil in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge, and an M.S. from MIT's HASTS program. She was also a 2018 Fulbright Scholar in Chile.
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Technology and Public Policy and Professor of Physics, Harvard University
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Postdoctoral Associate
- Research
Chris is a Postdoctoral Associate in Environmental and Sustainability Education at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, where his main area of research focuses on better understanding and expanding climate justice and sustainability education at MIT and beyond. Chris is also interested in exploring environmental education and community engagement that centers inclusive and anti-racist practices and supports students who experience challenging emotions in relation to the climate crisis.
In addition, Chris helps advance the varied goals of ESI's education program by supporting faculty, advising students in the Environmental and Sustainability Minor, building curriculum, co-teaching courses, and conducting research on educational practices. Current examples of this include leading the Climate Environment and Sustainability Infusion Fellowship (CESIF), developing and promoting The Climate Justice Instructional Toolkit, and conducting a cross-disciplinary study on climate justice teaching and learning experiences at MIT. Chris also serves as an affiliate postdoc in the Social and Ethical Responsibility in Computing project, where he leads a reading group that is exploring the intersection of climate justice and computing.
Prior to joining MIT, Chris spent 15 years as a composition instructor for immigrant and international students in a variety of educational contexts. He holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education and a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics, both from the University of Massachusetts Boston. Chris enjoys spending his free time roaming parks and bike paths near his home in Dorchester, MA with his son, Tiago and wife, Lorena.
Job Titles:
- Department of Architecture
- Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Director of Corporate Engagement
- Research
Chris focuses on creating active partnerships between ESI and external organizations to advance ESI and MIT's environmental missions.
During the first decade of his career, he had operational and M&A management roles in international technology and energy companies. He spent the following fifteen years as an entrepreneur, startup CEO and advisor, board member and investor. His career then shifted to the environmental field and to non-profits, joining MIT in 2008 as Licensing Officer for MIT's energy technology, before joining ESI in 2017.
Chris has a B.Eng. from McGill University in Montreal (1977) and an MBA from MIT Sloan (1983). He lived and worked in North and South America and Europe, and is fluent in French and Spanish. He is an occasional consultant and lecturer (university technology transfer, IP management and valuation, entrepreneurial ecosystems). He has also served on several for-profit and non-profit boards, most recently AUTM, the Association of University Technology Managers (2017-2020). Chris currently serves on the Board of florrent, a venture-backed grid-storage technology startup.
Job Titles:
- Research
- Rossi Distinguished Professor, Department of Physics
Job Titles:
- Associate Department Head / Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Research
Job Titles:
- King Bhumipol Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Kerr Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Department Head / Professor, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning
- Research
Job Titles:
- Director of Research, MIT Energy Initiative Senior Lecturer, Sloan School of Management
- Research
Job Titles:
- Leonhard Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Research
Job Titles:
- Conner Professor, History Section
- Research
Job Titles:
- Economic Geography and Planning Head, Environmental Policy and Planning Group
- Research
Job Titles:
- Member of the ESI Team
- Research Associate
- Research Associate at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
Jimena is a Research Associate at the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, where she conducts research on climate change, carbon markets, and biodiversity conservation. She received her BA and MA in Economics from Torcuato Di Tella University and her Master's in City Planning from MIT in 2023. During her studies at MIT-DUSP, Jimena also served as a research assistant at the MIT Center for Real Estate, working on building decarbonization and energy efficiency policies. Her departmental award-winning master's thesis investigated the adoption of the Stretch Energy Code in Massachusetts and its impact on housing supply and affordability.
Before MIT, Jimena worked for six years in Argentina's non-profit and government sectors. In her last position for the Buenos Aires City Government, she was part of the Barrio 31 Upgrading Project, where her work involved designing and implementing evaluation tools to track results and provide evidence for future nationwide informal settlements upgrading programs.
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Director, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the External Advisory Board
Job Titles:
- Vice President for Research
Job Titles:
- Selection Committee Member
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Founder and CEO, EFFECT Partners, Inc
Job Titles:
- Member of the External Advisory Board
- Founder & Executive Director, Environmental Voter Project
As a world-leading center of research and higher education, MIT can attract prominent experts and public figures in all fields to its campus. At ESI, we take this as a challenge to convene the most meaningful speakers and workshops for students, faculty, research partners and the public at large.
Our People, Prosperity & the Planet speaker series has featured U.S. Representatives and Senators, noted authors, prominent non-profit leaders and innovative scientists to expand and challenge people's ideas about the environment and sustainability. And with dedicated workshops and symposia on topics like artificial intelligence in conservation, policy solutions for plastic pollution, and sensors in water and agriculture, we share cutting-edge developments in environmental science and technology with the wide networks of researchers, corporate leaders and policymakers who can put them into action.