IBES - Key Persons
Biography
Aaron's research examines the relationship between the environment and empire. More specifically, he's interested in examining the "nature" of imperialism through the lens of Japan's national-imperial park system. Aaron's interested in, first, how the accompanying identification, conservation, and monumentalization of selected park spaces arose out of a new scientific body of knowledge that made legible the various peoples and environments encountered through state and capital expansion, and, second, how that knowledge imbued both national and colonial landscapes with a new moral and cultural significance that operated in the service of legitimizing the nation-empire and its accompanying narratives of a "natural" order."
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- Emeritus IBES Fellow, Professor of Medical Science
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
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- Archaeology & the Ancient World
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- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Biography
Andrea Mason studies the paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental history of tropical Africa during the Quaternary. Using organic geochemical proxies in lake and marine sediment cores, she reconstructs temperature and precipitation as well as fire history, flooding events, and vegetation changes. Her research is critical to understanding how hazards and ecology respond under varying climatic conditions in the tropics.
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- Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Biography
Andressa Maia's research focuses on the representational challenges of environmental disasters, community resilience, social and environmental justice in Latin American contemporary cultural artifacts. She is particularly interested in investigating the role of the imaginative realm in reimagining the past, while proposing other futures for endangered communities and the natural spaces they belong.
Job Titles:
- Managing Partner at Kearsarge Energy
Biography
Andrew J. Bernstein is a managing partner at Kearsarge Energy, a full-service renewable energy project development, finance and operating company, with a dual mission to help build a more sustainable world and to provide superior returns to all project stakeholders and the environment. Recently named an Entrepreneur of the Year® 2019 Award Finalist in New England, Andrew has over twenty-eight years of executive leadership experience managing a broad range of organizations and divisions of large publicly traded corporations to early stage entrepreneurial enterprises with two successful exits. Andrew served as CEO & President of Cymfony Inc., a market intelligence and media analysis company which was purchased by TNS Media in 2007 and then WPP PLC.
Previously, Andrew was managing Partner of HotHouse Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital and consulting organization, and Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President of Articulate Systems, a software company specializing in voice and data applications acquired by Lernout & Hauspie in 1999. In addition, Andrew has also worked in investment banking where he focused on capital formation, project finance and mergers and acquisitions. He started and ran the global division of a publicly traded NYSE company for five years. He also currently serves on or leads several for-profit and non-profit boards. Andrew is a graduate of Brown University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School with Honors.
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Behavioral and Social Health Sciences
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- Senior Counsel, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Biography
Annette L. Nazareth ('78, P'13) is senior counsel at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP; previous to this role, Annette was partner, heading the firm's Washington, DC office and leading the trading and markets practice within the Financial Institutions Group. She is also the Chair of the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, an international organization that is establishing a global threshold standard for high integrity carbon credits.
Prior to joining Davis Polk as a partner in 2008, Annette was commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), where she worked on the execution quality disclosure rules, implementation of equities decimal pricing, short sale reforms, and modernization of the national market system rules. Prior to her 2005 appointment as SEC commissioner, she was director of the Division of Market Regulation, and from 1998 to 1999, she was senior counsel and interim director of the Division of Investment Management at the SEC. She also held senior positions at Lehman Brothers and Salomon Smith Barney. She began her career as an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell in 1981.
Annette earned a bachelor of arts degree in history and economics from Brown University and a JD from Columbia University. She serves as a director of Broadridge Financial Solutions and MoneyLion. She is also board vice chair for the Urban Institute and is Secretary of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation. Annette is also a Visiting Fellow at the Cambridge Judge Business School.
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
Biography
Brooke Quinn is interested in naturalistic flight behaviors and how bats navigate their environments. Through field work in desert and tropical areas, she can record and describe flight patterns and maneuverability of bats that vary in phylogenetic relatedness, habitat, and dietary niche.
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Co - Founder of Intuitas Integrative Wellness
Chiara Visconti-Pervanas ('99) is the co-founder of Intuitas Integrative Wellness, a clinical nutrition and herbal practice that caters to the female. She is the owner of Quercus Farm, a cattle ranch and quarter-horse farm in Georgia, as well as Fattoria Varramista S.p.A., an estate with a luxury inn, a vineyard and an extra virgin olive oil press in Tuscany, Italy. The estate belonged to her grandfather, Enrico Piaggio, former chairman and owner of Piaggio S.p.A. and Vespa scooters.
Chiara earned a bachelor of arts degree in the history of art and architecture from Brown University and a degree in interior design from the Inchbald Institute. She is vice president of the Visconti di Modrone Foundation, which supports the Universita Cattolica of Milan. She is also a trustee of her high school alma mater, the Atlanta International School, a director of St. Joseph's Mercy Care in Atlanta, and a former director of the Fondation les Enfants d'Abord in Switzerland.
Job Titles:
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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- Chemical and Environmental Engineering
Biography
Cynthia Roberts is a life-long environmentalist. She graduated from Brown University with an A.B. in Environmental Studies (‘81). After attending Fordham School of Law, she prosecuted criminal cases as an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan. Pursuing her interest in environmental protection, she joined the State of Colorado Attorney General's Office to litigate hazardous waste cases.
Cynthia served as the Executive Director of Riverbend Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne, Pa. She is certified in Sustainable Landscape Management, Arboriculture and as an Urban Naturalist by the New York Botanical Garden. She served many years on her local Conservation Advisory Council and currently sits on the Board of Directors of The Friends of Scarsdale Parks and on The Nature Conservancy New York Leadership Council.
Job Titles:
- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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- History of Art and Architecture
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- Manning Assistant Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences and Environment and Society
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Italian Studies and Religious Studies
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- Assistant Professor
- Fellow
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- Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute
- Senior Scientist, Planetary Science Institute
Biography
David A. Crown is a Senior Scientist at the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. David's professional interests include research in planetary geology, physical volcanology, and remote sensing as well as science education. David is a 1985 graduate (Magna Cum Laude, Honors) of Brown University, with a B.S. degree in Geology-Physics/Mathematics, and received a Ph.D. in Geology from Arizona State University in 1991. He is the author of 11 geologic maps and more than 50 other scientific publications. He serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum in Chicago, IL and is on the Board of Directors of Farmers Investment Company and Food Allergy Research and Education, Inc.
Job Titles:
- Advisory Council Chair, Co - Founder and CEO, Lyra Health
Biography
David Ebersman is a co-founder & CEO of Lyra Health, a technology company that provides mental health care services to employers. Previously, David served as the chief financial officer of Facebook from 2009 through 2014. Prior to joining Facebook, he worked in various positions at Genentech, a biotechnology company, from 1994 to 2009 including as its executive vice president and chief financial officer, senior vice president, product operations, and vice president, product development. David is a member of the board of directors of SurveyMonkey and Castlight. He holds an A.B. in International Relations and Economics from Brown University and was selected as a Henry Crown Fellow in 2000.
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- Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Director of Undergraduate Studies, Senior Lecturer in Environment and Society
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- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
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- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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- Professor of Environment and Society & Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Private Investor
- Private Investor and Philanthropist
Biography
Elizabeth Belfer is a private investor - focusing on the consumer and retail sectors - and philanthropist, spending much of her time in non-profit fields focusing on the Environment, Urban Design and Planning, and the Arts. Elizabeth serves on the Board of the American Federation of Arts and is a Trustee of the Museum of the City of New York, where she has recently been elected Chair of the Program Committee. She is a founding member of the Global Leadership Council of the World Resources Institute (WRI) and is involved with WRI's newly created Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Having previously served on the Board of the Municipal Art Society, she has also become involved with the Regional Plan Association, jointly advocating for major re-investment in the tri-state area's infrastructure, as well as for visionary resilience planning for New York and its environs. She is also a part of the High Line Trust, having been a long-time supporter and champion of the project, she was honored at the group's benefit in the Spring. She is delighted to be part of the IBES Advisory Council.
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
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- Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Ittleson Professor of Environment and Society, Professor of Sociology
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- Associate Professor of Environment and Society & Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- George Delacorte Professor in the Humanities, Columbia University
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Assistant Professor ( Research ) of Environment and Society
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- John Atwater and Diana Nelson University Professor of Environment and Society, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Apple
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- Behavioral and Social Health Sciences
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- Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
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- Director of IBES, Professor of Environment and Society, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Senior Lecturer in Environment and Society
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- John Atwater and Diana Nelson University Professor of Environment and Society, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Dean of the Faculty, Professor of Environment and Society & Sociology
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- Lecturer in Environment and Society
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- Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
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- Archaeology and the Ancient World
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- Behavioral and Social Health Sciences
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- Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
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- American Studies, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative
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- Earth, Envirornmental, and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Deputy Director of IBES, Professor of Environment and Society & Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Executive Director, Sabin Center for Climate Change Law Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer - in - Law, Columbia Law School
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- Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology and the Ancient World
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- Lecturer in Environment and Society
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- Group President of Animoca Brands
Biography
Mr. Evan Auyang is the Group President of Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based multinational blockchain technology and investment company focused on developing the digital property rights ecosystem, including play-to-earn games, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), blockchain marketplaces, infrastructure and more. Mr. Auyang is also the Chairman of the Board of Civic Exchange, a non-partisan public policy think tank focused on environment and sustainability issues. He also serves on the Board of the Urban Renewal Authority, Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd., and Asia Financial Holdings Limited as independent non-executive director. He is an advisor for Our Hong Kong Foundation and member of the Advisory Committee on Corruption of the Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC"). In addition, Mr. Auyang serves on the Transport Policy Committee of the Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport, the Development Fund Committee of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Advisory Council for Institute at Brown for Environment & Society for Brown University, as well as the Board of Advisors of Hong Kong 2050 is Now.
Prior to Animoca, Mr. Auyang was the Managing Director and Head of GLG International, a technology-enabled expert insight platform, running and growing its business spanning Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia-Pacific across 15 locations. Before GLG, Mr. Auyang was the Deputy Managing Director of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) and a Board Director of Transport International Holdings Limited, the parent company of KMB. Prior to joining Transport International and KMB, Mr. Auyang was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company. Before management consultancy, Mr. Auyang was at Citigroup's derivatives structuring and marketing unit. He obtained his undergraduate degree in Economics and Political Science from Brown University, and his MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management.
Job Titles:
- Dean 's Assistant Professor of Environment and Society & Anthropology
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- Theatre Arts and Performance Studies
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- Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
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- Director of Environmental Review and Land Use Planning and ESG Lead, Matrix New World Engineering
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- Grants and Contracts Manager
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- History of Art and Architecture
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Assistant Professor of Environment and Society, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
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- Acacia Assistant Professor of Environment and Society & Sociology
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- Founder and Partner, Encourage Capital
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- Visiting Professor of Environment and Society
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- Managing Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
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- Anthropology and Africana Studies
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
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- Professor of Environment and Society & Sociology
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Sloan Lindemann and George Lindemann, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Environment and Society, Professor of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences
Job Titles:
- Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
Biography
Sofia Piggott is interested in how environmental factors impact behavioral and anatomical evolution in birds. Her current project focuses on the disparities in wing bone morphology of small, Neotropical birds in the Pipridae family that execute a variety of behaviors related to mating and courting. She's interested in understanding how these differences in their anatomy were influenced by environmental factors since these birds have differing ranges that include distinct habitats throughout Central and South America. Environmental change directly impacts their behaviors since aspects like climate, food and resource availability, and even the amount of sunlight can impact both their reproductive success and survival.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Environment and Society & History
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- Associate Provost for Sustainability, Professor of Environment and Society & Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology
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- Anthropology and Archaeology
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Science
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
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- Behavioral and Social Sciences - School of Public Health
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences
Job Titles:
- Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences