Rob is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography. His research examines the practices of biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration as cultural and political processes, exploring the formation and reproduction of values and norms about wildlife and the “natural” world. His dissertation research uses ethnographic methods to examine the controversy and conflict over the return of wolves to the Pacific Northwest. Rob holds a B.A. in political science from Vassar College and an M.A. in geography from the University of Washington, and has professional experience planning and supervising ecological restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest.

Ashli Blow’s research interests include people-first policies, and how meaningful journalism about climate change can directly inform resiliency programs. Ashli started her career in broadcast newsrooms covering natural disasters as a breaking news producer for seven years. She then went on to work as a Public Information Officer for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources during wildfire and flooding seasons. Currently, in addition to her studies at the Evans School, Ashli is a freelance writer with bylines in The Guardian and Outside+, and she is a communications strategist at a Seattle-based agency that focuses on behavior change and public relations campaigns. Ashli graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications, with a focus on journalism.

Katie Breen is a graduate student researching Wildlife Ecology in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. Her focus is on how climate change affects wildlife in northern climates, collaborating with researchers in Norway. She intends to use her conclusions to facilitate conservation planning for wildlife. Before joining the program, she worked on conservation policy at The Wilderness Society and energy efficiency policy on contract to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. She is a member of the Clean Energy Leadership Institute and the Seattle chapter for the grassroots group, 500 Women Scientists, which works to connect and mobilize women scientists around the globe to create action on policy. She holds a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University.

Meagan is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science, with a focus on Latin American environmental politics. Her main research area is focused in environmental mandate enforcement, specifically endangered species mandate enforcement in Latin America, with strong interests in the ways state policies reflect environmental protective compliance, mixed methods, and comparative state policy in the Latin American region. Her current research focuses in on the mechanisms behind legal enforcement of endangered species mandates in Costa Rica post-2000 and the scholarly generation of policy recommendations adapted from Latin America to the United States.

Rachel is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science, focusing on international relations and nonprofit studies. Her research interests include human trafficking, environmental migration, climate change advocacy, and political violence. Prior to her studies at UW, Rachel was the Program Director for StolenYouth, a Seattle-based nonprofit which raises funds and awareness for child sex trafficking in Washington state. Rachel holds a B.A. from Skidmore College.

Nikol Damato is a PhD student in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. As an interdisciplinary social scientist, Nikol is interested in the human dimensions of marine conservation and policy. Her research examines governance of marine systems and decision-making throughout the policy process for protected species and marine mammal conservation. Prior to attending UW, Nikol completed an M.A. in Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island, where she studied compliance with vessel regulations to reduce disturbances to killer whales. She holds a B.A. and B.S. from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

Dennis Duffin is a graduate student at the Evans School focusing on Environmental Policy. He is interested in energy policy related to decarbonization, sustainability, and conservation. He holds a BA in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, and has previously conducted research on caribbean invasive species interactions.

Elizabeth is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science, interested in International Relations, Comparative Politics and Environmental Politics. Her research seeks to explore non-state actor’s involvement in decision-making processes from the domestic to the global level, and the mechanisms behind the success or failure of voluntary sustainability certifications across commodities in those spheres. Prior to her doctoral studies, Elizabeth worked as a program and project manager at various NGOs. She holds a BA in Political Science from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and a MSc. In Public Policy from University College London, which she completed thanks to a Chevening Award.

MacKenzie is a second year MPA candidate at the UW Evans school. She is interested in the intersection of sustainability and international development as well as alternative economic models such as circular economies, de-growth and the Green New Deal. Before coming to UW, she earned a MSc from Uppsala University in Sweden and a BA in Humanities from Seattle University. MacKenzie also serves as the co-president of GreenEvans.

Jeffrey studies American Politics and Political Theory, using a historical institutionalist framework to examine legal and political development. His research centers on issues of territorial expansion and western settlement, with a particular focus on how courts utilized available institutional mechanisms to enhance federal state control of Native nations. Jeffrey takes a strong interest in the intersections between indigenous sovereignty and environmental activism as well as the development of American jurisprudence on environmental law. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Moravian College and an M.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington.

Zhaowen Guo is a Ph.D. student in Political Science at the University of Washington. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science at Fudan University (China) and a master’s degree in political science at Columbia University with Chinese Government Scholarship. Her research focuses primarily on the politics of information, with an emphasis on how technology and digital tools affect public discourses, social behavior, and government accountability in combating air pollution.

Nick Hadjimichael is a Ph.D. student at the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. Prior to joining the program, he earned a MPP from the Price School at the University of Southern California and a BA in Public Policy Studies and in Economics from the University of Chicago. Previous work includes researching community power building and the just transition away from fossil fuels for the USC Equity Research Institute (formerly PERE) and evaluating the health co-benefits of the GEF’s Chemicals & Waste Portfolio for its Independent Evaluation Office. Nick’s research agenda is focused on environmental justice, climate change, and health geography. Current work centers on residential proximity to oil and natural gas production and on the cumulative health burden of environmental stressors and climate hazards.

Farrah Hasan is a Master’s student at the School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. She holds Bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Creative Writing from Vanderbilt University. She has a research interest in climate migration and pursues projects related to policy and communication.

Shelby House is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology. Her current research revolves around climate change in contemporary South Asia, with a particular focus on the life of heat as a social, political, and ecological actor in Karachi, Pakistan. She holds an M.A. in South Asia Studies from the UW Jackson School of International Studies and a B.A. in Political Science and South Asian Studies from Vanderbilt University. She has completed multiple Urdu language fellowships at the American Institute of Indian Studies in Lucknow and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies program in Lahore. Previously, she served as the Researcher-Editor for India Policy, a new initiative of the Carter Center Human Rights Program, and she has extensive experience working with racial and social justice non-profits in the United States. She currently works as an Urdu Scenario Writer for the Regional Flagship Languages Initiative (RFLI) Culture Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her writing has been published in Anthropological Quarterly and South Asia: The Journal of South Asian Studies.

Griffin is an MPA student with interests in Environmental Policy and Local Government Management. As an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he developed a burgeoning interest in humans’ ever changing relationship to the natural world, taking relevant coursework in anthropology, sociology, and history. He also recently served as a Teaching Assistant for Nathan Roberts’ History of the Environment course. Currently, he is studying how to best leverage behavioral science in effectively communicating climate change to diverse audiences, as well as doing a policy analysis on shoreline management approaches in small coastal towns.

Kayla is a Ph.D student in the Department of Political Science, focusing on international environmental governance. Her research examines implementation of marine policy and the influence of various institutions on marine ecosystem management. Before coming to the University of Washington, Kayla worked with nonprofit organizations to strengthen infrastucture and analyzed nonprofit trends. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Policy and Political Science from Duke University.

Christianna is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science and a steering committee member of the Equality Initiative in Political Science. Her main area of research is international relations and comparative politics, focusing on the region of South East Asia. She has a strong interest in the relationships civil society has with states and international organizations. Additional interests include the political strategies employed by environmental NGOs, ecofeminism, and human rights in Malaysia and Singapore. Her research focuses on the ascension efforts of NGOs in international organizations, and the types of NGOs that are given ascension status. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington and previously attended Taylor’s University in Malaysia.

Michael Quinlan is a graduate student studying communication in digital media. His areas of focus include habit formation, motivational interviewing, and the science of storytelling for environmental change. As part of his studies, he produces mission driven videos for nonprofits and government organizations addressing environmental issues, including the Pacific Coast Shellfish Growers Association and Seattle Public Utilities. Michael holds a B.A in political science from the University of Vermont.

Ahana Raina (MPA ’25) is passionate about pursuing a career in research using data and analytics, to inform gender, energy and economic policy. She received a B.A. in economics along with a minor in sociology from Smith College in 2020. This included her junior year of college at London School of Economics. Prior to joining EPAR, Ahana was a Research Associate at the JSW school of Public Policy at Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), working on intra-household dynamics and examining impact of policy through a gender lens.

Satveer is a first year M.S. candidate in UW’s Department of Atmospheric Sciences. His primary research focuses on the evolution of orographically driven wind patterns along the West Coast of the United States and the implications of their evolution on wildfires and heatwaves; his secondary research focuses on how global circulation models reconcile and predict heat anomalies. He is also interested in environmental justice, pedagogy within atmospheric sciences, rhetoric within environmental sciences, and bringing the effects of climate change on marginalized communities into the discussion within the environmental science bubble. He holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington’s satellite campus in Bothell, Washington, and his previous research focuses on the long term evolution of heatwave thresholds in the greater Seattle area and the long-term viability of dairy farming in the Whidbey Basin.

Andres is pursuing a specialization in Environmental Policy. He has over two years experience in the nonprofit sector campaign organizing and researching issues to protect public lands. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley he majored in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and has taken coursework with an emphasis on Conservation and Resource Studies. His research interests are evaluating climate change and international environmental policy impacts to political institutions and international relations.

Chad Small is a graduate student in the department of Atmospheric Sciences. He primarily explores how extreme precipitation, and the consequent flood risk, might change under a
changing climate. In particular, Chad investigates how the frequency, duration, and intensity of heavily precipitating systems might be evolving. Prior to coming to UW, Chad worked as an environmental and civil engineer, and a journalist. His work has been featured in Grist, Next City, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Chad holds a M.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Science from the City College of New York, and B.S. in Environmental Engineering from Yale University.

Hanjie is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Political Science. She studies international relations, focusing on international environmental politics and international law. Currently, her research interests include 1) global politics of renewable energy, the dynamic between energy transition and international political order; the issues of transnational environmental migrations, in particular international regulations and human rights; and 3) eco-feminism. She holds a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute, Geneva (IHEID), and has worked for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Nicolas Wittstock is a PhD student in the Department of Political Science.
Nicolas studies the governance and international political economy of innovation and technology, focusing specifically on climate innovation.
He holds an MA in International Political Economy from King’s College London, UK and a BA in Political Science and Economics from the University of Mannheim, Germany.