Experts on sustainability

Sustainability integrates environmental health, social justice, and economic development to help create diverse, resilient communities today and for generations to come. WPI’s own commitment to sustainability is reflected in its community-built Sustainability Plan and its new Institute of Science and Technology for Development, among other initiatives. WPI experts on sustainability can speak to the ways this concept is applied in diverse fields, including climate change adaptation, sustainable forest management, and the reuse of household waste and metals.

Berk Calli
  • Associate Professor Robotics Engineering
Professor Calli's main research focus is robotic manipulation and its applications in various domains such as waste recycling, assistive feeding, within-hand manipulation. ... View Profile
Danielle Lynn Cote
  • Associate Professor Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Professor Cote is in the Materials Science & Engineering Program with research focused on solid state additive manufacturing (AM) processes, particularly cold spray processing and wire arc AM. ... View Profile
Laureen Elgert
  • Professor & Department Head The Global School
Professor Elgert is particularly interested in the environment-development nexus, examining how politics shapes global environmental policy that can have profound impacts on local livelihoods. ... View Profile
Robert Krueger
  • Professor & Department Head of Social Science and Policy Studies Social Science & Policy Studies
Professor Krueger is a human geographer whose scholarship and teaching focus on creating sustainable, socially just, improvements to development projects in the global north and south. ... View Profile
Paul P. Mathisen
  • Associate Professor and Dir. of Sustainability Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering
As WPI’s Director of Sustainability and a professor of environmental engineering, Paul Mathisen studies and works to promote sustainability, especially in the areas of water, energy, transportation, and waste management. ... View Profile
mccauley
Stephen M. McCauley
  • Associate Professor of Teaching The Global School
McCauley's interests include climate change preparedness, urban resilience, energy system innovation, community participation in environmental decision-making, citizen science, and GI Science for urban planning. ... View Profile
Brajendra Mishra
  • Kenneth G. Merriam Distinguished Professor, Director, MPI & Donald M. Zwiep Distinguished Fellow Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Professor Mishra focuses on the improvement in resource productivity and environmental stewardship through process and product development of materials using recovery and recycling, introducing advanced alloys and life-extension by corrosion and surface ... View Profile
Adam Clayton Powell
  • Associate Professor Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Professor Powell focuses his research on validated mathematical modeling of metal process development for clean energy and energy efficiency. ... View Profile
Sara Saberi
  • Associate Professor The Business School
Prof. Saberi's main research focus is on applying game theory models in different aspects of supply chain management. ... View Profile
Profile picture of William San Martín
William San Martín
  • Assistant Professor The Global School
Professor San Martin is a historian of science, environmental change, and public policy. His work examines the history of the science-policy interface to inform contemporary debates on environmental governance. ... View Profile
Joe Sarkis Headshot 2025
Joseph Sarkis
  • Professor The Business School
Joseph Sarkis is a Professor of Management in Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Business School. His teaching and research interests are in the fields of environmental sustainability, operations, and supply chain management. ... View Profile
sarah
Sarah Eliza Stanlick
  • Assistant Professor The Global School
Sarah Stanlick, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in The Global School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. ... View Profile
Elisabeth Anne Stoddard
  • Associate Professor of Teaching The Global School
Professor Stoddard is a human-environment geographer who is interested in the intersection of nature, society, and social justice. ... View Profile
Sarah Strauss
  • Professor The Global School
Professor Strauss offers a wide array of expertise in health-related aspects of human interaction with the environment. ... View Profile
Michael T. Timko
  • Professor Chemical Engineering
Professor Timko studies the environmental and engineering aspects of clean energy technologies, with a specific emphasis on liquid transportation fuels. ... View Profile
Steven Van Dessel
  • Associate Professor & Director Architectural Engineering Program Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering
Professor Van Dessel's research activities are in the area of sustainable building design and building technology, with a special focus on the study of adaptive building envelop systems. ... View Profile
hwwalker
Harold W. Walker
  • Schwaber Professor Civil, Environmental, & Architectural Engineering
Professor Walker's research is focused on the development of new, innovative technology for the purification of water. ... View Profile
Yan Wang
Yan Wang
  • Professor Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Professor Wang's research is in the field of fundamental electrochemistry and electrochemistry-based technologies, including battery materials, manufacturing, safety, design and recycling, solid state batteries, and electrolysis. ... View Profile