Professor Seto’s research is on the human transformation of land and the links between urbanization, global change, and sustainability. A geographer by training, her research integrates remote sensing, field interviews, and modeling methods to study land change and urbanization, forecast urban growth, and examine the environmental consequences of urban expansion. She is an expert in satellite remote sensing analysis and has pioneered methods to reconstruct historical land-use and to develop empirical models to explain and forecast the expansion of urban areas. She is a specialist in contemporary urbanization in China and India, and has more than fifteen years of research experience in Asia.

Professor Seto is an established leader in the area of urbanization and global environmental change. She is Co-Chair of the Urbanization and Global Environmental Change Project (UGEC) of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), and a Coordinating Lead Author for Working Group III of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. She also serves on the National Research Council Committee to the Advise the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), the National Research Council Geographical Sciences Committee, the National Research Council Committee on Needs and Research Requirements for Land-Change Modeling, and the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Steering Group. From 2002 to 2008, she was the Global Thematic Leader for Ecosystem Management Tools for the Commission on Ecosystem Management of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She is the Executive Producer of “10,000 Shovels: Rapid Urban Growth in China,” a documentary film that integrates satellite imagery, historical photographs, and contemporary film footage to highlight the urban changes occurring in China. Professor Seto is a recipient of a NASA New Investigator Program Award, a NSF Career Award, and a National Geographic Research Grant. She was named an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in 2009.

Jerry Miller was appointed Director of the Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS) Program at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in February 2015. A senior executive with expertise in science and resource management policy, Dr. Miller is the Academies’ senior scientist driving policy and program direction on sustainability-related issues. Previously, Dr. Miller served as President of Science for Decisions, a consulting practice which he founded to ensure that solid science is available to inform policy and management decisions that impact natural resources and the livelihoods that depend upon them. From 2009 until 2013, Dr. Miller served as Assistant Director for Ocean Sciences at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). During his time at OSTP, Dr. Miller was instrumental in the creation of the nation’s first National Ocean Policy and the development of its foundational science priorities. He was founding co-Director of the National Ocean Council Office and later served as its Deputy Director for Science and Technology. Before taking on his role at the White House, Dr. Miller was Technical Director and Director of Research at the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (now the Consortium for Ocean Leadership), where he had management and oversight responsibilities for several national and international programs. Before coming to Washington he lived in London and served as Associate Director for Ocean, Atmosphere, and Space Sciences at the Office of Naval Research’s global office. Dr. Miller has published widely in the peer-reviewed literature and has made significant contributions to several major federal policy documents. His work has been recognized with awards both in the U.S. and abroad, including with a Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Miller received his B.S. in Marine Science from University of South Carolina, his M.S. in Oceanography from University of Rhode Island, and his Ph.D. in Meteorology and Physical Oceanography from University of Miami.

Charles Branas is a Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Branas works to improve health and healthcare and is recognized for his efforts to reduce violence and enhance emergency care. Much of his work incorporates human geography and place-based change. His studies have taken him to cities and small towns across the US and other countries. Dr. Branas has served on boards and offered scientific expertise for numerous groups including the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, the Canadian National Research Council, the South African Medical Research Council, the Institute of Medicine, the National Research Council, and the American Public Health Association. His work has been cited by the US Supreme Court and Congress. He is a past President of the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research, an elected member of the American Epidemiological Society, and affiliated faculty at the University of San Carlos in Guatemala and the University of Otago in New Zealand. Dr. Branas received his B.A. in Mathematics from Franklin and Marshall College (1990), his M.S. from Drexel University (1993), his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (1997), and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health (2000).

Ernest Tollerson rejoined the Nathan Cummings Foundation (NCF) as Interim President and CEO in August 2014. From 2003-2013 he served as a NCF trustee, including one three0year term as chair of the board of trustees. Prior to joining NCF as Interim President and CEO, Mr. Tollerson worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) as Director of Environmental Sustainability & Compliance. During seven and a half years at the MTA, he organized and oversaw the work of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability & the MTA (its final report is available at http://www. Mta.info/sustainability). In 2010, he co-chaired the Transporation & Land Use Technical Working Group of the New York State Climate Action Plan Interim Report (available at www.myclimatechange.us/interimreport.cfm). Currently, he is a trustee of the Hudson River Foundation and the New York Historical Society. He is also a former member of the management board of the Environmental Grantmakers Assocation, the affinity group for U.S.-based foundations that fund environmental NGOs and projects, and a former member of the board of Demos, a nonpartisan hub for research, ideas and action to promote the common good. A graduate of Princeton and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, Mr. Tollerson spent nearly 25 years as a journalist. He worked as a reporter and editor for a number of newspapers including the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was a political reporter, New York Newsday, where he was the editorial page editor, and the New York Times, where he was first a national correspondent and later a member of the Times’ editorial board.

Amanda Pitre-Hayes was the Director of Sustainability for the city of Vancouver and led a team of 16 to achieve the Council directive to become the world’s greenest city by 2020. She has 20 years of experience in leadership roles at Vancity, the Pembina Institute, Accenture, and The Body Shop Canada. At Vancity, Ms. Pitre-Hayes managed the organization’s climate change strategy, led its successful effort to be the first carbon neutral financial institution in North America. As Director of Climate Change Consulting with the Pemba Institute, Ms. Pitre-Hayes worked with organizations, such as TD Bank, to become greener by measuring and managing carbon dioxide emissions. As a Manager at Accenture, she managed major projects for North American government, energy, telecom, and financial services organizations. At the Body Shop Canada, Ms. Pitre-Hayes served as assistant to the President, supporting the organization with a wide variety of sustainability initiatives. Ms. Pitre-Hayes is an alumnus of Harvard University’s Global Change Agent program and holds an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley.

Brad Gentry is the F.K. Weyerhaeuser Professor in the Practice at the Yale School of the Environment and the Yale School of Management, Senior Associate Dean for Professional Practice at the Yale School of the Environment, and a Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Trained as a biologist and a lawyer, his work focuses on strengthening the links between private investment and improved environmental performance, with a particular focus on increasing investment in natural areas. He has worked on land, water, energy, industrial and other projects in over 40 countries for private (GE, Suez Environnement, Working Lands Investment Partners), public (UNDP, World Bank, Secretariat for the Climate Change Convention, UNEP) and not-for-profit (Land Trust Alliance, The Trust for Public Land, the Northern Forest Center, SustainableCT) organizations. He holds a BA from Swarthmore College and a JD from Harvard Law School.

Murali Chandashekaran is the Fred H. Siller Professor of Marketing and Behavioural Science, and Senior Associate Dean for Strategic Partnerships and Global Initiatives at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia (UBC), Canada. He is also the Chair of the Americas region for the Partnership in International (PIM) Network (www.pimnetwork.org) – a consortium of 60 leading business schools globally, whose members share best practices, foster international student exchanges and joint programs. He serves on UBC’s China Advisory Council, on UBC’s Advisory Council for the Master of Public Policy and Global Affairs, and on the UBC Taskforce for the creation of a School of Public Policy. Murali is also UBC’s representative to the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM; http://advancedmanagement.net), a network of 28 leading international business schools from diverse regions, countries, cultures, and economies in different phases of development, seeking to leverage interconnectedness of global institutions to develop global leaders for coming decades. In these roles, he is working on creating global collaborative networks with corporates, communities, cities and countries, to help position experiential-based management education within the nexus of business, government and civil society, and to help build capacity, strengthen economic development and foster the creation of shared value. Murali is widely-published in leading academic business journals in the areas of innovation generation and diffusion, customer satisfaction, human judgment uncertainty, and the link between market-based firm assets and long-term shareholder value. He conducts training programs for several multinational firms in the areas of innovation and new product development, business strategy, decision-making, and customer satisfaction. He lives in Vancouver with his wife and three daughters, and has taken up competitive curling as a new hobby.

Before joining 100 Resilient Cities, Scott was the Director of the Global Health Program at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy in New York. In that position he worked with government and private sector clients interested in global health policy, emergency resilience, pandemic preparedness, and health infrastructure analysis. Prior to this, Scott was a research associate in the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he focused on the intersection of emerging infectious diseases and national security. Scott is also co-founder of Restore Rockaway, a non-profit organization that provides grants to small businesses on the Rockaway Peninsula that were damaged during Hurricane Sandy. His international experience includes projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, and El Salvador. He has published pieces on the 2009-2010 H1N1 flu pandemic, links between HIV and national security, the politics of the polio epidemic in Nigeria, and the global governance of infectious diseases. Scott is a former term member at the Council on Foreign Relations and was on the Arthur Ross Book Award Nominating Committee. Scott earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College and holds Master of Public Health and Master of International Relations degrees, both from Yale University.

Dr. Katerina Oskarsson serves as a Deputy Resilience Officer at the City of Norfolk’ Resilience Office where she works with Norfolk’s Chief Resilience Officer on the development and implementation of the City’s Resilience Strategy as part of the City’s partcipation in the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities program. Most recently, she worked with the Commonwealth of Virginia and other partners on the development of the winning proposal to the HUD National Disaster Resilience Competition. She is also an adjunct Faculty at Old Dominion University, teaching courses in International Political Economy and the United Nations. Previously, Dr. Oskarsson served as a Research Associate with the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, and as a Doctoral Researcher at Old Dominion University and the Joint Forces Staff College. Prior to that, Dr. Oskarsson worked as Knowledge Manager at the NATO Civil Military Fusion Center and as a remote Analyst for NATO Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Center’s Crisis Identification Group. In that capacity she covered non-traditional threats including climate change, urbanization, energy security and other globalization issues. She continues to work with NATO on resilience-related projects. Before relocating to the United States, Dr. Oskarsson worked as an energy sector Desk Officer at CEZ Group, one of the largest energy conglomerates in Central Europe. Her work has been published by the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities, NATO, Journal of Energy Security, Energy Security Forum, Middle East Policy, and The Middle East Journal. Dr. Oskarsson earned a Ph.D. in International Studies from Old Dominion University, with a focus on Interdependence and Globalization Issues as well as International Political Economy. Her co-authored manuscript dealing with the issue of global oil security in the context of changing power of the United States, China and Russia will be published by the Stanford University Press in winter 2017 (co-authored with Steve Yetiv).

Ginger Chapman is the Director of the Office of Sustainability providing leadership and management to ensure the integration of sustainable principles and practices across the university. Prior to her current role she served as the Director of Facilities Sustainable Initiatives supporting units within Facilities to achieve goals set out in the first Yale Sustainability Strategic Plan (2010-2013).

Ginger has been a key participant in many of Yale’s sustainability initiatives over the years. As Director of Facilities Planning & Construction at Yale School of Medicine her work to “green” laboratory renovations positioned her to lead the committee that created Yale’s “Sustainable Design Requirements” which were adopted in 2009 and continue to guide Yale’s sustainable design and construction practices.

She was a member of Yale’s Advisory Committee for Environmental Management, the committee that spurred Yale’s university-wide focus on sustainability and led to the creation of the Office of Sustainability in 2005. Ginger is a registered architect with a Masters of Architecture degree from Yale School of Architecture.

Julie leads a broad portfolio of initiatives in support of the University’s energy and sustainability goals. Paquette has extensive technical experience with high performance building and campus energy systems, and is personally and professionally committed to sustainability innovation, education, and advocacy. Paquette joined the University in 2012. Prior to Yale, she led Go-Green Services at Sightlines in developing energy performance metrics, strategy, tactics, and relationships across 60 member universities. Paquette also launched and led the Green Integration Group at Vanderweil Engineers in providing energy services and contributing to the design and construction of over forty LEED certified buildings representing nearly twenty-five million square feet of space, including over seven million square feet at the Platinum level. Paquette is a registered Professional Engineer with engineering degrees from Brown University and MIT.

Gaboury Benoit is the Grinstein Professor of Environmental Chemistry at Yale’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where he has served as the Associate Dean for Research and Director of Doctoral Studies. He has a joint appointment in Yale’s Environmental Engineering program. He founded Yale’s Center for Coastal and Watershed Systems in 1992 and acted as its faculty director. He is also faculty director of Yale’s Hixon Center for Urban Ecology.
Dr. Benoit received his bachelor’s degree from Yale’s Department of Geology and Geophysics where he studied environmental chemistry. After working for three years in an independent environmental consulting firm, he earned a master’s in Water Resources Engineering from MIT (1985) and a PhD in environmental chemistry from the M.I.T.-Woods Hole joint program (1988).
Gabe is a nationally recognized expert on environmental chemistry and the impacts of land development on water. Recent research includes urban environmental issues and watershed based studies of nonpoint source pollution. Among his many publications, he co-authored the book New Strategies for America's Watersheds: Integrating Ecological, Economic, and Social Factors that was published by National Academy Press in 1998. Another important recent publication is the book Land and Natural Development (L.A.N.D.) Code, co-authored with Diana Balmori of Yale’s Architecture School, and which is a set of guidelines for sustainable land development.

Giovanni Zinn, P.E. is the City Engineer for the City of New Haven as of 2014. As City Engineer, he has worked on many projects focused on sustainable and livable infrastructure, including complete streets, encouraging alternative transportation options, adopting green infrastructure, designing resilient living shoreline installations, and reducing the City's carbon footprint through aggressive energy reduction. Prior to leading the Engineering Department, Giovanni also served as a project manager for the City of New Haven’s Engineering Department and Office of Sustainability and managed environmental programs for the City Plan Department. Giovanni graduated from Yale College in 2005, and lives in New Haven with his wife Megan and their three little boys (who keep them very busy!).