
People
Faculty
Greg Characklis, PhD
W. R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor, Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Director, Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems
charack@email.unc.edu
Website: https://gregcharacklis.web.unc.edu//

Jordan Kern, PhD
Associate Director, Center on Financial Risk in Environmental Systems, Assistant Professor
Environmental Sciences and Engineering; Forestry and Environmental Resources at North Carolina State
jkern@ncsu.edu
Website: https://kern.wordpress.ncsu.edu//
Projects
- Biofuels “Designing Future Sustainable Algal Biofuel Production Facilities.”
- Catawba Basin “Evaluating the Physical and Financial Vulnerabilities of Power Systems to Drought in the Southeastern U.S.”
- Central Valley “The Sustainability-Productivity Tradeoff: Water supply vulnerabilities and adaptation opportunities in California’s coupled agricultural and energy sectors”
- Columbia Basin “Leveraging Natural Resource Concentration and Conveyance in the Energy Water Food Nexus to Increase Security and Resilience”
Post-Doctoral Researchers
Harrison (H.B.) Zeff, PhD
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
zeff@live.unc.edu
Website: http://hbzeff.web.unc.edu/
Projects
- Central Valley “The Sustainability-Productivity Tradeoff: Water supply vulnerabilities and adaptation opportunities in California’s coupled agricultural and energy sectors”
- Galveston Bay “Decision-Making After an Environmental Emergency: Impacts and mitigation of environmental emergency-related contamination events across the-to-outcome continuum”
Graduate Students
Ben Foster, MS
Doctoral Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
fbenjami@live.unc.edu
Website: http://benfoster.web.unc.edu/
Project
- Mississippi Basin “Characterizing and managing the financial risks of drought along the Mississippi River”
David Gorelick, MS
Doctoral Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
degorelick@unc.edu
Website: https://degorelick.web.unc.edu//
Project
- Research Triangle “Integrating Raw Water Transfers Into an Eastern United States Management Context”
Andrew Hamilton, MS
Doctoral Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
andrew.hamilton@unc.edu
Website: https://tarheels.live/andrewlhamilton
Project
- Central Valley “The Sustainability-Productivity Tradeoff: Water Supply Vulnerabilities and Adaptation Opportunities in California’s Coupled Agricultural and Energy Sectors”

Rosa Cuppari
Doctoral Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
rcuppari@live.unc.edu
Project
- Columbia Basin “Leveraging Natural Resource Concentration and Conveyance in the Energy Water Food Nexus to Increase Security and Resilience”
Rachel Kleiman
Master’s Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
rkleiman@live.unc.edu
Project
- Biofuels “Designing Future Sustainable Algal Biofuel Production Facilities.”
Corey Pahel-Short
Master’s Student
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
coreyps@live.unc.edu
Alumni
Simona Denaro, PhD
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
sdenaro@live.unc.edu
Projects
- Catawba Basin “Evaluating the Physical and Financial Vulnerabilities of Power Systems to Drought in the Southeastern U.S.”
- Columbia Basin “Leveraging Natural Resource Concentration and Conveyance in the Energy Water Food Nexus to Increase Security and Resilience”
Joy Hill, MS
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
jehill17@live.unc.edu
Project
- Columbia Basin “Leveraging Natural Resource Concentration and Conveyance in the Energy Water Food Nexus to Increase Security and Resilience”
Yufei Su, PhD
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
yufeisu@live.unc.edu
Projects
- Central Valley “The Sustainability-Productivity Tradeoff: Water supply vulnerabilities and adaptation opportunities in California’s coupled agricultural and energy sectors”
- Columbia Basin “Leveraging Natural Resource Concentration and Conveyance in the Energy Water Food Nexus to Increase Security and Resilience”
Administrative Staff

Zamira Gleason, MBA
Administrative Assistant
Environmental Sciences and Engineering
zgleason@email.unc.edu