Meet Our Team
The ANGLES Steering Committee provides strategic guidance for the network, including facilitation of network collaborations, meetings, and activities, and leading the implementation of network decisions and actions.
Steering Committee
Aleta Rudeen Weller, Assistant Director of Research and Engagement, School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University
ANGLES Committee Chair
Email Aleta Weller
Aleta Rudeen Weller is the Assistant Director of Research and Engagement at Colorado State University’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability. For the School, Aleta works to facilitate discourse and creative approaches to sustainability research, leadership, and engagement. She runs the School’s collaborative research programs for CSU faculty, creates opportunities for networking and dialogue across the University’s disciplinary and organizational boundaries, and helps form innovative, strategic partnerships to advance sustainability scholarship. Aleta runs the School’s selection and annual training of early career sustainability science leadership fellows and sits on the advisory committee of ANGLES, a network of higher education institutions doing similar leadership training across the U.S. and Canada. She is in charge of the School’s strategy for developing new interdisciplinary research activities, return on investment, messaging, and role in community and campus connections.Aleta has an interdisciplinary background in communication, facilitation, conflict management and collaboration in natural resources. She has worked on a variety of projects that link science and management; has a research and applied background in collaborative process; and is a certified mediator. Aleta has a Master of Science degree from Colorado State University in Rangeland Ecosystem Science and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Affairs from Northern Arizona University. Prior to coming on board at SoGES, Aleta was the Director of Outreach and Leadership Development for the Society for Range Management.
Aleta runs and is the point of contact for the following areas: research partnerships, networking, and ideas; Global Challenges Research Teams; Resident Fellows; Visiting Fellows; Sustainability Leadership Fellows; Dining with Sustainability dinners; and any novel ideas and proposals for engagement. Aleta also advises the SoGES Student Sustainability Center, serves as the School’s representative on CSU’s President’s Sustainability Commission, sits on the advisory committee of ANGLES, serves as CSU’s designated point of contact to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Sustainable Living Association.
William (Bill) A. Hopkins, Professor of Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech; Founding Director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech; Associate Executive Director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute
Email Bill Hopkins
Dr. William (Bill) A. Hopkins is a Professor of Wildlife Conservation at Virginia Tech, the Founding Director of the Global Change Center at Virginia Tech, and the Associate Executive Director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. He is also the Founding Director of Virginia Tech’s Interdisciplinary Ph.D. program focused on Global Change, one of the largest and most successful interdisciplinary graduate programs at the University. The program currently boasts more than 70 Ph.D. students from 16 academic departments, providing them with unique training related to interdisciplinary collaboration, science communication, leadership, and stakeholder engagement. Entering its 10th year in 2023, the graduate program has more than 50 alumni working to solve conservation and sustainability challenges around the world. Bill’s research spans the basic-applied science continuum, but is ultimately inspired by the desire to understand the ways that human activities disrupt the physiology and reproduction of wildlife in hopes of developing cost-effective conservation solutions. He is an award-winning researcher, mentor, and teacher, and a dedicated public servant. He has published more than 200 peer reviewed scientific articles and frequently provides input on important environmental issues to the media (e.g., 60 minutes, NPR, New York Times, etc.) and to decision makers in Richmond, VA and Washington D.C. on subjects pertaining to pollution, habitat loss, and biodiversity conservation. He has been a key scientific contributor to five of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration cases, including the B.P. oil spill and the T.V.A. ash spill. Bill has also proudly served on six expert committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), providing scientific guidance to the nation on some of the most pressing societal issues of our time. He currently serves on the NASEM Committee tasked with evaluating the progress and effectiveness of the Restoration of the Florida Everglades.
Eric Rice, Associate Teaching Professor; Director of Sustainability, John Hopkins University
Email Eric Rice
Eric Rice is an associate teaching professor and director of the Professional Development Program in the Center for Leadership Education. [email protected] Rice has been operating his consulting practice and teaching communication skills for more than twenty-five years. He has developed programs and authored papers, training materials, videos, and monographs for clients. Since joining the Johns Hopkins community, Eric has developed and taught a series of courses in management topics ranging from negotiations and conflict resolution, to ethics and human resources, to managing and marketing social enterprises. Rice holds a master’s degree in educational psychology and a PhD in educational sociology, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Kirsten Rowell, Research Leadership Program Director, Research & Innovation Office at University of Colorado - Boulder
Email Kirsten Rowell
Dr. Kirsten Rowell is curious noticer of her environment. Her academic career is centered on understanding how human engineered changes to the planet have affected the way aquatic species grow and live. Her research has been focused on fisheries response in the Gulf of California’s to the over allocation of Colorado River water and how ancient peoples have developed sophisticated aquaculture practices that increased clam productivity in the shores Pacific Northwest. She has a Ph.D. in Historical Ecology from the University of Arizona and a Master's in Aquatic Ecology from Northern Arizona University. Her work has been published in numerous high-impact journals, and she has received recognition and awards for her contributions to the field.More recently, Dr. Rowell has turned her attention to building the capacity of science through programs that pay close attention to who is trained in the sciences and how they are trained.
In her role as Director of Research Leadership at the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) , at CU Boulder she leads two programs focused leadership and collaboration. The RIO Faculty Fellows program supports rising CU Boulder faculty interested in furthering their leadership skills to achieve maximum impact within and beyond the campus. The NSF funded program, Global Sustainability Scholars, builds the workforce in sustainability sciences that represents the diversity of perspectives and backgrounds needed to tackle some of the most pressing sustainability challenges facing society today. She also hopes to influence the way that sustainability science is done, by training students to consider involving communities outside of academia in the knowledge generation and interpretation. Through her leadership and expertise, Dr. Rowell is helping to shape the next generation of sustainability leaders and make a positive impact on the planet.
Leadership Team
Carrie Ferraro
Director, Rutgers Science Explorer; Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Math & Science Learning Center at Rutgers University
Jeremy Pare
Assistant Professor, College of Business, University of New England
Linda Silka
Senior Fellow, Mitchell Center, The University of Maine
Rebecca Jordan
Professor and Chairperson, Department of Community Sustainability, Michigan State University
KT Robbins-Thompson
Program Coordinator, DEL-MEM Program, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Abigail Abrash Walton
Chair, Environmental Studies, Antioch University New England
Candice Carr Kelman
Assistant Clinical Professor, School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University
Jennifer Russel
Faculty Affiliate, Global Change Center, Virginia Tech
Martha Walker
Program Coordinator, Global Sustainability Scholars, University of Colorado Boulder
Past Steering Committee Members
Darren Cockrell
Nicole Motzer
Simon Donner
Kristi Kremers
