Hannah Whitley

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Hannah completed her studies at OSU in 2017 with three undergraduate degrees: Anthropology (Biocultural), Sociology, and Religious Studies. In 2015, she received an URSA U-Engage grant to study faculty diversity at American universities on the West Coast and was accepted into OSU’s Department of Anthropology Ethnographic Field School. She worked with Hilary on the community reactions to extreme weather project. Hannah is now pursuing a PhD in rural sociology at Pennsylvania State University.

Warda Ajaz

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Warda Ajaz completed her PhD in Public Policy at OSU in 2019. She went on to an Assistant Professor in the Department of Energy System Engineering at the National University of Sciences and Technology in Pakistan. Her PhD research focused on the socio-technical transition toward microgrids and other decentralized energy systems.

Lauren Anderson

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Lauren Anderson graduated from OSU with a Master of Public Policy in 2015. Her area of study focused on energy and environmental policy. Her background is in the field of conservation biology and ecology. She is most interested in facilitating communication between scientists and policy makers, especially regarding environmental management. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, backpacking, and all other outdoorsy adventures. She went on to work for the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC.

Julia Bingham headshot

Julia Bingham

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Julia Bingham is an interdisciplinary marine social scientist interested in knowledge, values, equity, and power in coastal governance and management, especially in fisheries and fishing dependent communities. She primarily approaches her work through critical and feminist informed geographies, science & technology studies, political ecology, and sociology. She is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University supporting research on human dimensions of offshore wind development, focusing on community benefits and impacts.

Alperen Acikol

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Alperen Acikol, a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy at Oregon State University, specializes in computational social science and machine learning to evaluate social programs and improve public policy. His research centers on understanding the disparities between public perceptions and expert assessments of extreme weather risks. By employing predictive models, he aims to enhance risk communication and intervention strategies. Alongside his academic work, Alperen has significant experience in disaster response, cash intervention and program evaluation in the humanitarian sector. His interdisciplinary approach combines data-driven insights with behavioral economics to advance social welfare and public policy.

Virginia Dee Montier-Burke

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Virginia Dee Montier-Burke, “Dee”, graduated from OSU with a Master of Natural Resources in 2023. She completed a BS in Marine Biology from Texas A&M in 2010. Prior to joining OSU, she worked as a contractor to NOAA as a North Pacific Groundfish observer, assigned to the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. After four years at sea, she found a shore side job as a Water and Wastewater Laboratory Manager. In her spare time, she can be found hanging out with her dog, Tonks, or reading a good book.

Chad Zanocco

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Chad Zanocco completed his PhD in Public Policy at OSU and has a MS in Agricultural and Resource Economics from University of California, Davis. Prior to completing his master’s, he served as an Americorps volunteer in northern California where he administered a small-business scholarship program for Arcata Economic Development Corporation. At OSU, he has explored alternative futures for coastal change and hazards through the Tillamook County Coastal Futures Project, an effort supported through NOAA’s Coastal and Ocean Climate Change Applications program. For his dissertation, he worked on the NSF-funded VISTAS project to develop visual analytics software to enable scientists to better understand and communicate about large and complex environmental problems spanning spatial and temporal scales. He worked with Hilary on projects related to public perceptions of unconventional oil and gas development, community reactions to extreme weather, and youth energy education programming. Upon graduation, he took a position as a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Victoria Williams

Victoria Moreno

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Victoria Moreno completed her Master of Public Policy at Oregon State University in 2021. Her graduate research explored Dungeness crabbers’ perceptions of their ability to adapt to ocean acidification (OA) and other environmental stressors in Oregon. Victoria graduated in ’19 from the University of Richmond with her BSc in Environmental Studies and Anthropology, where she explored the intersectionality of environmental change in marine ecosystems and corresponding human effects within the coastal communities. When she is not working on her research, she enjoys cooking, reading, engaging with the community and exploring the Pacific Northwest with her Great Pyrenees puppy. She went on to a position as a Regional Engagement Fellow at COMPASS.

Rachel Mooney

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Rachel Mooney graduated from University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire with her BSc in Chemistry where she conducted research on atmospheric and physical chemistry. She completed her Master of Public Policy degree in 2021, analyzing public perceptions of LNG export in the Pacific Northwest. She went on to a position as an Analytical Associate at the Climate Action Reserve.

Matthew Mauriello

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Matthew Mauriello was a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University and Stanford University. He contributed to the NSF-funded Smart & Connected Kids for Sustainable Energy Communities project. He graduated with a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction from the University of Maryland. He went on to a faculty position at University of Delaware.