Grand Challenge Initiative: Climate Resilience

University Professor Jagadish Shukla is an internationally renowned climate scientist whose pioneering research and philanthropy have left an enduring legacy at George Mason University and beyond. Joining Mason in 1994, he founded the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences and launched the nation’s first PhD program in Climate Dynamics, which has since graduated more than 60 students. He also established the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA), securing over $49 million in research funding and advancing global climate prediction. A lead author of the Nobel Peace Prize–winning 2007 IPCC report, Shukla’s contributions have been recognized with the International Meteorological Organization Prize. Together with his wife, Anastasia, he founded Gandhi College in India and created the Shukla AOES Fellowship Endowment to support future generations of climate scientists.

K.L. Akerlof is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, where she leads the “Communication for Environmental Science, Policy, and Human Behavior” concentration in the master’s program. Her research examines how communities interpret and use scientific information, integrating local knowledge, experience, and values in decision-making. Focusing on the intersections of governance, science communication, and public participation, her work explores how evidence informs policymaking and environmental action. Akerlof’s current projects span collaborations with the National Science Foundation, the National Park Service, and Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion.

James Kinter is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Earth Sciences at George Mason University, where he serves as Director of the Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA) and the Virginia Climate Center (VCC). His research focuses on climate variability and predictability, including phenomena such as monsoons, El Niño and the Southern Oscillation, and extreme weather events. Through his leadership at the VCC, Kinter works to strengthen the resilience of Virginia’s communities to the impacts of climate change. He earned his PhD in geophysical fluid dynamics from Princeton University in 1984 and has held positions at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the University of Maryland. Kinter is a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and has served on numerous national panels for scientific research and computational climate modeling.

Jennifer Salerno is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy, where she teaches Environmental Microbiology and Coral Reef Ecology. Her research explores how microorganisms, both symbiotic and free-living, affect organism health and ecosystem function, with applications in conservation and environmental management. Using tools such as molecular biology, next generation sequencing, and bioinformatics, she investigates microbial responses to environmental change in systems ranging from coral reefs to freshwater streams. Beyond research, Salerno is active in science communication and policy, having served as a NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow in the U.S. House of Representatives and an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the U.S. Department of State.

Luis Ortiz is an Assistant Professor whose research advances understanding of how cities interact with the atmosphere amid a changing climate and how these interactions impact people and infrastructure. His work views cities as complex systems of environmental, human, and engineered domains, using high-resolution modeling and climate impact analysis to inform adaptation and mitigation strategies. He also focuses on translating actionable climate science to decision-makers, co-leading the Virginia Climate Center and serving on the New York City Panel on Climate Change. Ortiz earned his PhD from the City College of New York and joined George Mason University in 2022 after positions at The New School and the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Jennifer Sklarew is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at George Mason University, where she coordinates the MS Concentration in Energy and Sustainability Policy and Science. With over 30 years of experience in energy and environmental policymaking, her research explores how institutional relationships and catastrophic events drive policy change, with a focus on sustainability and resilience in the energy-water nexus. She currently leads projects developing hydropower micro-turbines on Mason’s Fairfax campus and addressing food-energy-water-climate challenges in rural communities. Sklarew is the author of Building Resilient Energy Systems: Lessons from Japan, published by Routledge.