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Meet Dartmouth’s Newest Faculty Members
Twenty-eight teacher-scholars have joined the faculty this year, bringing with them a wide array of expertise and research talent.
Their interests range from the physics of glacier ice to contemporary Buddhism in Vietnam, demonstrating Dartmouth’s continued commitment to confronting scientific challenges and exploring social and economic issues around the world.
Provost David Kotz ’86 says he is excited by the wealth of knowledge the new tenured or tenure-track faculty members will be able to pass on to Dartmouth’s undergraduates and graduate and professional students.
“Dartmouth’s newest faculty are top scholars who are working to advance the bounds of human knowledge in crucial fields of study. This cohort will inspire and teach their students to become responsible leaders and global citizens,” Kotz says.
Written by Megan Landgraf
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(Photo courtesy of Ellesse-Roselee Akré)
• BA, San Diego State University
• MA, Suffolk University
• PhD, University of Maryland’s School of Public Health
I am a health services researcher whose research portfolio focuses on health inequities, intersectionality, and access to health care. My program of research employs tools from health services research and population health science to demonstrate how macrolevel systems like heterosexism, sexism, and racism are determinants of health inequities. I leverage the frameworks of critical race theory and intersectionality perspective to quantitatively study how social, demographic, and policy contexts shape health and health care disparities for BIPOC and LGBT populations.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of Minnesota
• MFA, Columbia University
• MFA, New York University
• PhD, Cornell University
Focusing on the Amazon rainforest, I study media including film, photography, and virtual reality to explore the reciprocity between ecology and aesthetics in contexts of simultaneous social and environmental violence. My work aims to both change our understanding of media as belonging solely in the terrain of the human and challenge the dangerous binaries between nature and culture that hinder responses to our ongoing environmental crisis.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of Chicago
• MS, Northern Arizona University
• PhD, Northern Arizona University
In my lab, we study mycorrhizal fungi, soil microorganisms that form beneficial networks with plants. Our research examines where these fungi live, why they live there, and how they disperse to new locations. Because all plants on Earth rely on mycorrhizal associations, they play a key role in ecosystem restoration, sustainable agriculture, and climate change solutions. My lab uses continent-scale field studies, controlled lab experiments, and data synthesis to study the ecology of mycorrhizal fungi.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• PhD, University of California, Berkeley
My research program explores struggles over space, power, and history in Southeast Asian cities. My current book project draws together oral history, archival, and ethnographic research to explore the deep inequalities and novel modes of urban experimentation that have shaped Phnom Penh, Cambodia, over the past four decades.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• MHS, Johns Hopkins University
• DrPH, City University of New York
My focus is on maternal health equity. I study why and to what degree socioeconomic, political, and geographic vulnerability is associated with adverse birth outcomes. What happens during a woman’s pregnancy impacts her and her children’s health over their life spans. Preventing adverse birth outcomes by focusing on the root causes of inequity and studying their impact is one way in which I will build evidence to address harmful exposures for pregnant women—especially those arising from racist, patriarchal, and colonial structures.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, Tsinghua University
• PhD, University of California, Berkeley
I enjoy teaching and researching innovative materials, structures, and devices as solutions to address various grand challenges facing humanity, especially in biology and medicine. My current research concentrates on multi-functional materials and devices for implantable neurotechnologies.
Dimitrios Giannakis
Jack Byrne Professor in Mathematics
The Jack Byrne Academic Cluster in Mathematics and Decision Science
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of Cambridge
• MS, University of Cambridge
• MPhil, University of Cambridge
• PhD, University of Chicago
My recent focus is on dynamical systems theory and data science. Recent work includes the development of techniques for coherent pattern extraction, statistical forecasting, and data assimilation in complex systems. I work on applying these methods to problems in climate science and fluid dynamics.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, Colby College
• BE, Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering
• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The goal of my research is to solve problems at the intersection of engineering, the immune system, and reproductive health. The long-term goal of my work is to improve the lives of people by building a better understanding of immunology and reproductive tissues and translating those insights into therapeutics, diagnostics, and novel ways of both studying and monitoring reproductive and overall health.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, Yale University
• JD, New York University School of Law
• PhD, Stanford University
I am a sociocultural anthropologist, political ecologist, and legal scholar studying the environment and economy. I examine how people interact with and govern the worlds around them and the kinds of economic and cultural values this creates. Particularly, I examine efforts to create “green economies” that pursue economic growth through environmental protection. This research explores how these human-environment relations can both exacerbate inequity and injustice, as well as enable new political practices and aspirations.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Western Ontario
• MA, University of Western Ontario
• PhD, Boston University
My community-engaged research program is focused on cancer communication, decision-making, and the utilization of evidence-based care. I have conducted a range of studies on how patients and providers negotiate the experience of being at risk for cancer—in particular, breast and prostate cancer—and its impact on the utilization of health services.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Iowa
• PhD, Saint Louis University
My lab focuses on biomedical engineering/craniofacial surgery and conducting cutting-edge research utilizing models of craniofacial anomalies to drive the development of novel tissue engineering/regenerative medicine therapies. I am excited for the opportunity to create a rich and inclusive learning environment for students who truly represent the future of research.
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(Photo by Robert Gill)
• BS, Union College
• PhD, Yale University
Our tissues rely on the vasculature and blood for oxygen and nutrients, waste removal, and immunity. I am interested in how these essential organ systems are created and maintained throughout life. I use the zebrafish model to uncover new mechanisms regulating how endothelial cells decide to remain a part of blood vessels or to become blood or lymphatic vessels. This research has implications for vascular and hematologic diseases and can inform regenerative therapies in humans.
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(Photo courtesy of Klaus Keller)
• MS, Massachusetts Institute Technology
• Dipl-Ing, Technischer Umweltschutz, Technische Universität Berlin
• MA, Princeton University
• PhD, Princeton University
My research addresses two interrelated questions. First, how can we mechanistically understand past and potentially predict future changes in the Earth system? Second, how can we use this information to design sustainable, scientifically sound, technologically feasible, economically efficient, and ethically defensible risk management strategies? I analyze these questions by mission-oriented basic research covering a wide range of disciplines such as engineering, earth sciences, economics, philosophy, decision science, and statistics.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, Wheaton College
• PhD, University of Utah
I work on stochastic processes with biology applications. Particularly, I use mathematical models to answer questions such as: What determines how long it takes for a new function to evolve in a bacterium? What causes physiological differences in genetically identical cancer cells? When trying to answer these kinds of questions, statistical variation in experimental data can tell us things that would be lost by simply looking at averages.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of South Carolina
• MSW, University of Georgia
• PhD, University of Georgia
My research focuses on housing experiences as social determinants of health, such as the experience of home environments for marginalized people—whether that may be in an extended-stay hotel, assisted-living facilities, or senior housing. This work includes determining the impacts of environmental factors—such as exposure to toxins in non-traditional home environments on health and well-being. Current projects explore housing pathways among extended-stay hotel residents and medical social workers’ scope of practice during the pandemic.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Turabo
• MS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• MA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
• PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
My research interest lies at the intersection of operations research and statistics with an emphasis on stochastic simulation and optimization to support decision-making in practice. My current work addresses various application areas, including substance use disorder, cardiovascular disease, and organ transplantation. Through my research, I have ongoing collaborations with the Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Michigan Medical School, the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
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(Photo by Robert Gill)
• BS, Rutgers University
• MS, Johns Hopkins University
• PhD, Carnegie Mellon University
As a sustainable systems engineer and policy researcher, I study energy system transitions in the context of climate change. I focus on three research themes—multiobjective modeling, intergenerational and social equity of infrastructure systems, and mitigation and adaptation planning. My research is interdisciplinary, drawing from the fields of environmental science and engineering, data science, and public policy. My research aims to develop computational decision support tools to address real-world problems and inform public decision-making.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, Duke University
• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
My research is in development economics. Much of my work studies the empowerment and employment of women in India.
Mathieu Morlighem
Evans Family Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences
Academic Cluster: Arctic Engineering in a Period of Climate Change
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Paris
• MS, École Centrale Paris
• PhD, École Centrale Paris
I am interested in the physics of glacier ice and how the ice sheets respond to climate change. I combine high-resolution numerical modeling with remote sensing and in situ data to improve our understanding of ice dynamics, determine how much Greenland and Antarctica will contribute to sea level over the coming centuries, and how they interact with the rest of the climate system. I use and develop the Ice-sheet and Sea-level System Model (ISSM) to address these questions.
Peter Mucha
Jack Byrne Distinguished Professor in Mathematics
The Jack Byrne Academic Cluster in Mathematics and Decision Science
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, Cornell University
• MPhil, University of Cambridge
• MA, Princeton University
• PhD, Princeton University
My research involves the mathematics of networks, including network representations of data, community detection, and modeling dynamics on and of networks. My lab’s activities are interdisciplinary, applying tools of network analysis and data science in collaborations across the mathematical, physical, life, and social sciences. Ongoing projects include modeling disease transmission between animals and humans, studying how social networks influence behaviors, and analyzing metabolomic data to identify risks due to infections.
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(Photo courtesy of Sarah Masud Preum)
• BS, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology
• MS, University of Virginia
• PhD, University of Virginia
My research interest lies in the intersection of machine learning and pervasive systems and their applications in health care. I lead a research team of graduate and undergraduate students where we design, develop, and evaluate new data-driven solutions to provide relevant decision support to care providers and care recipients. Our overarching goal is to use machine learning to develop intelligent systems to make our lives better.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• MChem, University of Oxford
• PhD, University of Bristol
My research group studies how molecular catalysts can be used to drive reactivity and selectivity in chemical reactions. We are interested in using external stimuli such as light and electricity to react one section of a three-dimensional chemical architecture over another in a switchable manner. Additionally, we explore complex organic reaction mechanisms through experimental and computational studies to allow us to both control and optimize the function of catalysts.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• ME, École Centrale Paris
• PhD, École Centrale Paris
My research interests are focused on better understanding and explaining ongoing changes in the cryosphere, as well as reducing uncertainties in the ice sheet contribution to sea-level rise using numerical modeling. I am interested in understanding the interactions of ice and climate by combining process studies, state-of-the-art numerical modeling with remote sensing, and in situ data.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Toronto
• PhD, Columbia University
My primary research interest is data-driven analytics. I like to build mathematical models that help businesses understand complex systems and make better decisions. Markets I have explored include online advertising, on-demand transportation, and fantasy sports.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, University of Minnesota Duluth
• MA, Iliff School of Theology
• MA, Syracuse University
• PhD, Syracuse University
I research contemporary Buddhism in Vietnam. My current work examines trends of Buddhist volunteerism in Ho Chi Minh City. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how lay and monastic Buddhist charity workers coped with experiences of urban alienation by framing altruism as an intersubjective act that benefits all beings. My work shows how Buddhist practices inform a shift toward grassroots social service programming in Vietnam amid increasing economic privatization.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BA, Smith College
• PhD, Stanford University
My research explores how dialectical relationships between humans and environmental conditions concurrently produced historical transformations in subsistence and socio-political practices. My recent projects include the origins and spread of agriculture, ancient alcohol production, indigenous foodways, and cultural interactions in prehistory.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, Tsinghua University
• PhD, Yale University
My research focuses on studying the genetic etiology of human diseases, in particular, cancer. My lab develops computational methods and tools to analyze large-scale genomic datasets, aiming to translate data into biological insights. Specific areas of interest include modeling of mutation selection in cancer, genotype-phenotype association analysis, and integration of multiple types of genomic datasets for disease gene discovery.
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(Photo by Eli Burakian ’00)
• BS, University of Lausanne
• MS, University of Lausanne
• PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
My work focuses on macroeconomics. I am interested in the implications of household and firm heterogeneity for the propagation of aggregate shocks and the design of optimal policy interventions. Some of my recent work focuses on the optimal taxation of labor displacing technologies, and the role that durable spending plays in the response to fiscal shocks.