New Faculty Hires Advance Collaborative Environmental Research at UVA

The University of Virginia's 2030 plan recognizes environmental resilience and sustainability as a major societal challenge and a priority for investment in multidisciplinary work that draws on existing strengths. In partnership, the provost and the deans of various schools are making multiple coordinated faculty recruitments to strengthen the research community focusing on environmental resilience and sustainability across the University. These new faculty members receive support from the provost and from their school. This is part of a Grand Challenges research investment of over $50 million in Environmental Resilience and Sustainability.

As a steward of select programs within the Grand Challenges, the Environmental Institute is pleased to be a partner in bringing a talented group of new hires to the University. Four of the faculty in this new cohort will contribute to the Climate Collaborative initiative - a multiyear, interdisciplinary research program focused on climate change and communities.

“We are very pleased to welcome these new faculty members to our teams at the Institute,” said Karen McGlathery, Director of the Environmental Institute. “Their research portfolios are impressive and span several disciplines, and we’re excited about the contributions they can make to our teams doing collaborative research across the globe working with communities on solutions for climate adaptation and mitigation.”

The new Grand Challenges hires for Environmental Resilience and Sustainability in 2024 are:

Meghan Blumstein joins UVA as an assistant professor in environmental sciences and architecture.

Meghan Blumstein, Environmental Sciences and School of Architecture

Blumstein most recently served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral research fellow in civil and environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was a Bullard Fellow at the Harvard Forest research site. She joins UVA as an assistant professor of environmental sciences and architecture.

Blumstein takes an interdisciplinary approach to ask the question: “How will forests survive the next century of environmental stress?” She uses tolls from genetics, genomics, physiology, and modeling to understand how stress is shaping tree populations and how much potential they have to respond.

“I am most looking forward to engaging in more interdisciplinary collaboration via the Environmental Institute,” said Blumstein. “The current climate crisis necessitates creative thinking and working across fields to find solutions. I am thrilled that the EI is here to help us foster new relationships across the faculty and wider community, which will hopefully generate new ideas and avenues of addressing climate challenges on local to global scales.”

Frederick Cheng joins UVA as an assistant professor in environmental sciences.

Frederick Cheng, Environmental Sciences

Before arriving at UVA, Cheng conducted postdoctoral research at Colorado State University as a water systems scientist, where his research on water quality appeared in Nature, Water Resources Research and Environmental Research Letters.

Cheng is interested in understanding how freshwater ecosystems can be used as nature-based solutions to protect and improve water quality for societal use. He joins UVA as an assistant professor of environmental sciences.

“I’m extremely appreciative of the collaborative environment at the EI and the emphasis on climate solutions and place-based research,” he said. “I’m excited to find opportunities with EI members from diverse fields to develop impactful research in complex environmental issues.”

Dan Driscoll joins UVA as an assistant professor in sociology.

Dan Driscoll, Sociology

Driscoll is a political economist of climate change and before joining UVA was a postdoctoral researcher at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.

Driscoll’s work lies at the intersection of decarbonization, economic policy, and finance. He is currently writing a book titled “Why Carbon Taxes Failed.” He joins UVA as an assistant professor of sociology.

“Climate change is a complex problem that requires interdisciplinary solutions. The Environmental Institute and Climate Collaborative provide that exact platform that researchers across UVA need to find inflection points for decarbonization solutions and climate adaptation” Driscoll shared. “I cannot wait to connect with and contribute to the community of researchers here to work on this shared challenge.”

UVA will welcome a fourth faculty member as part of this cohort, Andrew Wilson, in fall 2025. Wilson is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and will join the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy as an assistant professor.