Research
Creating applicable knowledge through hands-on, holistic thinking.
Falk School & Campus-based Research Projects
The Falk School of Sustainability & Environment is dedicated to creating professional sustainability leaders that can apply principles of the field across a variety of areas today, and tomorrow. All of our students, faculty, and staff engage in interdisciplinary work that give students experiences that drive real-world progress.
Our Food Studies program has created CRAFT (Center for Regional Agriculture and Food Transformation), to support ongoing food systems research projects that are developed and housed within the center.
Learn about what our students, faculty and staff are doing across multiple research areas.
In The Field: Research news
Featured
“Our world is changing so fast. Problems we face—climate change, social injustice, biodiversity loss—are wickedly complex. But learning to understand them is a powerful way to understand the world. At Eden Hall Campus you’ll get your hands dirty and come away with experience to face the future. “
— Lou Leonard, JD, Dean, Falk School of Sustainability & Environment
Faculty + Consumer Tips
Consumer tips on a monthly/quarterly basis with topics ranging from home land/water management, foods, cooking, recipes, consumer sustainable practices, gardening, heating/cooling efficiency, and product tips/knowledge
THE CONSERVATION FUND PARTNERSHIP
Research Opportunities and Facilities
Students, faculty and staff collaborate on projects across Eden Hall Campus' distinctive research areas.
Food Studies Research Areas
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ALice Julier, PhD
- Building the Center for Regional Agriculture and Food Transformation (CRAFT). The center serves as a home for food system information and development resources in the region, providing an umbrella for research, education, and outreach on sustainable food system knowledge, opportunities, and collaborations.
Nadine Lehrer
- Stakeholder perceptions of pesticide safety in Washington State tree fruit orchards.
Mim Seidel
- The intersection of public health and the alternative food system.
Roy Weitzel
- Small-scale aquaponics for increased food security and entrepreneurship opportunities
- Recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) for intensive production of food fish.
- Aquatic environmental toxicity of common urban pollutants.
- The potential role of common duckweed (Lemna minor) in mitigating nutrients in aquaculture wastewater.
- Alternative sources of protein and lipids for aquaculture feedstocks.
John doe
The intersection of public health and the alternative food system.
Business Research Areas
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Tom Macagno, PhD
- Center for Sustainable Leadership (CSL[1]): a joint initiative of the Falk School and the Business Studies Program, to help organizations enhance and maintain employee engagement with sustainability at work in order to boost organizational performance.
Risk to Resilience: a pilot-project (USDA grant funded) aimed at strengthening a local food system.
Debbie Delong
- Center for Sustainable Leadership
- Business Studies Program
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Ecological Research Areas
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IRIS GROSSMAN
- Modeling and policy analysis of large-scale solar electricity production and distribution.
- Exploring Pittsburgh’s biophilic strategy and neighborhood development in Homewood.
- Climate adaptation and the water-energy-food nexus.
RYAN UTZ
- Cumulative ecological effects of an invasive forest understory shrub, Berberis thunbergii (Japanese barberry).
- Long-term, intensive monitoring of a network stream ecosystems along a watershed urbanization gradient.
- Biodiversity monitoring of western Pennsylvanian nocturnal Lepidoptera
LINDA JOHNSON
- Long-term changes in Biodiversity, Species Richness and Metabolic Diversity in Pennsylvanian Forests: The Permanent Forest Plot Project
- Long-term changes in Lichen Diversity and Coverage in forest edges, intact interiors, and wind-thrown interiors.
- Variation in evolutionary and ecological traits in populations of Lobelia cardinalis and Lobelia siphilitica in Western PA.
- Compost Tea Variability and Its Effects on Plant Growth.
HECTOR SAEZ
- Evaluation of The Northside Backpack Program
- Farmers, Wetlands, and Migratory Shorebirds, exploring the feasibility of creating habitat for migratory shorebirds along the Pacific Coast flyway.
Herbicides in Coffee Production in Costa Rica: assessing the relationship between the use of herbicides and the size of coffee farms in the country’s Central Valley region.
The Sustainability of Agriculture in Cuba: the management of natural resources in Santo Domingo, Cuba.
Work at Eden Hall Campus
Student assitantships are a key part of building the experience employers look for, and provides the assistance our faculty need.
Agricultural Assistantships
Business Assistantships
Ecological Assistantships
Center for Regional Agriculture and Food Transformation (CRAFT)
CRAFT is an outgrowth of Chatham University's longstanding engagement with sustainable practices and ideas. From the Falk School of Sustainability and Environment to the Food Studies program, CRAFT builds on education, outreach, and training to support products and knowledge building in our region.
In conjunction with the Masters in Food Studies program, CRAFT incorporates an interdisciplinary and hands-on curriculum with research initiatives and projects. Faculty and advanced students collaborate with local businesses, farmers, and innovators on real world solutions.
As a convener of open source data, technical resources, and training opportunities, we work with stakeholders across the food system.