Iris Tien, Williams Family Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, will be the strategic initiative lead for State Engagement. She will help BBISS strengthen collaborations between researchers and local government, with the goals of encouraging research outcomes at the municipal level and amplifying the impact and visibility of Georgia Tech research throughout the state.

Anjali Thomas, associate professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, and Valerie Thomas, professor and Anderson-Interface Chair of Natural Systems in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy, are the strategic initiative co-leads for International Engagement. This initiative will address global sustainability and development challenges by convening Georgia Tech experts, identifying areas of scholarly leadership at the Institute, and building on them through international exchange and research partnerships.

Micah Ziegler, assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Carter School of Public Policy, is the strategic initiative lead for Data Infrastructure. The purpose of this initiative is to build data and analysis infrastructure to support multidisciplinary sustainability research across Georgia Tech. Working with faculty, staff, and students, the team will identify the resources that support their research today, the resources that could strengthen it, and the challenges in obtaining, using, and maintaining them. In the long term, the initiative will develop infrastructure that makes sustainability datasets and models easier to share and use across the Institute.

“Iris, Anjali, Valerie, and Micah bring deep expertise and wide networks to these roles. But the real power of these initiatives will come from the colleagues who get involved, and I invite those whose work benefits from or contributes to stronger state engagement, international engagement, or data infrastructure to reach out to them,” says BBISS executive director Beril Toktay.