The EOP-MGP Mentoring Program provides faculty teams with experienced coaching to support their progress throughout the program. Each faculty team is matched with two qualified mentors who are committed to supporting them through successful pilots. Mentors provide 6 weeks of guidance on the curricula development process as well as on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) principles. See below for a list of mentors with their bios.
Yewande Abraham
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Technology, Environmental Management and Safety
Rochester Institute of Technology
Dr. Yewande Abraham is an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering and Construction Management at the Department of Civil Engineering Technology Environmental Management and Safety (CETEMS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). She is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional in building operations and maintenance and an associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). She joined RIT in 2018, prior to that, she received her Bachelor’s and Master’s in Civil Engineering from Cardiff University, Wales, United Kingdom and completed her Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering (Construction option) at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania. She has industry and research experience in the construction industry in the US and internationally.
Cindy Anderson
Strategy Consultant
The Lemelson Foundation
Cindy Anderson, MS, Engineering for One Planet (EOP) Strategy Consultant with The Lemelson Foundation, is honored to be a collaborative partner on the EOP initiative since its inception, co-author of the EOP Framework and framework companion teaching guides, and an active EOP Network Member. Cindy is the founder and CEO of Alula Consulting which specializes in innovative sustainability- and online-focused research and curriculum projects for academic institutions, non-profits, government, and corporations. She has taught thousands of people through courses and workshops, around the world and online, in the fields of biology, sustainability, and biomimicry. Cindy holds a MS from Oregon State University, a MEd from Griffith University (Queensland, Australia), and a BSc in biology from the University of Guelph (Ontario, Canada).
Michelle Benavides
Sustainability Education Expert | LEED AP | SE
Michelle Benavides, SEA, LEED AP BD+C, M.Ed. is an international sustainability speaker and has trained thousands of professionals worldwide. Formerly the executive director of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP), she led the organization’s mission to empower sustainability professionals across the workforce and around the world. Previously, Michelle founded L.E. Rigby Innovations, served as a U.S. Green Building Council faculty member, and earned recognition with the Global 50 Women In Sustainability Award for 2023 from SustainabilityX Magazine. To create the future envisioned by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Michelle is committed to fostering collective action and accelerating the impact of professionals across the industry, because we are truly better together.
Lisa Bosman
Associate Professor in Technology Leadership and Innovation
Purdue University
Dr. Lisa Bosman, PhD in Industrial Engineering, is an Associate Professor at Purdue University. As the founding director of iAGREE Labs (Inclusive, Applied, and Grounded Research in Entrepreneurially-Minded Education), she aims to empower action via real-world solutions and evidence-based practices. Her STEM education research interests include renewable energy, entrepreneurial mindset, competency-based learning, self-regulated learning, transdisciplinary education, integrating the humanities into engineering education, workforce development and faculty professional development. Find out more at www.iagree.org.
Jasmina Burek
Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Dr. Jasmina Burek (she/her) is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at UMass Lowell and Principal Investigator of the BUREK Lab (BUilding REsilience through Knowledge). Her research centers on sustainability and resilience engineering, with a focus on life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate and reduce environmental, social, and economic impacts. She develops decision-making models for products, materials, and buildings. A systems-level thinker and sustainability advocate, she is currently leading the development of the University Handprint Framework, which quantifies the positive sustainability impacts that academic institutions generate beyond their operational boundaries.
Pamela Carralero
Assistant Professor, Environmental Humanities
Kettering University
Pamela Carralero is an Assistant Prof. of Environmental Humanities at Kettering University. Using an environmental justice lens, she teaches and researches at the intersection of ecocriticism and environmental futures. In the classroom, she strengthens STEM students’ capacity to assess the socio-environmental impact of their work. Pamela is also a climate resilience practitioner in Flint, MI. She is the Principal Investigator of Climate Resilient Flint, a climate literacy, community-driven project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s Environmental Literacy Program. She holds the Regional Collaboratories Seat on the Executive Council of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment.
Medha Dalal
Associate Director, Scholarly Initiatives, Learning and Teaching Hub, FSE Learning and Teaching Hub
Arizona State University
Medha Dalal is an Associate Director of Scholarly Initiatives in the Fulton School of Engineering. In this role at the learning and teaching hub, she collaborates with engineering departments and faculty on student success initiatives that are informed by evidence-based teaching strategies. Medha also works as an assistant research professor in the STEER Lab affiliated with the Engineering Education Systems and Design program. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Learning, Literacies, and Technologies from the Arizona State University, a Master’s degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. Her research interests span three related areas: democratization of engineering education, ways of thinking, and professional development.
Elin Jensen
Chair, Department of Civil Engineering
University of Michigan
I have a broad background in engineering education, research, and industry collaboration. I hold a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Aalborg University. I serve as Chair of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Lawrence Technological University. In 2023, I was a fortunate recipient of an ASEE EOP Mini Grant for Cohort II (2023). This grant lead to curriculum improvements introducing a sustainability spine in the civil engineering and architectural engineering programs. In 2024, I became a member of the EOP Network and continue to promote integration of EOP educational strategies with peers on and off campus.
Stefanie Koehler
Innovation Strategist, Design Scientist and Visual Facilitator
Green Crane Innovation
Ms. Stefanie Koehler, MA, is an Innovation Strategist, Design Scientist and Visual Facilitator at Green Crane Innovation. She offers sustainability-focused design and visual thinking to solve business challenges alongside key partners. Additionally, Dr. Koehler has expertise in graphic facilitation, graphic recording, design thinking jams/charrettes, and other unique event and learning experiences. She uses critical listening, real-time synthesis and rapid sketching to help her clients illustrate big picture ideas and context. Ms. Koehler’s goal is to help amplify messages, clarify ideas, vision, and programs to design a more sustainable future with her clients.
Ben Linder
Professor
Olin College
Ben Linder, Ph.D., is a design educator, creator, and investigator at Olin College where he is a professor of design and mechanical engineering. He focuses on participatory design, sustainable design, and design for impact within the broader realms of social and civic innovation, developing and sharing ecologically and socially just design practices to realize care and flourishing with communities. He regularly teaches collaborative design, sustainable design, biomimicry, and community-engaged design. He is a co-founder and the director of the Affordable Design and Entrepreneurship Program (ADE), a co-lead organizer of the International Development Design Summit (IDDS), and a co-founder and co-lead organizer of the International Development Innovation Network (IDIN).
Irene Mena
Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Irene Mena, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Swanson School’s First-Year Engineering Program at the University of Pittsburgh. She is an industrial engineer and received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Dr. Mena is responsible for implementing first-year engineering curriculum content, pedagogy, and improvements; coordinating with other faculty teaching first-year engineering courses; and organizing the Swanson School’s annual First-Year Engineering Conference, in which all first-year engineering students develop a professional-level research paper and present it to their peers at the end of their second semester. In addition to teaching first-year engineering courses, she teaches a social entrepreneurship course with a focus on sustainability. She also has experience in faculty development, including helping prepare new faculty for their new teaching responsibilities, and observing faculty to provide feedback on their teaching.
Jenny Mueller
Associate Professor
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Jennifer Mueller, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. She graduated with her BS in Environmental Engineering from Northwestern University and with her MS and PhD in Civil Engineering with an emphasis on Environmental River Mechanics from Colorado State University. Her graduate work focused on exchange of surface water and groundwater, as well as nitrate uptake, in streams with varying degrees of rehabilitation. Dr. Mueller’s areas of interest include water quality, sustainable design, watershed hydrology, and river hydraulics. Current projects involve pedagogical studies for incorporating sustainability and ethical decision making in undergraduate engineering education, with an emphasis on touchpoints throughout the four-year curriculum. Dr. Mueller especially loves mentoring students through capstone senior design projects, where she emphasizes the need for sustainable design through all phases of the design process. She is also the faculty advisor for the student organization, Engineers for a Sustainable World, as well as for the academic minor in sustainability program.
Adebayo Ogundipe
Professor
James Madison University
Adebayo “Bayo” Ogundipe, Ph.D., is Professor and Department Head of Engineering at James Madison University. He has worked on the development of tools and protocols for assessing sustainable engineering designs using life-cycle assessment and industrial ecology methods. His work has resulted in research publications on environmental and sustainable engineering. He is the co-author of a textbook on sustainable engineering design as well as multiple guidance documents on the topic. His scholarly interests have expanded to include the development of synergistic activities between engineering and non-engineering disciplines with the goal of interdisciplinary holistic approaches to problem solving. His ongoing cross disciplinary work involves international collaborations aimed at developing appropriate educational modules to help engineering students develop global cultural competencies. Dr. Ogundipe earned his Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, followed by a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, NJ.
Fethiye Ozis
Assistant Teaching Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Fethiye Ozis, Ph.D., is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the civil and environmental engineering department at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Ozis holds a B.S. in environmental engineering from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. She is a licensed Professional Engineer, Environmental, in Arizona. Before joining CMU, Dr. Ozis was a faculty member at Northern Arizona University and at University of Southern California. Dr. Ozis enjoys every dimension of being an engineering educator, and teaches across the curriculum from first year to graduate level courses in environmental engineering. Her own intersectionality led to her passion in promoting and researching pathways into engineering especially for underrepresented minority groups. Dr. Ozis conducts research in engineering education, related to classroom and innovative pedagogical strategies. She has mentored several undergraduate students to develop proposals and pursue award winning research on novel biotechnologies for water and wastewater treatment. She has been an ExCEEd (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Fellow since 2016, and currently serves as a mentor. Dr. Ozis earned multiple teaching, research and service awards from Northern Arizona University and the American Society for Engineering Education.
Alexa Rihana-Abdallah
Professor, Environmental Engineering
University of Detroit, Mercy
Alexa Rihana-Abdallah, Ph.D., is a Professor of environmental engineering and engineering ethics in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy. She received her B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Beyrouth, Lebanon, and received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her graduate work focused on microbial sensing and contaminant bioavailability in complex environmental systems. Her research interests include pollutant modeling in groundwater, renewable energy, and sustainable design. Her pedagogical work focuses on innovative strategies in education and integrating dimensions of environmental and social justice in engineering courses to help educate socially aware engineers. She is the faculty advisor for the student organization, Society of Women Engineers. She received the ASEE-NCS 2025 Outstanding Teaching Award and she is the 2025 Program Chair of ASEE – Environmental Engineering and Sustainability Division.
Dustyn Roberts
Practice Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics
University of Pennsylvania
Dustyn is a Practice Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her training, professional experience, and interests span mechanical, financial, and transportation engineering. She’s passionate about engineering education, sustainability, and bridging the gap between research and real-world impact through entrepreneurial thinking and translational work. Her work has been supported by organizations including NSF, VentureWell, ASEE, The Lemelson Foundation, and Penn4C. She received her B.S. in Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, her M.S. in Biomechanics & Movement Science from the University of Delaware, and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from New York University. She rides her *very cool* electric cargo bike to work most days, usually with her oldest kid on the back.
Katey Shirey
Founder and Owner
eduKatey LLC
Dr. Katey Shirey is an integrated science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) education expert with experience designing integrated STEAM courses and programs worldwide. She holds a Ph.D. in Teaching, Learning, Policy, and Leadership from the University of Maryland, a Master of Teaching from the University of Virginia, and bachelor’s degrees in physics and sculpture from the University of Virginia. As a Knowles Teacher Initiative Senior Fellow and through her own STEAM education consulting business, eduKatey, LLC, Dr. Shirey collaborates with educators to create integrated STEAM curricula, professional development, and strategic program plans. Dr. Shirey serves as the Chair of the Commission on Pre-K to 12 Engineering Education for the American Society of Engineering Education.
Deborah Steinberg
Manager, Green Practices and Sustainability
Carnegie Mellon University
Deborah Steinberg has been working as an educator and leader in the sustainability and non-profit fields for more than 20 years. Currently serving as Carnegie Mellon University’s Green Practices and Sustainability Manager, she provides vision and action to advance campus environmental sustainability. Deborah holds a Masters in both landscape architecture from Chatham University and in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BS in Resource Ecology and Management from the University of Michigan. She co-chairs the Higher Education Climate Consortium of Pittsburgh, serves on the Clean Pittsburgh Commission, and is a CURC Board Member.
Noe Vargas Hernandez
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
UTexas Rio Grande Valley
Dr. Vargas Hernandez is an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at UTexas Rio Grande Valley with expertise on product innovation and entrepreneurship, design thinking, sustainable design, biomedical design, and design education. He has ample experience teaching design and innovation to student teams currently at UTRGV, and previously at UT El
Paso and Carnegie Mellon University. He is currently leading an effort to promote Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the departmental and College levels at UTRGV and collaborating with the College of Business. Dr. Vargas has various patents, and over 20 years of expertise and leadership in engineering design, creativity, and innovation.
Andrea L. Welker
Dean, School of Engineering
The College of New Jersey (TCNJ)
Andrea L. Welker is Dean of the School of Engineering at TCNJ. Prior to TCNJ, Welker worked at Villanova University, where she began her faculty career in 1999. At Villanova, she most recently served as associate dean for academic affairs for the College of Engineering, a position she held for six years. She was a co-founder of the College of Engineering’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, which introduced professional development opportunities on inclusive pedagogy and intergenerational communication and secured funding for students from underrepresented groups to travel to professional conferences, among other initiatives. At the national level, Welker has been deeply engaged with ASEE, including serving as chair of the Civil Engineering Division. She has also been a national leader for the Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network. In 2021, she accepted the ABET Innovation Award for Career Compass professional development program.
Allison Wolf
Sr. Program Coordinator, Sustainability Teachers’ Academies
Arizona State University
As the senior program coordinator ASU’s Sustainability Teachers’ Academies, Allison oversees all logistics programming. She supported the logistics, workshop design, and facilitation of the EOP Faculty Fellowship from 22-24. Using experience as a former high school teacher, she uses humanizing pedagogy and a focus on relationships to work with the program managers in her department to create professional development opportunities for K-12 educators. This position allows her to pair her passion for sustainability education with her skills in facilitation, administration, and evaluation.
Ro Worthy
Assistant Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kennesaw State University
Dr. Ro Worthy is currently the Assistant Chair for the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at Kennesaw State University. In addition to her administrative role, she remains actively engaged in teaching and conducts research with a focus on increasing the representation of minorities in Engineering. Before joining the university, Dr. Worthy served as a Research Assistant at Vanderbilt University, contributing to a group funded by the Department of Energy. Her primary research focused on the long-term evaluation of near-surface waste disposal under climate change impacts at nuclear waste sites. With a background as an environmental engineer/planner at Gresham, Smith, and Partners, as well as General Motors Corporation, Dr. Worthy brings a wealth of industry experience to her academic roles. She has a proven track record of addressing critical environmental challenges. In her recent endeavors, Dr. Worthy is actively collaborating with the Lemelson Foundation to institutionalize the Engineering for One Planet framework at Kennesaw State University. This initiative reflects her commitment to sustainability and innovative engineering practices.