Michael Mann
Director of Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media;
Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania; Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action
Dr. Michael Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. His research focuses on climate science and climate change. He was selected by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002, was awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geophysical Union in 2012. He made Bloomberg News‘ list of fifty most influential people in 2013. He has received the Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education, the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication from Climate, the Award for Public Engagement with Science from the AAAS, the Climate Communication Prize from the American Geophysical Union and the Leo Szilard Award of the American Physical Society. He received the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement 2019 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is a Fellow of the AGU, AMS, GSA, AAAS and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. He is co-founder of RealClimate.org, author of more than 200 peer-reviewed and edited publications, numerous op-eds and commentaries, and six books including Dire Predictions, The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars, The Madhouse Effect, The Tantrum that Saved the World, The New Climate War, and Our Fragile Moment.
Heather Kostick
Associate Director of Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
Heather Kostick is the Associate Director for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. Heather manages center research, communications, planning, and programming while collaborating with Penn organizations and centers, as well as, external organizations to further the center’s mission of science and sustainability communication in the media. She joins PCSSM after having previously worked for the Masters of Environmental Studies and Applied Geosciences programs in LPS. Heather received her B.Sc. in Wildlife Conservation from Juniata College, her M.E.S. from the University of Pennsylvania, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Science at Drexel University. Heather’s research interests include climate misinformation and disinformation, urban ecology, urban green space, biodiversity, and conservation.
Emily Stephens
Communications & Research Assistant for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
Emily is a recent graduate of the Master of Environmental Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania with a concentration in Sustainability. Her area of research is focused on the critical role of social media influencers who specialize in sustainability, “sustainability influencers”, and their impact on Gen Z perceptions of sustainability and willingness to adjust behavior to act sustainably. Her research involved interviewing sustainability influencers and surveying Gen Z TikTok users to understand the self-reported goals of the influencers and Gen Z’s perception of their content to identify challenges and opportunities to adjust sustainability messaging.
Her interests include corporate sustainability, climate change communication, value creation, and sustainability reporting. She has a professional background in public relations and received her B.A. in Communication Rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh. She hopes to leverage these skills to explore the ways in which we communicate about sustainability and how we can influence rhetoric and the actions of businesses to prioritize sustainability.
David Rolands
Communications Assistant for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
David is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying communications and environmental sustainability. He functions as the communications assistant for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media. David is passionate about the environment and plans to work as a communications and/or sustainability consultant. David is a member of the Penn Football team and enjoys traveling, watching movies and trying new restaurants.
Emily Park
Communications Assistant for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
Emily is a student at the University of Pennsylvania studying political science and communications. She serves as the Communications Assistant for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media. She is interested in political speechwriting and hopes to enter the field of communications post-graduation. Emily’s hobbies include chess, journaling, and late-night walks.
Vanessa Schipani
Writer for the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media
Vanessa Schipani is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania. Her philosophical research primarily concerns the importance of science communication in maintaining a healthy democracy. Prior to this, she was a science journalist for 10 years, working most recently for FactCheck.org, where she vetted claims made by politicians about climate change to public health. Her journalistic work has also been published in Scientific American, USA Today, Quanta and The American Scholar. See www.vanessaschipani.com for more information.