Virginia Tech® home

Dr. Jennifer Russell

FACULTY AFFILIATE   |   Global Change Center

Sustainable Biomaterials

Lab Website  •  Google Scholar  •  Dept Page

(540) 231-9516  •  jdrussell@vt.edu

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Dr. Russell works in the area of circular economy and sustainability, the flows of materials and energy within economic consumption-production systems, and strategies for slowing and closing material loops.  

Dr. Russell’s research program is centered around the integration of industrial ecology, industrial symbiosis, and opportunities for circular systems and practice in materials and energy systems, and she established Virginia Tech’s relationship with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation as a Circular Economy Network University. Dr. Russell’s work includes computational modeling to quantify the opportunities and implications of increased adoption of reuse, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, and recycling within consumption- production systems. It also includes research and analysis of the role that human behavior, perceptions of value, and decision-making, can have upon the achievement of sustainability outcomes, including resource efficiency, material efficiency, and climate change mitigation.

Dr. Russell is also the director of the VR(Ex)Change. The VR(Ex)Change Network aims to enhance the efficiency and sustainability of global manufacturing and supply chains by providing diverse early-career individuals worldwide with opportunities for collaboration, training, and leadership, while conducting research to support sustainable communities and address environmental challenges.