GCC Welcomes Three New Faculty Affiliates
May 8, 2025
The Global Change Center is excited to welcome a new group of faculty affiliates whose work spans a wide range of disciplines and research interests. These scholars bring fresh perspectives and innovative approaches to addressing some of the most pressing environmental and societal challenges of our time. We’re excited to have them join the GCC community and contribute to this important work.
Join us in welcoming these new faculty affiliates to the GCC community!
Dr. Robert Cooper
Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Robert Cooper will join the GCC as a faculty affiliate this fall. He seeks to advance conservation of wildlife using genomic and computational tools, which are used to uncover how human disturbance (e.g. invasive species, habitat destruction, and climate change) affects population health, structure, and movement across the landscape. His research also explores the novel environmental pressures (e.g. temperature, desiccation, and disease) that result from anthropogenic changes and how they impact threatened and endangered species.
Dr. Erin Toffelmier
Fish & Wildlife Conservation
Dr. Erin Toffelmier will join the GCC as a faculty affiliate this fall. Dr. Toffelmier’s research focuses on the genomics of at-risk species and ecosystems, using population and landscape genomic tools to characterize patterns of genetic variation within and between species. Her work examines how complex and variable landscapes influence genomic diversity and structure. She also serves as Associate Director of the California Conservation Genomics Project, a large-scale, multi-institution effort to rapidly accelerate the development of a novel conservation genomics toolkit to support management efforts in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.
Dr. Dara Wald
Urban Affairs & Planning
Dr. Dara Wald joined the GCC as a faculty affiliate this spring and is an associate professor in the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech. She also serves as a research fellow at the Institute for Science Technology and Public Policy at Texas A&M University. Dr. Wald’s work focuses on bridging the gap between scientific knowledge and action to enhance outcomes for people and the environment. Her research explores the social and cultural drivers of conflict, communication barriers, and collaborative decision-making in natural resource contexts, aiming to inform inclusive and effective environmental policy and management.
