Led by Charley Driscoll, EMPOWER is a team of over 50 people, including the leadership team, affiliated faculty, staff, graduate students, and external advisors. Browse our full directory below, which includes the leadership team and our graduate student trainees, or check out the information about our affiliated faculty and external advisors.
Jeff Wade
MS, Earth Sciences
Jeff is first-year M.S. student in the Earth Sciences Department working with Dr. Laura Lautz. He earned his Bachelors of Science in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2019. After completing his undergraduate degree, he worked for the USGS New England Water Science Center studying urban nitrate transport and PFAS contaminant plumes on Cape Cod.…
Dan Wang
PhD, Biology
Dan Wang is a second year PhD student in Biology and his advisor is Professor Heather Coleman. His research focuses on the secondary cell wall in plants. Prior to attending Syracuse University, Dan received his Bachelor’s degree from Jianghan University in Wuhan China. As an undergraduate student he did research focusing on epigenetics in Arabidopsis and abiotic stress response. …
Shiru Wang
PhD, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Shiru Wang is a PhD student in environmental engineering at Syracuse University. She received her B.S from Ningbo University in Chemistry and an MS in Environmental Engineering from Syracuse University. During her time at SU in graduate school, she served as a graduate teaching assistant in Fall 2017. She mentored an undergraduate for an independent research project.…
Joseph Wasswa
PhD, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Joseph Wasswa is a Ugandan and a twin. He is also a first-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering working with Dr. Teng Zeng. Joseph earned a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering from San Diego State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Engineering from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. Before moving to the U.S., he worked as Graduate Research Assistant in the School of Food Technology, Nutrition and Bioengineering at Makerere University Kampala, Uganda.…
Micah Wiesner
MS, Earth Sciences
Micah is a Masters student in the Department of Earth Sciences working with Dr. Greg Hoke. As an undergraduate in Geophysics at SUNY Geneseo he collaborated with researchers at LLE in Rochester, NY to increase the efficacy of a solid-state Nuclear Track Detector, CR-39. After finishing at Geneseo he taught secondary science education (Earth Sciences, Ecology) before returning for his Masters at Syracuse.…
Peter Wilcoxen
Professor, Public Administration and International Affairs
Peter J. Wilcoxen is an economist whose research focuses on the design and analysis of environmental and energy policies, especially those connected with national or international measures to address climate change. He is a professor in the Department of Public Administration and International Affairs at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, co-director of the Brookings Climate and Energy Economics Project, and is a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board.…
Lucie Worthen
M.S., Civil & Environmental Engineering
Lucie Worthen is a first-year M.S. student in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, studying with Dr. Cliff Davidson. She received her B.S. degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. Her research interests include understanding the impact of plant communities and evapotranspiration in modeling the hydraulics and hydrology of green roofs through the software EPA SWMM5.…
Lachlan Wright
PhD, Earth Sciences
Lachlan is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Earth Science, working with Dr. Chris Scholz. He comes to us from the University of Oxford, where he completed his Masters in Earth Science, and Undergraduate studies. Here, in conjunction with the University of Bristol, and the Geological Survey Department of Zambia, he conducted a basin analysis on the Luangwa Rift Valley using legacy 2D seismic data and deep-time climate simulations to predict lacustrine source facies.…