Inaugural Associate Provost for Corporate Engagement (2026–present)
In July of 2026, I was appointed by Provost Francis J. Doyle III to serve as the inaugural Associate Provost for Corporate Engagement. Reporting directly to the Provost, I am responsible for strengthening, promoting and coordinating corporate partnership across Brown’s research and educational missions in the arts, sciences, humanities and social sciences. Strengthening undergraduate education and employment, and developing opportunities for faculty and graduate student research programs are at the center of this initiative. I work in close partnership with the Division of Advancement, the Vice President for Research, the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Career Exploration, the School of Professional Studies, the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning and other campus partners.
Chair, Defining Brown’s Values (2025)
In December of 2024, I was appointed by President Christina H. Paxson to chair an eleven-member committee tasked with defining core institutional values for Brown University for the first time in its 262 year history, and developing a statement outlining how the institution may use its voice publicly. The committee reviewed the University’s Charter and historical record, held four community town halls, and considered written feedback from students, faculty, staff, and alumni. We identified four core institutional values: the pursuit of knowledge and understanding, academic freedom and freedom of expression, a commitment to openness and diversity of ideas, perspectives and experiences, and responsibility for a thriving academic community. We also proposed a Statement of University Voice, establishing that the University should express public positions only on matters that directly advance its mission. The core institutional values and Statement of University Voice were endorsed by a vote of the faculty and by the Corporation of Brown University, the University’s highest governing body.
Chair, Advisory Committee on University Resources Management (ACURM) (2024)
In July of 2024, I was elected by the faculty to serve on the Advisory Committee for University Resource Management (ACURM) and nominated to serve as chair of the eleven-member committee during consideration of a high-stakes divestment proposal. The committee produced a recommendation against divestment to President Christina H. Paxson that was accepted by the Corporation of Brown University, the University’s highest governing body. This process engaged the entire Brown University community and mitigated significant legal jeopardy through daily collaboration with an outside law firm. The report accompanying the recommendation raised important questions about the relationship between university voice and the public trust, and what universities can and cannot do without endangering the conditions necessary for their own independence. Answering these questions led to the articulation of Brown’s core institutional values.
Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation
The Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) is a large-footprint waveform lidar sensor on the International Space Station (ISS). GEDI is the first spaceborne lidar sensor designed specifically to measure aboveground vertical structure in forests and woodlands worldwide. The mission was competitively selected in 2014 with a $94 million cost cap. It was extended in 2021 and again in 2023 and remains in-orbit now. James R. Kellner leads the team that develops algorithms and statistical procedures used to map footprint-level aboveground biomass density. This research is supported by NASA and is a collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park and the USDA Forest Service.
Perennial
Perennial was founded by Jack Roswell ’20, David Schurman ’20, and Alex Zhuk ’20 in 2018 with support from the Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship. The company applies digital soil mapping technology driven by high-resolution satellite remote sensing and machine learning to spatial prediction problems in agriculture. I worked closely with the founders during their time at Brown and now serve as the company’s Chief Scientist through Brown’s Policy on Outside Professional Activities for Faculty. Together we have published peer-reviewed academic journal articles demonstrating the potential of digital soil mapping technology in agriculture, generated new intellectual property, employed more than 50 people, and raised $35 million in private funding.
Drone Remote Sensing
Low-altitude drone flight can generate data at scales clearly aligned with biological processes, like metabolism, natural selection, and resource allocation within and among individual plants. The quantitative improvement represented by this technology is significant, but the most important advance is conceptual. New measurements from low-altitude drones open the door to seeing things that have been beyond our grasp, and properties related to organismal condition, like leaf chemistry, canopy temperature and solar induced fluorescence. This research has been funded by NASA and the National Science Foundation.
Large-area analysis of ecosystems
NASA GEDI
Individual-based remote sensing of canopy trees