People

Be part of the team

We are adopting an open advisory board model where all interested members of the Wellesley community can play an active role in designing the activities of the Frost Center: anyone is welcome to participate. Please join us for our weekly Green Gatherings! The operation of the Frost Center will also be facilitated by faculty, staff, and student ambassadors. Email frostcenter@wellesley.edu for information on how to get involved!

 

  • "The Frost Center is a connector among people with environmental interests, building a community across Wellesley.  I'm especially excited to facilitate learning from each other and collaborating on creative ways to make positive impacts on environmental issues, at Wellesley and beyond.  Our community is particularly well suited to engage with intersections of race, gender and environment, and a goal of mine is to help us all find more joy through opportunities for progress towards justice and healing."

    Kristina Jones
    Faculty Director

  • “The Frost Center brings together a diverse group of students, staff, and faculty and allows everyone to have an active role in the cultivation of the Center’s future by engaging in proactive, collaborative, and interdisciplinary conversations. I’m excited to have the opportunity to keep developing the Frost Center’s mission to address the world’s great environmental challenges and uplift the voices that have started paving the way.”

    Kayli Hattley
    Program Coordinator for the Frost Center and Environmental Studies

  • “Our lives are entwined with the land that we live on, and because of this, I believe it's crucial that everyone be involved in efforts to protect the environment. I am especially passionate about native plants, encouraging biodiversity, sustainability in the fashion industry, and climate justice. I'm excited to spread awareness within the Wellesley community and make a positive impact on our campus!”

    Emily Cao '26
    Student Ambassador | intended environmental studies major

  • “I am thrilled to combine my love of nature and the outdoors with my interests in environmental justice and climate action as a Frost Center Ambassador. As the environmental challenges we face are intersectional, I look forward to connecting with people and organizations across Wellesley’s campus to engage in meaningful discussions that elicit tangible change.”

    Sylva Das ’26
    Student Ambassador | intended environmental studies major

  • "I am especially passionate about climate justice and policy, sustainable development, and the intersection of climate action and women’s empowerment. As a Student Ambassador, I’m looking forward to bringing together the Wellesley community in all its diversity and helping people connect their own individual passions to environmental justice! I am so excited to engage in learning that translates to meaningful climate action with the collaborative and innovative Frost Center team!"

    Ilinca Drondoe '26
    Student Ambassador |intended international relations-political science major, peace & justice studies major

  • "I am excited to be a part of the Frost Center because I've always been passionate about the environment and taking care of Mother Earth."

    Noelle Perrin '26
    Student Ambassador | intended math or chemistry major

  • "Being an ambassador for the Frost center means that I get to be a part of a group of individuals who work everyday to bring awareness to the importance of the environment. As generations bring on new concerns I am excited to tackle the environmental justice aspects of the Frost center to create a more equitable space."

    Reyna Fernando '25
    HHMI intern | peace and justice major, environmental studies minor
Past Practitioner-Fellows

  • Rae Wynn-Grant ('20-'21)

    Rae Wynn-Grant was the innagural Paulson-Frost Practitioner-Fellow. Rae is a conservation scientist, large carnivore ecologist, nature storyteller, and advocate.

  • Zoe Sandwith ('21-'22)

    Zoe Sandwith is a scientist at Hakai Research Institute in British Columbia

  • Marissa McMahan ('21-'22)

    Marissa McMahan is the Fisheries Director of Manomet.

  • Emily Withnall ('21-'22)

    Emily Withnall is a writer, editor, and writing instructor.

 

Faculty and Staff Affiliates

Affiliates are members of the Frost community who engage with the environment through their research, teaching or service. If you are a faculty or staff member who would like to become a Frost Affiliate, don't be shy! Write to us at frostcenter@wellesley.edu.

  • Becky Belisle Knafel Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences; Assistant Professor of Physics
  • Pinar Keskin Associate Professor of Economics
  • Dan Brabander Professor of Geosciences
  • Becky Bedell Professor of Art
  • Alison Hickey Associate Professor of English
  • Chipo Dendere Assistant Professor of Africana Studies
  • Tom Burke Ralph Emerson and Alice Freeman Palmer Professor of Political Science
  • Susan Ellison Associate Professor of Anthropology
  • Alden Griffith Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Kristina Jones Director, Wellesley College Botanic Gardens; Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences; Director, The Camilla Chandler Frost ’47 Center for the Environment
  • Suzanne Langridge Director Paulson Ecology of Place Initiative
  • Catia Confortini Professor of Peace and Justice Studies
  • Codruţa Morari Associate Professor of Cinema & Media Studies
  • Martha McNamara Director of the New England Arts and Architecture Program; Senior Lecturer in Art
  • Wes Watters Whitehead Associate Professor of Critical Thought; Associate Professor of Astronomy
  • Andrea Sequeira Gordon P. Lang and Althea P. Lang ‘26 Professor of Biological Sciences
  • Vanja Klepec-Cera Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
  • Katherine Grandjean Associate Professor of History
  • Emily Harrison Lecturer in Women's & Gender Studies
  • Rachel Stanley Frost Associate Professor in Environmental Science; Associate Professor of Chemistry
  • Anne Brubaker Senior Lecturer in the Writing Program
  • Liza Oliver Associate Professor of Art
  • Jay Turner Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Justin Armstrong Senior Lecturer in Writing and Anthropology
  • Jenn Yang Associate director, Wellesley College Botanic Gardens
  • Andy Mowbray Senior Lecturer in Art; Director of 3D Arts
  • Katherine Ruffin Director of the Book Studies Program; Lecturer in Art
  • Beth DeSombre Camilla Chandler Frost Professor of Environmental Studies
  • Becca Selden Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences
  • Elizabeth Davis Lecturer in Geosciences & Environmental Studies
  • Anne Beckley Senior Gardens Horticulturist, Botanic Gardens
  • Julie Razryadov Botanical Collections Manager
  • Adrian Castro Assistant Professor of Geosciences
  • Erich Hatala Matthes Associate Professor of Philosophy