EII had an exceptional response to our Research Communities call and received a slew of impressive applications. After a challenging selection process, we are very proud to announce four Research Communities for the 2025-26 academic year:

Renewing

Extending and Sustaining the One Health @ Penn

One Health @ Penn will extend the success of the initiatives started across campus during its two previous iterations and support the transition to our One Campus, One Health and Urban Wildlife initiatives. They will also continue to support the One Health@Penn RiP/WiP series, which has now become a fixture for the One Health in Action faculty team at Penn.

Leads 

Jenni Punt, VMD PhD, Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine

Julie C. Ellis, MSc PhD, Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine 

Hillary Nelson, PhD MPH, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine 

Brittany Watson, VMD, Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine 

Ricardo Castillo, DVM, PhD, MPH, Epidemiology and Biostats, Perelman School of Medicine 

New

Eco literacy for Resilient Futures: Empowering Local Communities through Early Environmental Education & Place-based Regenerative Design

Eco literacy for Resilient Futures has partnered with an under-resourced and climate-vulnerable local school to offer a new vision for early childhood climate change education by favoring experiential fieldwork-based curricula.

Leads

Laia Mogas-Soldevila, PhD, Architecture, Weitzman School of Design

Emily Hannum, PhD, Sociology and Education, School of Arts & Sciences

Sharon Wolf, PhD, Human Development and Quantitative Methods Division, Graduate School of Education 

Jere Behrman, PhD, Sociology and Economics, School of Arts & Sciences

Philly Emerging Water Contaminants Initiative

Undergraduate and master’s students selected as community fellows will collaborate with research community’s leads to monitor emerging contaminants of concern to human health and ecosystems, specifically microplastics and per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in urban waterways.

Leads

Samantha McBride, PhD, Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics, School of Engineering & Applied Sciences 

Jon Hawkings, PhD, Earth and Environmental Science, School of Arts & Sciences

Ellen Kohler, JD, The Water Center, School of Arts & Sciences

Clementina Mesaros, PhD, Systems Pharmacology & Translational Therapeutics, Perelman School Medicine. 

Resilient Urban Food Systems: Circular & Zero Waste Farming and Construction for Environmental Education at Penn Farm

Resilient Urban Food Systems will build prototypes of an outdoor classroom at Penn Farm constructed from zero-waste materials. Their goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of sustainable building techniques by diverting Penn Campus waste (plant matter, landscaping debris, food waste) from landfills to be repurposed as building materials that can be used directly on site- the ultimate example of a circular economy. 

Leads

Ellen Neises, MLA, Landscape Architecture, Weitzman School of Design

Laia Mogas-Soldevila, PhD, Architecture, Weitzman School of Design

Elliot Bullen, MLA candidate, Landscape Architecture, Weitzman School of Design

Lila Bhide, Emylee Fleshman, Ezra Tischler, Penn Farm Management

Doris Wagner, PhD, Biology, School of Arts & Sciences

Brianna Parsons, VMD, MSEd, New Bolton Center, School of Veterinary Medicine,

Alain Plante, PhD, Earth and Environmental Science, School of Art & Sciences

Michael Carroll, MA, Fisher Fine Arts Materials Library