Faculty
ISABELLA ALCANIZ
Associate Professor Department of Government and Politics University of Maryland Dr. Alcañiz studies cooperation among environmental bureaucrats in the developing world. Using social network analysis, she explains environmental bureaus’ participation in regional and global projects in the protection of the global environment (in areas like transboundary waters and biodiversity). She finds evidence that bureaucrats cooperate in these large projects in order to pool scarce resources, update their technical skills, and attract funds from international donors. Dr. Alcañiz is interested in the homophily effect (birds of a feather flock together) observed in transgovernmental networks. She explains it as the result of state experts seeking to cooperate only with foreign peers of superior or equal level of skills. Full Bio 
DANA R. FISHER
Director / Professor Department of Sociology University of Maryland Dr. Fisher researches multiple aspects of environmental decision-making at the PSE. Currently, she is involved in a number of efforts to study the connections between environmentalism and democracy. These projects focus on activism--specifically around the Resistance and the Youth Climate Movement--and climate politics in the United States. Full Bio |
RASHAWN RAY
Associate Professor Department of Sociology University of Maryland Dr. Ray and Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Research Scholar, University of California-Berkeley, focuses his research on race, physical activity, and the social environment. He is currently examining a perplexing trend among blacks, which shows that middle class, suburban blacks are less physically active than suburban whites and urban blacks. In addition to sociodemographics and perception of ideal body size, preliminary findings suggest that treatment and comfortability of blacks in predominately white environments may play a key role in explaining racial differences. With Dana Fisher and colleagues, Ray is examining how and why volunteer stewardship and civic engagement, such as tree planting, varies by race in metropolitan areas. Full Bio |