Meet Our Team
Boston College
The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467617-552-3503
617-552-3503
schiller.institute@bc.edu
Office of the Executive Director
Laura J. Steinberg
Seidner Family Executive Director
Laura J. Steinberg is the Seidner Family Executive Director of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society and Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Dr. Steinberg has worked extensively on research in infrastructure management, disaster preparedness and response, environmental modeling, and higher education leadership. She served on the EPA Science Advisory Board, Drinking Water Committee and as an editor and advisory board member for Natural Hazards Review, Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the Journal of Environmental Engineering. For the American Society of Civil Engineers, she served three terms as a member of the Industry Leaders Council representing civil engineering faculty members throughout the United States.
Previously, Laura was a tenured Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Syracuse University where she held several positions including Special Assistant for Strategy to the Vice Chancellor, co-founder of the Syracuse University Infrastructure Institute, Executive Director of NY State’s Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, and Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science.
Dr. Steinberg holds a B.S.E. in Civil and Urban Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.S and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Duke University.
Greg Adelsberger
Director of Finance and Operations
Greg Adelsberger is the Director of Finance and Operations for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. In his role, Greg oversees the budgeting and financial planning for the Institute. He also works closely with the Seidner Family Executive Director on strategic planning and other initiatives led by the Institute.
Prior to joining the Schiller team, Greg served as the Associate Director of Finance and Administration for the National Research Mentorship Network (NRMN), a multi-million dollar NIH grant, administered by the Boston College Biology Department. He previously worked as a Senior Associate at PwC in their assurance practice in Northern Virginia.
Greg holds an MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and a BS in Accounting from the University of Maryland.
Jim West
Assistant Director, Programs
Jim West is the Assistant Director, Programs for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Jim is charged with the design and delivery of programs for faculty and students, and manages communications. He serves as the Designated Point of Contact for Boston College's role as an observer organization at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27).
Previously, Jim worked at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the Harvard School of Public Health. As a graduate student he held a range of positions at Michigan State University including serving as managing editor of the Journal of Transformative Education and as a team member of the National Center for Institutional Diversity at the University of Michigan collaborating on the design and delivery of leadership programs to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Erik Sjostrom
Administrative and Fiscal Assistant
Erik Sjostrom is the Fiscal and Administrative Assistant for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Erik provides support for the Schiller team and Schiller's collaboration with associated departments.
Prior to Boston College, Erik held various roles with Harvard University Health Services, coordinating wellness offerings for students, faculty and staff. Erik holds a BA from Davidson College.
Kim Nelson Pryor
Senior Research Fellow
Kim Nelson Pryor is the Senior Research Fellow of the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. She is also a Higher Education Program Affiliate in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. At Schiller, Kim conducts research that informs and assesses the Institute’s efforts to address critical societal issues through multi-disciplinary, collaborative research and teaching. She also assists in the general administration of the Institute.
Previously, Kim served as a Graduate Research Assistant at Southern Methodist University, where her dissertation focused on teaching socialization experiences and outcomes for early-career higher education faculty in a context of increasing diversity. She has also conducted research on academic structure and high education organization, interdisciplinary fields and labor issues among non-tenure-track and adjunct faculty. In addition to her research, Kim has taught English Language Arts to high schoolers, taught humanities and writing to community college and adult students and provided career services to university students in the liberal arts. She has also served as an AmeriCorps*VISTA and worked in nonprofit publishing.
Kim holds a PhD in Education from Southern Methodist University. She holds an MEd in language and literacy from The University of Texas at Austin, an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago and a BA in English and Classical and Medieval Studies from Bates College.
Sonali Kathuria
Graduate Assistant
Sonali Kathuria is the Graduate Assistant for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. In her role, Sonali is responsible for conducting multi-disciplinary research on studies that assess the Institute’s inter-disciplinary impact.
Prior to joining the Schiller Institute, Sonali was the Research Coordinator at the Center for Research on Abroad and International Student Engagement at Wake Forest University. Sonali previously has also worked nationally and internationally, in universities conducting qualitative and quantitative forms of research and working in student facing offices.
Sonali received her BA in International Studies from North Carolina State University and is currently working on her MA in International Higher Education at Boston College.
Kimberly Black
Undergraduate Assistant
Kimberly Black is an undergraduate assistant for The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Her responsibilities consist of providing research support, performing administrative tasks, and offering student insight for developing projects.
As a member of the Boston College Class of 2024, Kim is currently pursuing a Bachelor of the Arts in Communications and Film Studies. Her other campus involvements include undergraduate research, producing content for Boston College Television, creating graphics for the progressive student newspaper; The Gavel, singing with the Boston College University Chorale, and co-hosting a weekly radio show with WZBC.
Grace Dennis
Undergraduate Assistant
Grace Dennis is an undergraduate assistant for The Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. Her responsibilities consist of providing research support, performing administrative tasks, and offering student insight for developing projects.
As a member of the Boston College Class of 2023, Grace is currently pursuing a Bachelor of the Arts in History and Journalism. Grace spent her sophomore year involved in the Boston College PULSE program, writing obituaries with a publication in New York City to honor those who lost their lives during the Coronavirus pandemic, which was awarded the Punch Sulzberger Innovator of the Year Award from the News Leaders Association. She is a member of Boston College's Women in Business chapter and history club.
Global Public Health and the Common Good
Philip J. Landrigan
Director
Philip J. Landrigan is the Director of the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good. In addition to leading the program, he advises students, and teaches and conducts public health research within the Program. Dr. Landrigan is a pediatrician, public health physician and epidemiologist. His research uses the tools of epidemiology to elucidate connections between toxic chemicals and human health, especially the health of infants and children. He is particularly interested in understanding how toxic chemicals injure the developing brains and nervous systems of children and in translating this knowledge into public policy to protect health. He is a member of the National Institute of Medicine. Please see his faculty page for further information.
Heather Jones-Lawlor
Fiscal and Administrative Assistant
Heather Jones-Lawlor is the Fiscal and Administrative Assistant for the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good. Heather provides support for the GPHCG team and also provides guidance and assistance to the students in the GPHCG academic minor.
In addition, Heather is the Managing Editor for Annals of Global Health, a peer-reviewed, open access science journal focused on global health supported by Boston College. Prior to joining the team at Boston College, Heather was a marketing professional in the consumer products industry. Heather holds an MBA from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and a BS from Babson College.
Kurt Straif
Visiting Professor
Kurt Straif is a physician and epidemiologist who teaches and conducts public health research within the Program for Global Public Health and the Common Good. Dr Straif served for almost two decades as a senior scientist with the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyons, France. There he directed the flagship unit within IARC that evaluates the carcinogenic hazards of environmental exposures and oversaw the writing and continuous updating of the IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention.
Tara Casebolt
Core Fellow / Visiting Assistant Professor in Global Health
Tara Casebolt is a Core Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor in Global Health. She has a PhD in Maternal and Child Health with a minor in Population Studies from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health.
Her research is focused on access to reproductive health services for people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. During her PhD program, she was a Pre-doctoral Trainee at the Carolina Population Center and served as an adjunct professor at Elon University in the departments of Public Health Studies and Poverty and Social Justice Studies.
Before beginning her PhD, she spent two years as an ASPPH/CDC Allan Rosenfield Global Health Fellow serving in the Ethiopia and Zambia CDC offices. Her work with the CDC focused on HIV prevention, gender-based violence, and monitoring and evaluation. She also spent a year as a William J Clinton Fellow for Service in India, working with a children's health and sanitation education program in Darjeeling, India.
Tara also holds bachelors degrees in social work and women and gender studies from Ohio University and a Masters of Public Health and Masters of Social Work with an emphasis on international development from Washington University in St Louis.
Gabrielle Nash
Graduate Assistant
Gabrielle is the Graduate Assistant for Global Public Health and the Common Good. She primarily supports communications efforts for the minor as well as other administrative tasks.
Gabrielle is currently pursuing a Masters of Social Work at Boston College and received a BS in Marketing and Supply Chain Management from the University of Maryland. Prior to pursuing a Masters degree, Gabrielle worked in both the nonprofit and for-profit sector as a marketing and HR professional.
Global Observatory on Pollution and Health
Philip J. Landrigan
Director
Kurt Straif
Co-Director
Samantha Fisher
Senior Data Analyst
Samantha Fisher is the Senior Data Analyst at Boston College’s Global Observatory on Pollution and Health. In this role, Samantha researches, compiles and critically analyses data on pollution and pollution-related disease from multiple sources in the United States and globally.
Prior to joining Boston College, Sam worked as a Research Associate at the Partnership to End Addiction, a nonprofit in New York City composed of health care professionals and researchers working to effectively address addiction on a national scale.
Samantha holds a MPH New York University and a BS in Biology from Holy Names University.
Institute Development
Maria Lockheardt
Director of Development
Maria Lockheardt is responsible for advancing philanthropic initiatives for the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society. She joined Boston College in 2018 as the Director of International Advancement to foster philanthropic engagement with BC's global community. She brings previous experience from leadership roles at Wellesley College and Bentley University. Prior to her work in education, Maria spent fifteen years in museums and cultural organizations, including the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy, Andover; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Smithsonian Institution. She holds an M.A. in Art History from the Pennsylvania State University.