{"id":544,"date":"2026-10-28T01:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/?p=544"},"modified":"2026-10-28T01:10:04","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T01:10:04","slug":"esa-policy-section-executive-committee-bios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/2026\/10\/28\/esa-policy-section-executive-committee-bios\/","title":{"rendered":"ESA Policy Section Executive Committee Bios"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Dr. Christopher C. Graham is a research scientist, ecological engineer, and project leader whose work focuses on how global governance<\/a> can be leveraged to both solve and prevent environmental challenges. A significant portion of that work is focused on sustainability and technology, socio-technical ecosystems governance, climate change, and the spatial econometrics of energy transitions across North America, East Africa, and Central America. Christopher earned his PhD in Global Governance<\/em> from the University of Massachusetts, with a specialization in Geographic<\/em> Information Systems (GIS) and Public Policy.<\/em> Dr. Graham is currently a Researcher at Boston, where he researches planetary ecology and global environmental governance and manages four environmental\/ sustainability-themed research projects. He is also the Executive Convener and Lead Scientist at the Climate and Energy Consortium<\/em><\/a>, an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit collective of scientists, policy researchers, advocates and energy industry experts<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Advyth Ramachandran is a PhD Candidate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of California, Riverside. His research focuses on understanding linkages between plant communities and ecosystem function using causal inference approaches and experiments, and applying that knowledge to conservation, restoration, and nature-based solutions. In this work, Advyth partners with science end-users including municipal and county governments to produce knowledge that is directly applicable to solving local environmental problems. Advyth is passionate about translating science into policy and advocating for public funding of research. He received the ESA Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award in 2025.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Dr. Ayo Deas (Ayo) teaches at the City University of New York (Data Science, Urban Ecology, & Geographic Information Systems [GIS]) and obtained his Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the CUNY Graduate Center. Originally born in Brooklyn, NY, Ayo received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with a concentration in Secondary Education and a minor in Spanish from St. Joseph\u2019s College\/University in Brooklyn, New York. Ayo has several years of teaching experience that ranges from primary to higher education and holds a NYS
Professional Teacher Certificate in Mathematics for grades 7-12. He obtained his Master of Arts degree in Mathematics Education from CUNY Brooklyn College in Brooklyn, New York. Ayo researches tree growth response to climate. His interdisciplinary research synthesizes field-based observations of forest growth in suburban and urban forests with NASA and NOAA satellite-based remote sensing metrics of forest health to quantify how species specific tree growth responds to water stress over natural environmental gradients, using tree rings and remote sensing, to promote experiential learning for the inner-city youth while advancing the understanding of forest response to changes in climate and forest composition.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Lillie Bradshaw is a PhD candidate at Florida State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Her research examines the role of human activities and climate change in shaping marine ecosystems. She also studies mariculture policy, partnering directly with state government agencies and mariculture managers to share data and build resources that support policy development. In 2026 she received the ESA Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award, and she is committed to translating science into policy in the US and across the globe.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Aruni Kadawatha is a PhD candidate at Case Western Reserve University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Plant Science from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Her research examines the effect of environmental heterogeneity (variation) on plant responses at community and individual levels. She is interested in environmental policy, restoration and land management practices that enhance conservation efforts. Aruni would like to learn about public engagement in environmental policy.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Christopher C. Graham is a research scientist, ecological engineer, and project leader whose work focuses on how global governance can be leveraged to both solve and prevent environmental challenges. A significant portion of that work is focused on sustainability and technology, socio-technical ecosystems governance, climate change, and the spatial econometrics of energy transitions across North America, East Africa, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11192,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11192"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":553,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions\/553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/policy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}