Patricia Culligan

Patricia Culligan is a professor of civil engineering and engineering mechanics in Columbia’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. A leader in the field of water resources and urban sustainability, Culligan has worked extensively with The Earth Institute's Urban Design Lab at Columbia University to explore novel, interdisciplinary solutions to the modern day challenges of urbanization, with a particular emphasis on the City of New York. Culligan is the director of a joint interdisciplinary Ph.D. program between Columbia Engineering and the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation that focuses on designs for future cities. Her research group is active in investigating the opportunities for green infrastructure, social networks, and advanced measurement and sensing technologies to improve urban water, energy, and environmental management. In 2012, Culligan was appointed Associate Director of Columbia’s new Institute for Data Sciences and Engineering.

Richard R. Gonzalez

Richard R. Gonzalez is an architect and urban designer  with an array of design experience in project types including master planning, corporate offices, and institutional, residential, and industrial buildings. He has lead research and community-development projects in Ghana, South Korea, Thailand, Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and a LEED®-Accredited Professional with the United States Green Building Council. Mr. Gonzalez is the Coordinator of the Sustainable Engineering Graduate Scholar’s Program at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at Columbia University. He also holds a research position with the Urban Design Lab at Columbia's Earth Institute.

Richard Plunz

Richard Plunz is a professor in Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and has been director of the School’s Urban Design Program since 1992. After receiving professional degrees in engineering and architecture from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Plunz specialized in urbanism related to both urban history and application of cybernetic and information theory to urban development. Plunz has held professorships at Rensselaer, Pennsylvania State University, Columbia University, and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium). He has taught and lectured extensively and internationally and is considered a leading figure in all aspects of sustainable urban design. In 2005, Plunz was appointed Director of the Urban Design Lab at Columbia's Earth Institute.