People

Principal Investigator

Dr. Chris Rea, founding PI of the Rea Environment and Society Lab, is Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Sociology (by courtesy) at The Ohio State University, where he is based in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. Dr. Rea is a core faculty member of the Sustainability Insitute at Ohio State, an active alumnus (2017 cohort) of the Summer Institute on Organizational Effectiveness at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science to Achieve Results (STAR) fellowship awardee. Prior to arriving at The Ohio State, Dr. Rea earned his doctorate in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, was a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany, and spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute at Brown for Environment and Society (IBES) at Brown University.

Doctoral Students

Students contemplating or working on a doctorate in public policy or sociology are encouraged to reach out if they are interested in environmental policy, governance, and the social processes that shape these things. Use the Lab Group menu at the top of the page to learn more about RESL’s research areas.

Teagan Reasch

Teagan Reasch is a Ph.D. Student at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, specializing in Energy and Environmental Policy. She is participating in the EmPOWERment program, focused on interdisciplinary solutions to sustainable energy problems. Her primary interests and experience are in interstate water policy and the combination of water and energy policy and governance.

C. Blain Morin

Blain is a PhD Candidate in Public Policy and Management at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs. He conducts research in a variety of spaces, including economic resilience, public health and safety policy, energy policy, and environmental governance. He is a data science research associate at Nationwide Insurance where he works on projects related to ethical AI. For more information, see his web page at:  blainmorin.github.io/

Masters and Undergraduate Students

  • Becca Boyd
  • Chloe Dawson
  • Cordelia Van der Veer

Former Students

Former Lab Leaders
  • Sam Dewitt (lab co-lead, 2021-2022, OSU Law JD, 2022) – environmental law project
  • Sam Evans (researcher and lab co-lead, 2021-2022, OSU MPA 2023) – environmental law project
  • Matt Leder (lab co-lead summer 2022, OSU JD2024) – environmental law project
  • Nikolas Merten (lab co-lead 2021-2022, OSU MPA 2022) – environmental law project
  • Peter Olson (lab co-lead summer 2022, OSU JD2023) – environmental law project
  • Prachi Patel (researcher and lab co-lead, 2021-2022, OSU BS 2023, current OSU JD student) – environmental law project
  • Casey Rife (lab co-lead 2021-2022, OSU MPA 2022) – environmental law project
Former Lab Researchers
  • Heidi Bowles (undergraduate research assistant, summer 2021)
  • Ian Bracket (graduate research assistant, OSU MPA 2022)
  • Bryce Dawson (undergraduate research assistant, OSU BA 2022)
  • Clara Hatch (undergraduate research assistant, summer 2021
  • Kira Jones (undergraduate research assistant, OSU BA 2023)
  • Shivani Levine (undergraduate research assistant 2022)
  • Zujun Li (undergraduate research assistant, summer 2021)
  • Meghan Mitchell (undergraduate research assistant 2021)
  • Chloë Mulford (undergraduate research assistant summer 2021)
  • Jabob Murray (undergraduate research assistant summer 2021, OSU BS 2023, current OSU MS student)
  • Alex Poling (undergraduate research assistant summer 2021)
  • ShelbyRayer (undergraduate research assistant 2021)
  • Claire Reuth (undergraduate research assistant summer 2022)
  • Mak Srinivasan (undergraduate research assistant, OSU BA 2022)
  • Ryan Tufts (undergraduate research assistant summer 2021)