The Wild Energy Initiative was conceived in 2016 by the founders, ecologists Dr. Rebecca R. Hernandez and Dr. Steve M. Grodsky, and launched in 2019. Today, they are working together to build a confluence of research addressing what they believe is the greatest challenge facing society, which is how to meet energy needs for humans while maintaining Earth’s ecosystems that humans depend on. They believe that the sum of a diverse team is greater than its parts.

DR. REBECCA R. HERNANDEZ

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF LAND, AIR AND WATER RESOURCES

Dr. Rebecca R. Hernandez is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Land, Air and Water Resources. Dr. Hernandez earned her Ph.D. in Earth System Science from Stanford University. Her research expertise is in understanding ecological benefits and impacts of energy systems. Her work on interactions among energy, land, and the environment have been featured in Nature Climate Change, Nature Sustainability, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Environmental Science & Technology, and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. Her research has been featured in Bloomberg Business, National Geographic, NPR, PBS, Scientific American, and the Washington Post, among other news outlets.

DR. STEVEN M. GRODSKY

Assistant Unit Leader, U.S.G.S, New York Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit

Dr. Grodsky is a broadly trained, applied ecologist and sustainability scientist. He specializes in the emerging field of energy ecology—the study of interactions among energy development, ecosystems, and people. Dr. Grodsky’s research program informs sustainable renewable energy development in a diversity of anthropogenic biomes to bolster conservation and management of natural resources and maintain ecosystem services during an unprecedented energy transition and period of global change. He collaborates with graduate students, colleagues, and stakeholders to conduct solutions-oriented ecological research that tackles pressing conservation concerns.