Dr. Capaldo is an interdisciplinary lecturer in Sustainability Studies, Public/Applied Humanities, and Environmental Humanities, and director of the Public Humanities program. Her research explores the intersections of sustainability, environmental/climate justice, and impact management; with a focus in ESG reporting, analysis, and communication. She designs and coordinates the Public Humanities curriculum and serves on the University Sustainability Governance Council and Green Finance Sub-committee. She often collaborates with community partners in state and city humanities and sustainability programs and advises non-profits in the cultural sector on sustainability management. Dr. Capaldo chose a career in interdisciplinary Sustainability research and education after over a decade of study in environmental justice and community engagement work. More recently she expanded on her sustainability focus in the humanities and law to include ethical business practices, specifically ESG analysis and Impact Finance. She was invited by the National Humanities Association to present on the “Intersections of Humanities & Business in the Time of ESG” and conduct a workshop on “Articulating Impact: UN Sustainable Development Goals and Museums/Cultural Heritage Sector in 2022 and 2023 respectively. In 2024 she has been invited to conduct a workshop on “Measuring Environmental & Social Impact: The UN Sustainable Development Goals and Museums” for the American Association of Museums and American Association of State and Local History and to present on “Applied Humanities in Business: Integrate and Innovate” at the American Association of Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Capaldo has presented her research at numerous national and international conferences, including the European Society for Environmental History, Understanding Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities, the National Humanities Conference, American Society for Environmental History, and others. She has also published in academic journals and anthologies, including “Enduring Legacies of the Copper Borderlands: Tensions between Historical, Cultural and Environmental Sustainability,” Sustainability: The Journal of Record, and won the C.L. Sonnichsen Award for “Smoke and Mirrors: Smelter Pollution and the Construction of Arizona Identity in the Late 20th-Century,” Journal of Arizona History. She is also currently authoring a “Climate Action Plan” Technical Guide for the American Association of State and Local History, forthcoming June 2024.
Dr. Capaldo holds a Ph.D. in Environmental History and doctoral minor in Environmental Law from the University of Arizona, an MBA in Sustainability Leadership from Prescott College, and received her undergraduate B.A. in History from the University of Delaware. She is a member of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSB) and has completed Duke University’s Impact Measurement & Management for the SDGs Certificate program and the Capital Institute’s Regenerative Economics certification, along with several ISSB certificates in GHG Accounting, Sustainable Finance, External Reporting, and others. She is passionate about using humanities research to inform economic strategies that can solve momentous social and environmental challenges.