Meet the i-CLEER Executive Committee

Dr. Jen Pierce is an Associate Professor at Boise State in the Department of Geosciences, where she has been since 2005. Her research and outreach includes wildfires and landscape response, soils and carbon storage, and climate science education and outreach. Dr. Pierce grew up in Colorado and Wyoming, and received her undergraduate degree from The Colorado College, her master’s degree from the University of Oregon, and her PhD from the University of New Mexico, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Teton River.  Dr. Pierce received the 2018 Boise State College of Arts and Science Faculty Excellence Award, is the founder of the Idaho Climate Literacy Education Engagement and Research (i-CLEER) network, directs the Earth, Wind and Fire Lab at Boise State,  and was named a Geological Society of America Fellow in 2020. When she is not working, she enjoys mountain biking, backcountry skiing, playing music, and exploring the outdoors with her family and dog.

Shiva Rajbhandari is a Sophomore at Boise High and the high school representative on I-CLEER. He is the youth and outreach coordinator for BABE VOTE, a nonprofit, nonpartisan initiative targeting young people which has registered over 2000 Idahoans to vote, and the founder of XRY Boise, which uses nonviolent direct action and community engagement to demand government and corporate action on the climate crisis. Through his activism, he has presented at the American Geophysical Union and the international Earth Day Live Webcast. His goal is to empower young people to take real initiative to protect their future.

Stephanie Lenhart is a Senior Research Associate with the Energy Policy Institute, part of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies, and is faculty in the School of Public Service at Boise State University. She studies energy system governance, environmental policy implementation, and inter-organizational collaboration. Recent work has focused on decision-making by public utilities and electric cooperatives and inter-organizational collaboration in regional transmission organizations.

Emily Her, BSU alumni, works for the Idaho Wind and Solar initiatives Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources as a Policy Analyst.  Emily graduated from Boise State in the spring of 2021 earning a degree in Global Studies and Sustainability. During her time at Boise State, Emily was involved with Campus Sustainability and ASBSU.

Kenny is a fourth-year student majoring in Environmental Studies with Minors in Economics, Sustainability, and Climate Studies with a Certificate in Human Rights. He has also been admitted to the Accelerated Masters program in Public Administration. When he isn’t working, you can find him running, camping, or hiking around Boise. Kenny is the President of the Boise State Student Body (ASBSU).

Dr. Katherine Himes practices muddy boots science policy. Her expertise includes natural resources, research capacity building, international development, and science diplomacy. She has developed programs and policies in the areas of water, energy, forest management, rangelands, fire, disaster risk reduction, higher education, women in science, technology transfer, and economic growth.

Dr. Himes served for four years an American Association for the Advancement of Science – Science & Technology Policy Fellow with the U.S. Agency for International Development, based in Washington, D.C. and Central Asia. She participates on grant review panels for the U.S. National Science Foundation, National Academy of Sciences and Department of State, is associate editor of the journal Science & Diplomacy, and is a member of local boards of directors. Dr. Himes has been an invited speaker at international meetings, including the World Water Forum and World Bank Climate Change Conference, and was part of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations Committee on Science & Technology for Development. She earned a Ph.D. and B.S. in Neuroscience from the University of Minnesota, and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Cindy Busche is the Environmental Education Manager at the Boise WaterShed Education Center where she develops and teaches programs about climate change awareness, water protection and water conservation.  Her team educates more than 25,000 children and adults about the value of individual and collective action to combat climate change.  She is currently spear-heading exhibit development as the Boise WaterShed transitions into the first climate and water education center in the country.  Cindy is also the SW Idaho Project WET Coordinator in which she develops and leads teacher professional development courses.  Her employment with Boise City Public Works began more than fourteen years ago with the Stormwater program, in which she coordinated education programs and occasionally moonlighted as the mascot Eddy Trout.

Jennifer Marlon, Ph.D. is a Research Scientist at Yale’s School of the Environment and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC). She obtained her Ph.D. and M.S. in Geography from the University of Oregon. Dr. Marlon uses surveys, experiments, and modeling to study the relationship between climate change, extreme weather events, and human vulnerability. Examples of her work include the Yale Climate Opinion Maps, a study of coastal Connecticut residents’ hurricane attitudes, and analysis of Americans’ heat wave risk perceptions. Dr. Marlon also studies the history of wildfire using sediment records from around the world. She developed the original Global Charcoal Database, now an international collaborative effort, that houses hundreds of sediment records from lakes, soils, and oceans around the world. The dataset has been used to understand the response of fire regimes to abrupt climate changes, the role of fire in the expansion of agriculture during the Holocene, and human impacts on fire during the Industrial Era. She has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers.

Donna Crystal Llewellyn received her BA (major in Mathematics and minor in Economics) with High Honors from Swarthmore College in 1980. She went on to earn an MS in Operations Research from Stanford University in 1981 and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from Cornell University in 1984.  In January 2015, Donna moved west to become the Executive Director of the new Institute for STEM and Diversity Initiatives and a Professor in the College of Innovation and Design at Boise State University.  Donna’s current interests center around education issues in general, and in particular on increasing access and success of those traditionally underrepresented and/or under-served in STEM higher education. She is the Executive Director of IFITS (Institute for Inclusive and Transformative Scholarship)

Erin Stutzman teaches high school science with the Boise School District (BSD) where she teaches Advanced Placement Environmental Science and Environmental Science. As a high school science teacher, Erin has developed a research based approach to her curriculum and has forged numerous community partnerships to optimize her student’s learning opportunities.

In addition to teaching science for the BSD, Erin also sits on their Sustainability Committee and has recently been appointed as the Global Subcommittee Chair.

As a professional educator, Erin’s primary focus is to provide the most relevant science education to all students so that we are ensured that the students we graduate from our K-12 school system enter into career/college as well rounded, free thinkers who have been well informed about the most pressing issues of our time.

Kathryn (Katie) Boyd is an Education and Outreach Associate at CIRES. She works on several projects for CIRES, including serving as the program manager for the CLEAN network and collection of educational resources. She also conducts the evaluation efforts on multiple large education projects. She earned her BS from the University of Washington and her MS from Colorado State University (CSU), both in Atmospheric Science. During these programs, she became interested in science education and outreach and worked with many groups helping the general public learn about weather & climate. She then returned to school and completed an interdisciplinary program with a focus on science education research, receiving a second MS in Ecology and Education from CSU. Her professional interests include science education, outreach, and communication, specifically helping to build bridges between the scientific community and the public.

Erin Stutzman teaches high school science with the Boise School District (BSD) where she teaches Advanced Placement Environmental Science and Environmental Science. As a high school science teacher, Erin has developed a research based approach to her curriculum and has forged numerous community partnerships to optimize her student’s learning opportunities.

In addition to teaching science for the BSD, Erin also sits on their Sustainability Committee and has recently been appointed as the Global Subcommittee Chair.

As a professional educator, Erin’s primary focus is to provide the most relevant science education to all students so that we are ensured that the students we graduate from our K-12 school system enter into career/college as well rounded, free thinkers who have been well informed about the most pressing issues of our time.