March 11th Virtual Site

As a sustainability science specialist and a systems analyst with >20 years of work experience, Nidhi has led, coordinated, and implemented transdisciplinary projects in various geographical regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas working with international organizations and leading research and capacity development initiatives. She is also affiliated with Oxford University (UK) and Leibniz University (Germany) in various roles, mostly related to sustainability research, science-policy interfacing, and mentoring young professionals. She serves as Adj/Associate Professor at the School of Earth, Environment & Society McMaster University, Canada, a Guest Professor at Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Bolivia, and visiting Professor at Imo State University, Nigeria with the Faculty of Health. She also served as the Chair of The Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (UNEP) and co-leads the ‘Water and Migration Working Group’ of The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. She has published > 200 papers in journals, as chapters, technical reports, and policy papers and served as a  lead author in the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment Report. Currently, she is actively involved with three expert working committees of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030)

More about her at https://cris.unu.edu/nidhi-nagabhatla

Willie Ratchford is the President of WPR Consulting, LLC, and the Executive Director of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC) in Charlotte, NC. Mr. Ratchford is responsible for developing, directing, and implementing programs and activities to maintain and improve community relations, directing and reviewing equal opportunity investigations and discrimination complaints, advising Committee members of community problems, and providing staff training in anti-discrimination laws, ordinances, and regulations. Mr. Ratchford received his bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts and completed one year of study towards a Masters in Social Work at UNC Chapel Hill. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy Leadership School at Harvard University (Leadership Certification), the Institute of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Certificate of Municipal Administration), the Charlotte Chamber Leadership School and Focus on Leadership. He is also a Certified Trainer in mediation, diversity, communications, fair housing, sexual harassment and strategic operations planning.

Dr. Eric E. Otenyo is professor of Public Administration in the Department of Politics and International Affairs. He has advanced degrees from Syracuse University and Miami, Ohio.  He first came to NAU in 2001 and helped establish state-wide online courses in public management. In addition to teaching and mentoring graduate students, he is an advisor in the MPA program.  Dr. Otenyo is a current member of the Dinè Institute for Native Educators (DINÊ) University Advisory Council. In 2017, he served as Seminar Leader for the Institute.  His community service includes appointment to the City of Flagstaff ‘s Charter Revision Commission in 2015. Dr. Otenyo continues to serve on the Commission of Ethnic Diversity (CED) and as faculty advisor to NAU’s African Students Association. Dr. Otenyo has published widely in the areas of comparative administration, public policy, and international politics.