Independent Research Capstone

Dr. Jennifer Cole is on the faculty in the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She also serves as Associate Professor in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Department of the American University of Afghanistan. Prior to that, Cole was a preceptor in Harvard University's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences. She also served as Director and Interim Chair in Northeastern University's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences/Environmental Studies. She taught at Tufts University in the Biology Department. Cole has published extensively in the fields of wetlands, agriculture, and energy education and has written books on natural disasters. She holds a PhD from Syracuse University in earth sciences, specializing in groundwater geochemistry. She is currently researching the sustainability ramifications of meat consumption in China, India, and Afghanistan. She also serves as conservation commissioner in the town of Otis, MA, and serves as expert witness in Massachusetts Wetland Protection act cases. She was senior hydrologist at Weston and Sampson Engineers, Inc., and is principal at her consulting firm, Rivers Consulting. She serves at the national level on the Geological Society of America's committees for geology and public policy, geoheritage, and geology in education. She has given many invited talks, including at the US Environmental Protection Agency, the World Summit, the Geological Society of America, and The Weston Observatory. She represented Harvard's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the White House on two occasions.