Hall’s appointment follows the decision of former director and engineering professor Eric Hoek to return to research and teaching after completing a three-year term in the role
UCLA professor Alex Hall has been named interim faculty director of the UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge, effective March 1, following the completion of former director Eric Hoek’s three-year term.
The interdisciplinary university-wide initiative, launched in 2013, aims to transform Los Angeles into the world’s most sustainable megacity by 2050. It employs UCLA research, expertise and education to create the most livable, equitable, resilient, clean and healthy megacity in the world.
Hall, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences and director of UCLA’s Center for Climate Science, was one of the faculty founders of the initiative. His research focuses on using global and local climate models and other data sources to study climate variability and climate change. He has developed new techniques that distill global climate change projections down to the regional level, particularly Los Angeles and California, to help researchers and residents better understand and respond to climate change threats to neighborhoods and local ecosystems.
Hall and his team at the Center for Climate Science work closely with regional stakeholders like water agencies and wildland managers to develop approaches to sustainability planning and managing natural resources in a changing climate.
In a statement, UCLA Vice Chancellor for Research and Creative Activities Roger Wakimoto said, “As interim director, Professor Hall will provide leadership and vision for the initiative; continue to grow partnerships with faculty, researchers, students, and staff across campus; and engage external stakeholders from government, academic, business, philanthropic, and nonprofit sectors.”
Wakimoto also thanked Hoek for leading an overhaul of the initiative, expanding its scope to include areas like transportation while highlighting and addressing issues of equity, access and justice that are crucial to urban sustainability efforts.
