Christian Downie and Robert Brulle

Christian Downie is an Associate Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University. He holds an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship and was previously a Vice Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of New South Wales. Christian has worked as an advisor to several Australian Government agencies, including the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Christian holds a PhD in international relations and political science from the Australian National University, and has spent time teaching or researching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Balsillie School of International Affairs among others. Christian is the author of more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His latest book is Business Battles in the U.S. Energy Sector: Lessons for a clean energy transition. Robert Brulle is a Professor of Sociology and Environmental Science in the Department of Sociology and an affiliate Professor of Public Heath in the School of Public Health at Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has also taught at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany, at the University of Uppsala, Uppsala Sweden, and George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. In addition, in 1996 and 1997 he served as a consultant to U.S. National Research Council/Marine Board regarding their studies of maritime risk. He has a BS degree in Marine Engineering from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, an MA in Sociology from the New School for Social Research, an MS in Natural Resources from the University of Michigan, and a PhD in Sociology from George Washington University. His research focuses on the U.S. environmental movement, critical theory and public participation in environmental policy making. He is the author of over fifty articles in these areas and is the author of Agency, Democracy and the Environment: The U.S. Environmental Movement from the Perspective of Critical Theory, as well as co-editor, with David Pellow, of Power, Justice and the Environment. In his current position he developed and implemented two academic programs leading to both a BS Degree in Urban Environmental Policy and an MS Degree in Environmental Policy. Prior to his employment in the academic field, Brulle served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Coast Guard for twenty four years, where his area of expertise was in the field of environmental response and pollution prevention.