Faculty
Faculty
Our growing team
The faculty in the School of Environmental Sustainability continues to grow. Meet the faculty members who joined the team in 2024.
Wesley Zebrowski, PhD
Wesley Zebrowski is a first-year assistant professor in the School of Environmental Sustainability. Zebrowski hails from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and they received their PhD in public affairs from Indiana University, Bloomington. Zebrowski’s research is on the economic, social, and environmental consequences of agricultural policy. Their research specifically focuses on agricultural land conservation through the Conservation Reserve Program and equity in the structure and administration of agricultural programs. Zebrowski also has a great interest in farmer networks and food transportation supply chains.
Stephany Virrueta Herrera, PhD
Stephany Virrueta Herrera’s passion for science education and accessibility motivated her to join the SES faculty as a lecturer. A first-generation Chicana born and raised in Southside Chicago, Virrueta earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Loyola University Chicago. She went on to receive a PhD in ecology, evolution, and conservation from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on the evolutionary histories and origins of avian louse diversity in the neotropics and beyond. She has also studied the evolutionary relationships of lice and their fresh and saltwater seal and sea lion hosts, some of which are endangered. Virrueta greatly enjoys collaborating with other researchers, including colleagues outside the U.S.
Faculty awards
SES faculty members regularly receive recognition for their outstanding teaching, research, and leadership. This year, honors included the Loyola Faculty Member of the Year Award, which went to Professor Reuben Keller, PhD.
Reuben P. Keller, PhD
Loyola University Chicago Faculty Member of the Year
Loyola’s Faculty Council honored Professor Reuben Keller with the 2024 Faculty Member of the Year award. The award recognizes a faculty member who demonstrates excellence in teaching, research, and service. Colleagues describe Keller as an outstanding role model for students and other faculty members, noting his dedication to mentorship and active involvement in the Loyola community.
Ping Jing, PhD
St. Ignatius Award for Excellence in Teaching
Associate Professor Ping Jing received the 2024 St. Ignatius Award for Excellence in Teaching from Loyola’s Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy. This prestigious teaching award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate commitment to excellence, raise global awareness, promote social justice, and educate the whole student.
Rev. Stephen Mitten, SJ, MS
Runner-up, Kolvenbach Award for Engaged Teaching
Senior Lecturer Fr. Stephen Mitten was the runner-up for the Loyola Faculty Center for Ignatian Pedagogy’s Kolvenbach Award for Engaged Teaching. This award recognizes faculty who promote active and collaborative learning through hands-on, service-learning, and outreach experiences.
Roberta Lammers-Campbell, PhD
SES Emeritus Faculty Leadership Award
The School of Environmental Sustainability presented its first Emeritus Faculty Leadership Award to Professor Emerita Roberta “Bobbi” Lammers-Campbell. The Award recognizes her tremendous contributions in leading ecological restoration efforts at the Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus (LUREC). The University also officially named the fen at LUREC, to which she has devoted years of restoration work, in her honor.