Our People

Our Board

Avik Basu

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Avik is a researcher and lecturer at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. His research has included understanding the differences between experts and laypeople in environmental decision-making, designing sustainable developments to be more acceptable to rural residents, promoting the adoption of sustainable transportation, and designing environments that simultaneously enhance individual and communal well-being. Along with Rachel Kaplan, he is co-editor of Fostering Reasonableness: Supportive Environments for Bringing out our Best which describes Supportive Environments for Effectiveness (SEE), a human needs framework that is the foundational theory of reDirect.

Jason Duvall

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Jason is a lecturer at the University of Michigan, where he received his PhD in the School for Environment and Sustainability. Jason is broadly interested in understanding how environments impact people's ability to function effectively and how health-related beliefs and motivations interact with and influence pro-environmental behavior. His research has focused on the use of nearby nature and environmental engagement to support and encourage more physically active lifestyles. Jason has also been using Supportive Environments for Effectiveness in his work to understand a broad range of issues, from the impact of nature recreation on military veterans to public involvement in natural resource management decisions.

Abram Kaplan

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Abram is the Anne Powell Riley Professor of Environmental Studies at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, where he has taught for 20+ years. Much of his work is in the areas of conflict resolution, planning, policy, and program evaluation. Over the past decade, Abram has immersed himself in artistic expression through photography, and looks forward to connecting SEE and aesthetic ways of knowing into reDirect’s circle of influence.

Rachel Kaplan

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Rachel is Professor Emerita, University of Michigan. Before her retirement, she was the Samuel T. Dana Professor of Environment and Behavior in the School of Natural Resources and Environment and Professor of Psychology, and co-authored several books with Stephen Kaplan. Rachel has written widely on the role the environment plays in helping people become more reasonable, effective, and psychologically healthy. Those same interests have guided her role as mentor and advisor to graduate students, colleagues, and many others who have been inspired by the Kaplans’ contributions.

William Sullivan

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Bill works to create healthier, more sustainable communities. He is Director of the Smart-Health Community Initiative at the University of Illinois. He and his students examine the benefits that come from having regular exposure to urban landscapes containing green infrastructure. Bill is a Senior Fellow at the National Council for Science and the Environment, Adjunct Professor at National Taiwan University in Taipei, and is an active member of the University of Illinois’ Education Justice Project. He holds a PhD from the University of Michigan with a concentration in Environment and Behavior.

Nancy Wells

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Nancy is a Professor in Design & Environmental Analysis, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University. Nancy’s work focuses on the influence of the built and natural environment on human health, well-being, and health-related behaviors such as diet and physical activity. Her research has included studies of housing and mental health, school gardens and physical activity, and nature as a buffer of pain. Nancy is also passionate about teaching – graduate research methods as well as classes examining environmental influences on health. In her “Environments and Health” graduate seminar, students apply Supportive Environments for Effectiveness (SEE) to a variety of topics and issues.

Lisa Bardwell

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Lisa worked with the Kaplans while pursuing both her Masters and PhD at the University of Michigan. She gravitated to the nonprofit sector 25 years ago, serving the last 6 of those years as President/CEO of Earth Force. She has been applying SEE (often without realizing it) in her varied leadership roles and is delighted to help reDirect create opportunities that focus nonprofits on taking care of their most valuable resource—people.

Paige Porter

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Paige is the Communications & Program Manager for reDirect. She was introduced to SEE as an undergraduate student and has used the framework throughout her studies, incorporating it into her graduate research on building neighborhood resilience in response to climate change impacts. Some of Paige's previous research also includes understanding the indoor built environment’s impact on human health and well being. Paige received her B.A. degree in psychology in 2017 from the University of Michigan and her M.S. degree in 2021 from UM's School for Environment and Sustainability, with a specialization in behavior, education and communication.

Traci Lato-Smith

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Traci Lato-Smith has a rich background in the nonprofit sector and a deep passion for volunteerism and service. Traci’s experience volunteering and working in volunteer engagement led her to consulting, through which she helps organizations develop infrastructure for integrating volunteers in myriad capacities to support mission-focused work. Traci’s consulting work focuses on training and coaching organizations to establish sound and supportive systems for engaging community members in service, and the more she learns about SEE and its obvious applications to volunteer engagement, the more she enjoys sharing the framework and helping organizations use it to support their people – both paid and unpaid. 

Kayla Paulson

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Kayla Paulson is an independent consultant, trainer, and coach that helps nonprofits and businesses maximize the contributions of their human capital, staff and volunteers alike. Having worked with non-profits and human service entities over the course of her career, she has an inquisitive passion for bringing out the best in people and organizations. In her work with reDirect, she leverages the SEE framework as a tool to help our partners learn how best to communicate, understand, and support one another. Kayla holds a B.A. in Public Communications with an emphasis in Visual Presentation from Iowa State University, and a certification in volunteer administration (CVA).

Katherine Hollins

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Katherine Hollins is the owner of Welsummer, a consulting practice that provides guidance and trainings to nonprofits, governments, and mission-focused organizations seeking to increase their impacts through improved engagement. Formerly, as the Director of the Sustaining Family Forests Initiative at the Yale School of the Environment, she taught over 600 professionals across the US through Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively (TELE) workshops, and co-authored several chapters in the book Engaging Landowners in Conservation: A Complete Guide to Designing Programs and Communications. Katherine studied the SEE framework as a graduate student and has incorporated the principles into her work throughout her career. Katherine has a BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia and an MS in Behavior, Communications and Education from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. 

Rachel Fink

Rachel is a 2023 reDirect Fellow collaborating with the City of Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovation. She is a rising second year Master’s student at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability specializing in Behavior, Education, and Communication as well as Environmental Justice. She holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology with a concentration in Sustainability from Appalachian State University where she conducted research on reframing environmental behaviors. In the future, she hopes to engage in community resilience and equitable environmental solutions at the community level.  

Margaret Halpern

Margaret is a 2023 reDirect Fellow collaborating with the City of Ann Arbor’s Office of Sustainability and Innovation. She recently received her Master’s degree from the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, and has dedicated much of her career and volunteering to sustainability and re-localization efforts in the food system. Her current focus is on incorporating environmental psychology, community-based research, and environmental justice principles into adaptation and resilience initiatives in order to facilitate just transitions for sustainable communities.

Tara-Sky Woodward

Tara-Sky Woodward is a returning reDirect fellow and a second year graduate student at the University of Michigan. She is completing a dual Master’s program in both the School for the Environment and Sustainability and the School of Social Work. Tara-Sky recently completed a B.A. in psychology with a research focus in community climate resilience, and she also holds a B.A. in history. Her passions include building community resilience and using storytelling to promote learning and inspire meaningful action.