Staff Members
Angela Oberg
Senior Director of Climate Action and Sustainability
Chief Climate Officer
Angela Oberg is the Senior Director for the Office of Climate Action. Previously, she was an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University. As an urban environmental planner , her work aims to make cities more livable and sustainable. Oberg's work investigates how the everyday lives of urban residents shape, and are shaped by, urban political ecologies. In particular, she studies the urban political ecology of sewage.
Before coming to academia, Oberg practiced professionally as an environmental planner in California, Texas, and Pennsylvania on projects in the United States, Italy, United Arab Emirates, and Sudan. She holds a Ph.D. in planning and public policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Cal Poly Pomona.
Katie Parrish
Katie Parrish is a program coordinator for the Rutgers Office of Climate Action. Previously, she supported the Rutgers Earth System Science & Policy Lab, and the Megapolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH).
Before working at Rutgers, she managed logistics and communications for virtual events and programs for the Global Council for Science and the Environment in Washington D.C. With the Energy Foundation, she helped coordinate a coalition of 30+ environmental, social justice, and business organizations advocating for clean energy and transportation policies in New Jersey. She also served as chair of the Byram Township Environmental Commission.
As a student at Rutgers, Katie founded the Rutgers Sustainability Coalition and led microplastic pollution research. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and trying random new hobbies and sports.
Matthew Drews
An atmospheric scientist with a passion for digital art and media, Matt's work ranges from photochemical assessment to photography.
Having begun his time at Rutgers as an undergraduate in 2007, Matt remained with the university upon graduating and now supports several divisions with his broad range of scientific and audio visual skills, including the Rutgers Climate and Energy Institute (RCEI) and the Coastal Climate Risk and Resilience Initiative (C2R2).
Matt is also the Director of the Rutgers Photochemical Assessment Monitoring Station (PAMS) in East Brunswick, NJ. His research interests include ground-based meteorological observation, air pollution meteorology, and atmospheric optics. He will be graduating from Rutgers with his master's degree in atmospheric sciences in 2023.
Anis Ghossain
Data scientist and a supply chain professional who is passionate about using data science to solve real world problems and optimize solutions.
Anis is a data scientist and a supply chain professional who is passionate about using data science to solve real business problems and optimize solutions.
He is working part time with the Climate Action supporting the team with data management and visualization. Anis’s key personal strengths include his ability to manage diverse teams, strategic thinking in optimizing processes, and delivering results. He has extensive software knowledge and expertise in several programming languages, data visualization, machine learning, simulation, and optimization methods.
Anis has an MBA from Rutgers University with a specialization in Supply Chain Management and Data Analytics. He also has a bachelor’s degree in electrical and mechanical Engineering from Saint Joseph University in Beirut.
Meenal Vaggyani
Meenal is a part-time Office Assistant with the Rutgers Office of Climate Action. With her diverse background in Accounting, Administration, and Software Quality Assurance, she supports the team with administrative duties and various tasks to advance climate sustainability initiatives.
Before working at Rutgers, she gained valuable experience working as a QA Analyst in the IT industry. Outside of work, she finds balance and inspiration through practicing yoga and exploring her creativity through art.