Professor Peter Marra appointed Dean of the Earth Commons

Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community:

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter P. Marra, Ph.D., as the Dean of the Earth Commons—Georgetown University’s Institute for Environment and Sustainability —to recognize the establishment of degree-granting programs under the Institute.

Professor Marra joined the Georgetown community in 2019 as Director the Georgetown Environment Initiative and Laudato Si’ Professor of Biology and the Environment and Professor in the McCourt School of Public Policy after 20 years at the Smithsonian Institution, most recently as Director of the Migratory Bird Center. In 2022, he was named Founding Director of the Earth Commons.

In its first year, in partnership with the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Earth Commons launched the M.S. in Environment & Sustainability Management  jointly with the McDonough School of Business. Seven new faculty members  and seven fellows  now teach interdisciplinary courses, foster global partnerships and advance interdisciplinary environmental projects such as the new Hoya Harvest Garden . ECo Impact  grants and a new environmentally-focused postdoctoral program have also created new collaborative and interdisciplinary research directions. 

Working alongside many university partners, Professor Marra has promoted the intersection of the environment with the arts and humanities through the installation of environmental art work , presentation of theatrical arts , fine arts  and filmmaking , the annual series Voices on the Environment , and the institute’s first convening of environmental storytellers . Close partnership with the Office of Sustainability focuses on making Georgetown’s campus the model of positive impact for our common home through research, education and action. 

Please join me in congratulating Professor Marra as he takes on this new role.

Sincerely,

Robert M. Groves
Provost

View the Provost’s original email here