The University of California, Davis, Office of Research is pleased to announce the appointment of Clare Cannon as the interim director of the Institute of the Environment, effective July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026.

Cannon is an associate professor in the Department of Human Ecology at UC Davis, where she, as an interdisciplinary scholar, studies the intersections of social and environmental justice. Using a diverse array of approaches including community-engaged, quantitative, spatial, and qualitative methods, Cannon focuses on examining environmental injustices, advancing climate resilience through adaptation, and investigating health disparities related to stress, vulnerability and violence.

As an interim director of the Institute, Cannon will leverage her research expertise, experience and deep understanding of environmental and climate justice to lead the Institute.

Cannon will work with campus stakeholders, government agencies, businesses, and non-profit and community organizations to facilitate interdisciplinary research collaborations that maximize opportunities for finding innovative solutions to some of the planet’s pressing environmental, climate, energy and health challenges.

Cannon received her bachelor’s degree in American and religious studies from Scripps College, Claremont Consortium, a master’s in social ethics from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and a doctorate in sociology from Tulane University.

Cannon succeeds Isabel Montañez, a renowned geologist, who served as the center’s director since 2021. Montanez stepped down in June 2025 but will continue to be with the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences as a distinguished professor. She will still play a role in the Institute of the Environment as director of the California Collaborative for Natural Climate Change Solutions, a small sub-center under the Institute.

About the Institute of the Environment

The mission of the Institute of the Environment, an organized research unit within the Office of Research, is to comprehensively understand, effectively solve, and clearly communicate pressing environmental, climate, energy, and health challenges. The Institute achieves this through a combination of cutting-edge research, dynamic education, and proactive public engagement, all grounded in a profound commitment to environmental and climate justice.