Our Team
Branda Nowell, Ph.D.
Director of the Environmental First Year Program
Office Location: Caldwell Hall 227
Branda_Nowell@ncsu.edu
I was raised in rural Idaho, where I developed a keen appreciation for the importance of sustainable living early on. Although it was decades before these technologies were readily available, I grew up in a house powered by wind and heated by solar. While serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Papua New Guinea in a rural community development program, I became fascinated with both formal and informal institutional systems for addressing complex problems. My graduate degrees are in organizational and community psychology, and my research program specializes in institutional design, networks, and network governance. In 2008, I co-founded the Firechasers research initiative, which works with federal, state, and local agencies on institutional elements of wildfire resilience and cross-boundary wildfire and natural resource governance. I also served as a faculty fellow for NC State’s Office of Research and Innovation and consulted with institutions of higher education on institutional designs to support cross-boundary and interdisciplinary education and research.
I joined the Environmental First Year program as its director in 2023. NC State is an incredible place to be a student if you are interested in issues of the environment and sustainability. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with our first-year students and build stronger pathways to connect them to the amazing network of environment- and sustainability-oriented opportunities across NC State University.
Jordan McMican, M.S.
Assistant Director of the Environmental First Year Program
Instructor of ENV 100: Student Success in the Environmental First Year
Office Location: Jordan Hall 3136A
jordan_mcmican@ncsu.edu
I’m originally from Tampa, Florida, but I now call North Carolina home. After earning both of my degrees from NC State, I began a career in higher education. I love working with students in their first year. It is very rewarding to help them acclimate to campus life and find their place at NC State. I’ve been advising for over 10 years and look forward to the next 10 years. When I’m not working, I can be found in a local science museum. I also love to dance, travel and spend time with my partner and three kids.
Kaly Wall, M.S.
Academic Advisor and Coordinator of Student Success Initiatives
Instructor of ENV 100: Student Success in the Environmental First Year
Office Location: Jordan Hall 3136J
kaly_wall@ncsu.edu
I grew up and spent my childhood in Lexington, North Carolina before arriving in Raleigh in 2011 to attend NC State, where I earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology. Following graduation, I served a 10-month term in AmeriCorps before returning to NC State to earn my Master of Science in fisheries, wildlife and conservation biology. After graduate school, I taught high school-level earth and environmental science in the Wake County Public School System before returning to NC State to serve as an academic advisor. I have been serving in my current role since April 2020. I also recently began my Ph.D. in educational leadership, policy and human development. My favorite thing about my job is that I get to support students during their transition from high school to college. I am particularly passionate about supporting under-resourced students, as I was a low-income, first-generation college student myself. Outside of work, I enjoy baking, watching movies, reading (especially Harry Potter), traveling when I can, and spending time with my husband Blane, our dog Axel and our cat Enzo.
Dr. Dawn Rodriguez-Ward
Lead instructor for ENV 101 – Environmental First Year
Office Location: James B Hunt Jr Centennial Cam NA
dtward2@ncsu.edu
My journey began amidst the concrete jungle of New York City, where I discovered a passion for urban gardening and treasured any green oasis she encountered. My deepening interest in environmentalism and social activism blossomed during a transformative internship with the Rainforest Alliance during my teenage years, evolving into a five-year commitment with the international NGO. My academic path took her to Costa Rica, where a summer field course studying Howler monkeys revealed her true calling—interdisciplinary ecology. I graduated from NYU with a dual major in Anthropology and Environmental Science, then delved further into conservation work at the New York Botanical Garden. This role led me abroad to collaborate with floodplain farmers in the Peruvian Amazon, documenting innovative land management practices. Dawn’s educational journey continued with a Master’s in Social Anthropology and Development from the University of Chile, followed by a PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida. My research has centered on sustainable resource use and landowner decision-making with indigenous artisans in Chile and communal forest owners in Mexico. Prior to joining the Environmental First Year Program, Dawn worked with a multitude of interdisciplinary graduate students in the Agricultural Biotechnology (AgBioFEWS) fellowship program of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State, where I facilitated weekly seminars and guided summer field courses. I have also enjoyed teaching the undergraduate courses of Advanced Agroecology, World Forestry, and First Year Seminar in the Life Sciences. Beyond academia, my passions include cooking, gardening, and hiking with my family and two beloved Mexican street dogs, Chester and Lua.
Haley Smith
Interim Director, EcoVillage
Office Location
hesmith2@ncsu.edu