Dr. Christian Braneon sits on the Board of Directors of The Trust for Governors Island as well as the Advisory Board of Morehouse College's Environmental Justice & Sustainability Program. He leads the Urban Pillar of the Climate Impacts Group at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dr. Braneon previously served as Co-Chair of the 4th New York City Panel of Climate Change (NPCC4) and as Co-Director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s inaugural Environmental Justice Academy for community leaders.

He is particularly known for integrating satellite data and climate science into urban planning and civil engineering practice. Dr. Braneon was selected as one of four international recipients of the AXA Award for Climate Science in 2021. His work on urban heat islands and environmental justice has been featured in broadcast and print media outlets such as CNN, CNBC, and Science. Dr. Braneon holds a B.S. in applied physics from Morehouse College as well as B.S., M.S., and PhD degrees in civil engineering from Georgia Tech.