About The Climate Hub

Dr. Veera Mitzner is Director of the CSU Climate Hub—a pioneering initiative that brings together partners across sectors to address the complex challenges of climate change.

Prior to joining Colorado State University, she served as Associate Director at Future Earth, a global organization advancing sustainability research, and as Director of the Sustainability Research and Innovation Congress, the world’s largest annual event series focused on sustainability science.

Dr. Mitzner holds a PhD in History and Civilization from the European University Institute. Her career spans research and international leadership roles in nonprofit organizations and universities, where she has developed and led innovative programs focused on climate, sustainability, conservation, and evidence-based decision-making.

She has held affiliations with Columbia University, Princeton University, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Helsinki, the University of Turku, and the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Sustainability Society and the Finnish-American Chamber of Commerce – Colorado. She is the author of “European Union Research Policy, Contested Origins” (Palgrave MacMillan 2020).

Gwen Corner is the Research and Special Projects Manager for the Climate Hub. She serves as a jill of all trades, supporting the early-stage development of this exciting new initiative. 

Prior to joining the Climate Hub, Gwen was the Director of Program Operations for an edtech startup that taught systems thinking in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. She also led the IDEA Venture Accelerator at Northeastern University, where she especially loved advising social enterprises through early-stage business development. Her work has additionally spanned nonprofits and corporate sustainability, including leading applied sustainability research for corporate clients. 

She is a proud alumna of Colorado State University, where she received her MBA in Global, Social and Sustainable Enterprises (now titled Impact MBA) and has a BA from Indiana University in mathematics. In her free time, she enjoys chasing after her two exuberant boys, enjoying Colorado’s outdoors, and knitting. 

Jeff D. Muhs is currently NSF I-Corps Program Director in CSU’s Office of Vice President of Research (OVPR).  Mr. Muhs holds a B.S. in Electro-Optical Sciences from the University of Houston and has managed over $120M in R&D and technology transfer contracts ranging from small SBIR/STTR Phase 1 projects to large-scale DOD, DARPA, USDOE, ARPA-E, and FHWA-funded programs.  He holds 14 patents and successfully took three of his inventions from concept-to-commercialization.  Jeff won a prestigious R&D 100 Award in 2006 and was named ORNL’s Engineer of the Year in 1997 and Science Communicator of the Year in 2004.  In 2005, Mr. Muhs was an Energy & Science Fellow in the U.S. Senate and drafted provisions enacted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 including legislation leading to the creation of ARPA-E and the 30% Solar Investment Tax Credit.  He also provided input for two initiatives announced in President Bush’s 2006 State-of-the-Union Address. In 2009, Jeff testified on energy R&D issues before the U.S. Senate Energy & Water Appropriation Committee.  While at WiTricity Corp., Mr. Muhs fortified intellectual property and sublicensed technology to automotive and consumer electronics OEMs. Jeff was names a Battelle Memorial Institute (BMI) Distinguished Inventor in 2019. 

Russ joined the faculty at Colorado State in the fall of 2011. He received his B.S. with majors in meteorology and humanities from Valparaiso University in Indiana in 2001, and earned his M.S. in 2003 and Ph.D. in 2008 from the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. 

Russ received an Advanced Study Program Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and spent 2008-2009 at NCAR in Boulder. From 2009-2011, Russ was assistant professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Texas A&M University. He received the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation in 2010, and was selected as Outstanding Professor of the Year by the students of the department in 2012. He was selected to receive the Editor’s Award for the journals Monthly Weather Review and Weather and Forecasting in 2015. Russ was promoted to Associate Professor at CSU in July 2016 and to Professor in July 2022. In October 2017, Russ was appointed the director of the Colorado Climate Center and the Colorado State Climatologist. He received the Clarence Leroy Meisinger early-career research award from the American Meteorological Society in 2021. 

Peter Goble works at the Colorado Climate Center as the Assistant State Climatologist of Colorado. He received his B.S. in meteorology from the University of Northern Colorado and his M.S. in atmospheric science from Colorado State University. He specializes in climate variability and drought. Recent research projects include investigating the sources of error in western Colorado water supply forecasts, determining areas of Colorado most suitable for expansion of the wine grape industry, understanding the impact of climate change on extreme precipitation patterns in Colorado, and increasing both observational and modeled soil moisture monitoring efforts in Colorado. Peter is the Colorado Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network Coordinator, a community science organization focused on improving precipitation observations around the world. 

Allie Mazurek is an Engagement Climatologist at the Colorado Climate Center, located within the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Her role involves advancing the Center’s climate services and outreach, conducting research on Colorado’s climate, and fostering opportunities with the CSU Spur Climate Hub. Allie recently completed her Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from CSU in May 2025, where she studied machine learning-based predictions of severe storm environments. Her research interests include high-impact weather, forecasting, and interactions between weather and society. 

Zeinab Rezaie is the Climate Accelerator and NSF I-Corps Program Manager for the College of Business and Climate Hub at Colorado State University. She manages and coordinates entrepreneurship and commercialization programs that support researchers, innovators, and startup founders in translating breakthrough ideas into real-world solutions. Her work focuses on customer discovery, venture development, and building partnerships that accelerate innovation. 

Before joining CSU, Zeinab served as Program Manager for Free to Run, a nonprofit organization that empowers women and girls through adventure sports in conflict-affected regions. As a Fulbright Scholar, she earned her Impact MBA from Colorado State University’s College of Business with a concentration in Entrepreneurship and Sustainability.