Staff & Students

In 35 years as a reporter, editorial writer, columnist and PBS host, Lawrence (Larry) Levy won many of journalism's top awards, including Pulitzer Finalist, for in-depth works on suburban politics, education, taxation, housing and other key issues. As a journalist, he was known for blending national trends and local perspectives and has covered seven presidential campaigns and 15 national conventions. In his leadership role at NCSS, which he was invited by President Rabinowitz to create in 2007, Dean Levy has worked with Hofstra's academic and local communities to shape an innovative, interdisciplinary agenda for interdisciplinary suburban study, including a new Sustainability Studies degree. Over the years he has forged research alliances with other academic institutions, including Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, Boston College, Virginia Tech, New York University, Exeter, and Maynooths, as well as consulting relationships with not-for-profit groups, businesses and government agencies. One recent partnership of note, with the world-renown Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, resulted in the heralded exhibition "Black Suburbia: From Levittown to Ferguson." Along with Academic Director Christopher Niedt, NCSS has promoted the importance of studying suburbs nationally and internationally and has generated nearly $4 million in grants, gifts and contracts. Dean Levy was recently invited to lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Harvard Medical School on the challenges of the changing suburbs and gives about 30 talks a year to academic, civic and business groups on a variety of topics. As a member of a Brookings Institution advisory panel, he was a featured speaker at a Brookings Metro Policy Summit in Washington, DC. He was recently appointed Chairman of the Community Research Advisory Board at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, one of the world's leading such centers.

NCSS has collaborated on a number of local, national and international scale conferences on aspects of suburban life, from diversity and housing, to ecology science and health care. The center also has participated in major consulting studies on sustainability, demographic change and education and health care challenges in suburbia. At NCSS, Dean Levy has co-authored major regional studies, including the LI2035 Sustainability Action Plan, all five Long Island Regional Economic Development plans, and many of the post Sandy recovery reports for Suffolk County communities. Before joining Hofstra, he was Senior Editorial Writer and Chief Political Columnist for Newsday; cohost of the PBS show Face-Off, and remains involved in the world of journalism and politics. Levy has been a guest contributor to BBC.com, CNN.com, Politico, Newsday, Citiwire, Hearst Newspapers and wrote about presidential campaign issues for the New York Times.com Campaign Stops blog. (Most of these articles and some of the media appearances can be found at the NCSS website www.hofstra.edu/ncss). He appears regularly on local and national television. He is a graduate of Boston University's School of Communication. He's especially proud of organizing the Hofstra Celebration of Suburban Diversity, which annually brings together hundreds of people from different races, religions and other backgrounds and has raised more than $1 million for diversity related scholarships, research and community engagement. At the same time, the event, which has featured the region's most influential business and labor leaders as keynote speakers, has dramatically raised Hofstra's profile as a place that values diversity. He also is pleased to be able to "give back" by mentoring many young people in journalism and public life regardless of their ideological or political allegiance.

A partner in shaping the center’s mission and priorities, Christopher Niedt is currently an Associate Professor of Applied Social Research in Hofstra’s Department of Sociology. He brings to NCSS a passion for suburban studies and strong academic credentials earned as a researcher, writer, and teacher at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Ph.D. in geography. He has special expertise in fields of labor and housing, and has conducted research on the living wage; gentrification; and the politics of class, race, and geographic inequality in older suburban communities.

Lauren D'Orsa is a Master of Arts Sustainability major, with a concentration in international water policy. Lauren is from Long Island, New York and she has always had interest in the environment and geology. This passion stemmed from her high school Earth Science teacher and ever since, her passion keeps growing. Lauren currently works for the National Center for Suburban Studies and she is the Data Manager and Sustainability Researcher. She recently graduated in May with a Bachelor's of Arts in Sustainability and minors in Civic Engagement and Geology. She is currently working on regional water quality policy.

Jared Garfinkel was born and raised on Long Island. He is really looking forward to the opportunity to have a hand in sustainability planning at Hofstra and use his statistical background in the data project. His research interests are in environmental quality and sustainable transitions and his thesis is a street sediment characterization study. He would like to eventually work for a university, government, or a non-profit in the field of sustainability. He earned his B.S. in Sustainability Studies from Hofstra, with minors in Biology, Chemistry, and Math.

Keshanti Nandlall is a recent graduate from Hofstra University with a B.A. in Sustainability Studies and am currently in the M.A. in Sustainability program at Hofstra University. She has worked as a Research Assistant for the National Center for Suburban Studies for two years (now entering her third), and has had experience with networking, project management, writing, editing and research, most notably relating to street sweeping on Long Island. Her research interests lie in water and water quality, particularly coastal resiliency, coastal conservation and mangrove conservation, especially as it relates to Guyana, Australia and Florida. During Keshanti’s downtime she enjoys doing yoga and kickboxing, the former for a number of years, the latter is a more recent venture. Also, she enjoys reading a variety of topics and have a deft hand at writing. She looks forward to further contributing small changes that will have a lasting impact at Hofstra University and the National Center for Suburban Studies.

Elizabeth Peterson recently graduated from the Pennsylvania State University with her bachelor's in Community, Environment, and Development and a specialization in Sustainability. Currently Elizabeth is attending Hofstra University as a master's student in Sustainability Studies, while also working as a research assistant as a Campus Sustainability Coordinator. She is interested in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. She is originally from the Philadelphia region, but most recently resided in Cape May, New Jersey. This is Elizabeth's first time spending more than a day in New York, and she's very excited to see what this area has to offer.

Sarah Lippman is a senior Sustainability major and a Geology and Philosophy minor. She has been interested in sustainability ever since her 8th grade biology class, and once she joined the Hofstra community that interest became a passion for the planet. In the past she has interned at multiple non-profits within the sustainability sector. Currently, Sarah working as a Social Media and Event Planner for the Sustainability Department. She hopes to further develop her love for the planet by focusing on conservation and restoration of wildlife habitat and environmental policy after she graduates.

Joseph Murphy is a BS sustainability studies major with minors in Geology and Community Health. Originally from Walton NY, he now lives on Long Island in and out of college. He is involved with Habitat for Humanity, Captain of Club Ultimate Frisbee, is a leader in the Discovery Program, a peer teacher, and an aspiring beekeeper. Joseph is also responsible for coordinating the planting, maintenance, and harvest Hofstra University's student garden. His favorite areas of sustainability are LEED certification, urban agriculture, and renewable energy implementation. Joseph is currently working for the Center for Suburban Studies as a research assistant/ lead farm coordinator. He has conducted two research studies with one being on colleges and one being on pollinators. For the pollinators he studied and identified a variety of bees, butterflies, and beetles flying around the Hempstead Plains. He also conducted research for a survey of New York State's colleges on what green initiatives they publish to the public. One goal of Joseph's is to one day run his own apiary.

Amit Nath is a junior pursuing his Bachelors of Science in Sustainability Studies and minor in Engineering. He has been living in New York for his entire life and went to all the Nassau County public schools. So, with Hofstra always being in his backyard, attending the University was a no brainer. Amit also plays for the Hofstra's Men's Club Lacrosse team, volunteers at Bideawee's pet welfare organization in Wantagh, is the Vice president for Hofstra's Sustainability Studies Club, and over the summer worked at the Hofstra Student Garden. Amit cannot not wait to influence others as a sustainable farm coordinator; being able to combine his love of gardening and his desire to help benefit the lives of those who are in need of food.

Jakob Sacket is a senior Sustainability Major. He has been working for the Sustainability Office for two years now. The past two summers he has been working with the National Park Service aiding with Environmental Education. In his free time, he works at Starbucks, and can usually be found hiking or climbing a tree.

Anastasia Yankopoulos is a senior Sustainability major and Geology minor from Queens, aiming to work in environmental policy. She stumbled across a sustainability course her sophomore year and never looked back after that. She is currently working as a Research Assistant for the Sustainability department alongside being an RA in one of the residential towers on Hofstra's campus. She plans to stay an extra year to obtain her M.A. in sustainability and continue to focus her research on Long Island drinking water quality solutions.