Jennifer Russell
1650 Research Center Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
Dr. Russell works in the area of circular economy and sustainability, the flows of materials within economic consumption-production systems, and strategies for slowing and closing material loops. As co-author of the UNEP International Resource Panel publication “Re-defining Value – The Manufacturing Revolution,” her background includes an emphasis on strategy for market transformation. Dr. Russell received her PhD degree from the Golisano Institute for Sustainability at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Prior to joining the department, the position she held was a lecturer in Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain, and Circular Value Chain, in the MBA in Sustainability program at Bard College. Prior to pursuing academia, Dr. Russell worked as an industry sustainability consultant for 10 years, for multi-national CPG clients based across North America and Europe.
Dr. Russell’s research program is centered around the integration of, and opportunities for circular systems and practice for sustainable biomaterials. This work spans sustainable materials, applications in packaging and the built-environment, and circular practice including remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, reuse, and recycling.
To learn more about Jennifer, read this article from our series One of Us.
Areas of Expertise
- Dynamic production-consumption systems for sustainable products and technologies
- Life-cycle impacts of value-retention processes, including remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair and reuse
- Market transformation strategies in support of circular economy and sustainability
- Value-chain, supply chain, and business model innovations for sustainability outcomes
- Social psychology, perceptions and attitudes towards sustainable products and technologies
- Socio-economic and techno-economic systems assessment
- Applied systems-perspectives to better inform market barriers assessments
Education
M.B.A. - University of Toronto, 2010
Ph.D. - Rochester Institute of Technology, 2018
1. Okorie, O., Russell, J., Cherrington, R., Fisher, O., & Charnley, F. (2023). Digital transformation and the circular economy: Creating a competitive advantage from the transition towards Net Zero Manufacturing. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 189, 106756.
2. Russell, J. D., & Nasr, N. Z. (2022). Value-retained vs. impacts avoided: the differentiated contributions of remanufacturing, refurbishment, repair, and reuse within a circular economy. Journal of Remanufacturing, 1-27.
3. Svensson-Hoglund, S., Russell, J. D., & Richter, J. L. (2022). A Process Approach to Product Repair from the Perspective of the Individual. Circular Economy and Sustainability, 1-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-022-00226-1
4. Okorie, O., Russell, J., Jin, Y., Turner, C., Wang, Y., & Charnley, F. (2022). Removing barriers to Blockchain use in circular food supply chains: Practitioner views on achieving operational effectiveness. Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain, 5, 100087.
5. Richter, J. L., Svensson-Hoglund, S., Dalhammar, C., Russell, J. D., & Thidell, Å. (2022). Taking stock for repair and refurbishing: A review of harvesting of spare parts from electrical and electronic products. Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13315
6. Hull, C.E., Russell, J.D., Kukar-Kinney, M. 2022. “Making Sustainability a Core Competency: Consumer Response to Sustainable Innovative Products.” Sustainability, 14, 11688. https://doi.org/10.3390/su141811688
7. Russell, J.D., Svensson-Hoglund, S., Richter, J., Milios, L., Dalhammar, C. 2022. “The temporal dimensions of product repair and a policy mix for upscaling circular economy repair activities.” Journal of Industrial Ecology.
8. Russell, J.D., Huff, K., Haviarova, E. 2022. “The value of cycling regenerative materials: A case of cascading-use of wood furniture within the circular economy.” Journal of Industrial Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13284
9. Kim, S., Horvath, L., Russell, J.D., and Park, J. 2021. "Investigation of the Effect of Pallet Top-Deck Stiffness on Corrugated Box Compression Strength as a Function of Multiple Unit Load Design Variables." Materials 14, 21: 6613.
10. Dalhammar, C., Wihlborg, E., Milios, L., Richter, J.L., Svensson-Hoglund, S., Russell, J., and Thidell, A. 2021. “Enabling Reuse in Extended Producer Responsibility Schemes for White Goods: Legal and Organisational Conditions for Connecting Resource Flows and Actors.” Circular Economy and Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43615-021-00053-w
11. Okorie, O., Obi, M., Russell, J., Charnley, F. and Salonitis, K., 2021. “A Triple Bottom Line examination of Product Cannibalisation and Remanufacturing: A Review and Research Agenda”. Sustainable Production and Consumption.
12. Okorie, O., Charnley, F., Russell, J.D., Tiwari, A., & Moreno, M. 2020. “Circular business models in high value manufacturing: Five industry cases to bridge theory and practice.” Business Strategy and the Environment.
13. Svensson-Hoglund, S., Richter, J. L., Maitre-Ekern, E., Russell, J. D., Pihlajarinne, T., & Dalhammar, C. 2020. “Barriers, Enablers and Market Governance: A Review of the Policy Landscape for Repair of Consumer Electronics in the EU and the US.” Journal of Cleaner Production, 125488.
14. Moore, Elizabeth A., Jennifer D. Russell, Callie W. Babbitt, Brian Tomaszewski, and Susan Spierre Clark. "Spatial modeling of a second-use strategy for electric vehicle batteries to improve disaster resilience and circular economy." Resources, Conservation and Recycling 160 (2020): 104889. LINK to Manuscript
15. Russell, Jennifer, and Nabil Nasr. 2019. Value-Retention Processes within the Circular Economy. Remanufacturing in the Circular Economy: Operations, Engineering and Logistics (2019): 1.
16. Nasr, N. and J. D. Russell. 2018. Re-defining Value - The Manufacturing Revolution: Remanufacturing, Reuse, Repair, and Refurbishment in the Circular Economy. International Resource Panel, United Nations Environment Programme.
17. Nasr, N. and J. D. Russell. 2018. Re-defining Value - The Manufacturing Revolution: Remanufacturing, Reuse, Repair, and Refurbishment in the Circular Economy. A Summary for Policy Makers. International Resource Panel, United Nations Environment Programme.
18. Nasr, N. and J. D. Russell. 2018. Re-defining Value - The Manufacturing Revolution: Remanufacturing, Reuse, Repair, and Refurbishment in the Circular Economy. A Summary for Business Leaders. International Resource Panel, United Nations Environment Programme.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – “Exciting Students for Sustainability with Curriculum, Open-Access Resources, and Training (ESSCORT)”, $29,997, 2022.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) – “AccelNet VR(Ex)Change Network-of-Networks”, $250,000, 2022.
• National Science Foundation (NSF) – “EFRI E3P: GOALI: Waste Management and Circularity of Crosslinked Polyurethane Foams”, $299,997. 2021
• Institute for Creativity, Arts, & Technology (ICAT) – “Adaptive LCA for Early-Stage Design”. $3,000. 2021
• Institute for Society, Culture, & Environment (ISCE) – “Circular Material Flows”. $6,690. 2021
• Virginia Tech, Pathways to Education Course Development Grant – Thinking in Systems. $4,892. 2021.
• Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS). “Creating the CE repair society – policies, networks and people.” $47,000. 2019 – 2021.
• CNRE Instructional Support Fund, Virginia Tech. “Circular Economy Education Modules”. $2,000. 2020.
• Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (MSWAB). “Creating a Fixing City – Survey & Workshops.” $2,000. 2019 – 2020.
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Virginia Tech, 2022
• Finalist, Industry Studies Association Dissertation Award, 2018
• Outstanding Service Award for International Students, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2017
• Fram Award for Excellence in Applied Critical Thinking, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2016
• Service Award, Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology, 2016