The Richmond Scholars Program Welcomes New Faculty Director
Dr. Todd Lookingbill is excited to serve as the new Richmond Scholars Faculty Director, continuing to build meaningful connections between students, research, and the Richmond community. A Professor of Geogaphy and Environmental Studies at Richmond since 2009, Dr. Lookingbill has made it his mission to bring students out of the classroom and into the world. The Richmond Scholars Faculty Director, in addition to their regular faculty responsibilities, serves alongside Office of Scholars and Fellowships staff and leads academic mentoring for Richmond Scholars. The Faculty Director also serves as a liaison between students and faculty, participates in Scholar programming, and supports Richmond Scholar selection each year.
Born in Boston and growing up in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Dr. Lookingbill has had his fair share of both chowder and chocolate (separately, of course). After completing a B.S. degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton University, Dr. Lookingbill earned his Ph.D. from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. As a landscape ecologist, his current research explores how changes in climate affect, for example, the urban heat island effect in Richmond’s historically Black neighborhoods, as well as old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest.
At the University of Richmond, Dr. Lookingbill found the perfect place to apply his love for community-engaged science, first within Richmond’s battlefield-centered National Parks and then studying the city’s historic redlining patterns, urban heat challenges, and significant issues with flooding along the James River. “The James has become a second office for me,” Dr. Lookingbill jokes, regularly teaching courses on its geography and taking students outdoors on and along the river for hands-on learning. He has also co-led field courses to the Oregon, Maine, South Carolina, South Africa, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and Death Valley.
His collaborative work has extended across campus. Dr. Lookingbill has partnered with the Sustainability Office in efforts to restore the on-campus Eco-Corridor and to create a campus tree inventory. His students in the Spatial Analysis Lab are currently working to map air quality patterns around Richmond. With the Center for Global Engagement, he has examined how cities around the world tackle sustainability. Next semester, he will be teaching at DIS in Copenhagen on climate adaptation and urban design.
As Faculty Director, Dr. Lookingbill looks forward to working more closely with Richmond Scholars, describing them as a “creative community of care.” He envisions helping Scholars connect their passions to real-world impacts and plans to introduce them to new aspects of UR and the city, especially what he calls its “hidden sustainability gems.” Some of his favorites include the James River Park System, Richmond National Battlefield, and the UR Eco-Corridor because “each shows how nature, culture, and community can come together in creative ways.”
Outside of his academic work, Dr. Lookingbill can discuss almost every Marvel movie or TV show, having seen just about all of them with his family. Asked about his favorite entry, Dr. Lookingbill says that “Black Panther is a standout for how it connects themes of technology, culture, and environmental responsibility.” Dr. Lookingbill looks forward to contributing to the Richmond Scholars program, helping students expand their circles of curiosity, collaboration, and impact—both on campus and in the broader Richmond community.