As director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, Jessica Hellmann has spearheaded efforts to integrate interdisciplinary research into public policy, technology implementation, corporate behavior, investment decisions, and more. Under her leadership, the institute launched initiatives such as the Climate-Smart Municipalities program, which bridges Minnesotan cities with German counterparts to share climate solutions, and the Midwest Carbon Leadership Project, a collaboration of Midwest-based industry and academia to achieve carbon neutrality through deep decarbonization. A world-renowned climate scientist and sustainability leader, she is also co-founder and chief scientist of Geofinancial Analytics, which tracks and analyzes methane emissions from the oil and gas sector. The firm was recently awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation America’s Seed Fund SBIR grant to further develop its technology.