Dr. Jonathan Gilligan is the Alexander Heard Distinguished Service Professor and an Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences and of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Vanderbilt University. His work focuses on environmental policy, risk management, atmospheric science, and global climate change. As the Director of Vanderbilt's Climate and Society Grand Challenge Initiative, Jonathan is actively involved in a wide span of projects and research on climate change law and policy. He was also instrumental in forming the undergraduate major in Climate Studies. In this episode--the first of two parts--we discuss Jonathan's background and his work developing the Grand Challenge Initiative and the Climate Studies major.