Alexandra is a building scientist investigating the lessons that existing buildings, vernacular design practices, and solar resource patterns hold for contemporary climate-responsive design. Her research efforts in passive solar heating, passive cooling, and natural ventilation combine field studies with energy modeling to reveal patterns that cannot be found by either method alone; this work has been published in Building and Environment, Geosciences, and Renewable Energy. She is a member of the university’s Science Literacy Program and the secretary and treasurer of the Society of Building Science Educators; she has previously taught in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and worked in green building practice at Solarc Architecture and Engineering. She holds a PhD in Biology from MIT and an MArch from the University of Oregon.