Robert J. Brecha graduated from Wright State University (B.S. in Physics, 1983) and from the University of Texas at Austin (Ph.D. in Physics, 1990) where his research focus was in the field of Quantum Optics. Since 1993 he has been at the University of Dayton where he is Professor of Physics, was a member of the Electro-optics Program, and is now affiliated with the Renewable and Clean Energy Program. He was founding coordinator of the Sustainability, Energy and the Environment (SEE) initiative from 2007 - 2015. From 2006-2017 he was a regular visiting scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Germany, including one year as a Fulbright Fellow (2010-2011), and was visiting scientist at the Berlin think-tank Climate Analytics during 2018. He has published numerous papers on theoretical and experimental aspects of cavity quantum electrodynamics and molecular spectroscopy. More recently his research publications focus on energy efficiency in buildings, climate change mitigation strategies, and energy needs for sustainable development.