Roopali Phadke is Professor of Environmental Policy at Macalester College, where she has taught since 2005. She also serves as Associate Director of the Serie Center for Teaching and Scholarship at Macalester College.

Her teaching and research focus on energy, water and climate policy, with a focus on public engagement and community based research methods. She received her PhD from the Univ. of California Santa Cruz in Environmental Studies, as well as a Masters degree from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College. She also served as a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow in the Science, Technology and Society Program at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

She recently completed a multiyear National Science Foundation study titled "Mining Futures" examining social acceptance and siting politics of critical minerals mines. Her research also examines the circular economy of metals through remining and e-waste collection. She is also a member of the Future Mississippi Collaborative, a research collective focused on the potential for dam removal on the Upper Mississippi.  

Dr. Phadke serves on many local and national boards including: World Learning, Native Sun, Northern Lights.mn, and Recycling Electronics for Climate Action (RECA).