About

Sr. Damien Marie Savino is a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist and Melchor Visiting Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at the University of Notre Daem with a concurrent appointment in the McGrath Institute for Church Life. Prior to that, Sister Damien served as the Dean of Science and Sustainability at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her research interests include theology and science, ecology and theology, ecological restoration, and resilience theory. 

Her scientific research focuses on environmental remediation of soil and groundwater contamination, the environmental impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and the application of resilience theory to ecosystem health. For the past ten years, she has become increasingly involved in interdisciplinary projects and has lectured and written widely on Laudato Si’ and integral ecology, as well as on science and faith, ecology and theology, and ecological restoration and health.

Savino’s latest book, Learning the Language of Creation: Catholic Social Teaching and Integral Ecology (2026), stems from her 2024 Kellogg Visiting Fellowship. Her book addresses the urgent need to put into practice integral ecology as envisioned by Pope Francis in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, in conversation with the broader literature and practice of integral human development. It also seeks to propose principles and practices for revivifying engineering education in the spirit of integral ecology, as little literature currently exists in this area.

Savino holds a PhD in civil (environmental) engineering from The Catholic University of America, an MS in Soil and Plant Science from the University of Connecticut, and an MA in theology from The Catholic University of America.  

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