Leadership

Bill Sullivan's research addresses two broad questions. First, to what extent does having everyday contact with green spaces effect a person's functioning? That is, to what extent is there a connection between everyday exposure to green spaces and effective human functioning? How does nature mitigate the difficulties of life for people who live in urban public housing or in other challenging urban environments? The second question concerns the processes of changing and managing places: How can information about land development and other environmental issues be more effectively communicated among experts, citizens, and policy makers? He is also interested in the ways in which having everyday contact with nature influences human functioning. He and others have recently completed studies that examine the effect of everyday contact with nature on aggressive and violent behavior, crimes and other anti-social behaviors, and on the strength of social ties among neighbors in inner-city neighborhoods.

Stephanie Pfirman is Alena Wels Hirschorn '58 and Martin Hirschorn Professor in Environmental and Applied Sciences Professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Science at Barnard College, which she joined in 1993. Throughout her career, Pfirman has been involved with researching the Arctic environment, undergraduate education, interdisciplinary curriculum development, environmental policy strategies and public outreach. Current interests include environmental aspects of sea ice in the Arctic, and the development of women scientists and interdisciplinary scholars. Pfirman is co-PI of the NSF-sponsored Advancing Women in the Sciences initiative of the Columbia Earth Institute.

Bruce Coull is Dean Emeritus and Carolina Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina. He works with the Center for Humans and Nature of New York and Chicago, USA to explore, articulate, and promote long-term social and moral responsibilities for the earth's living communities. The work will integrate historical dynamics and ongoing interactions of humans and nature.

Bradley F. Smith was named Dean of Huxley College of the Environment at Western Washington University in September of 1994. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Smith had served for three years as the first Director of the Office of Environmental Education for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He also served as a Special Assistant to the administrator of the EPA and as Acting Associate Administrator for the EPA. Dr. Smith was appointed to the U.S. Senior Executive Service in 1992. Currently, he serves as a the co-chair of the World Conservation Learning Network of the IUCN and as the North American Chair of the Commission on Education and Communication for the IUCN. Dr. Smith serves as a Trustee of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. Formerly Dr. Smith served as an appointed member of President Clinton’s Council for Sustainable Development (Education Task Force). 

Dr. Michaels is co-Founder and a Managing Director of Proteus Environmental Technologies, LLC (Proteus). Proteus manages a private equity fund, Proteus Environmental Technologies Fund, LP. It has a unique strategy to promote environmental research and innovation in universities and to help commercialize transformative discoveries that are market solutions to major environmental problems including waste treatment, green energy and fuels, sustainable seafood and clean water. Dr. Michaels did his Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he conducted research on how the oceans affect greenhouse gases. In 1996, he became the first Director of the new University of Southern California Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies. Dr. Michaels is also passionate about broadening environment education and promoted a “K-to-gray” education philosophy, that reaches students of all ages. He has been President of the National Association of Marine Labs (2006-2007), an organization that represents 120 ocean, coastal and Great Lakes laboratories. He also helped found the Consortium for Ocean Leadership with a membership of over 90 ocean institutions and has chaired the National Science Foundation’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Research and Education.

Joyce Berry recently returned to her position as Dean of the Warner College of Natural Resources after serving as CSU’s Vice President for Advancement and Strategic Initiatives. She also is the former Director of the University’s Environment and Natural Resource Policy Institute. She received her Bachelor’s in political science and graduate degree in education from the University of California at Berkeley, Master’s in regional resources planning from Colorado State University and her Ph.D in forestry and environmental studies from Yale University. Joyce’s research and teaching focuses on the integration of science, policy and management, public involvement strategies, public attitudes and values toward natural resources, gender, and leadership and organizational change. Her numerous research activities include 2 ten-year assessments of forest management on Indian Trust Lands in the United States, science assessment of vegetation and elk in Rocky Mountain National Park, global human resources needs for sustainable development, frameworks for ecosystem management, and public involvement and sustainable strategies for private and public forest lands. Joyce chaired the National Commission on Science for Sustainable Forestry and is a Board Member of NCSE, the Center for Environmental Innovation and the Pinchot Institute for Conservation.

David Blockstein is Senior Scientist with the National Council for Science and the Environment, a nonpartisan organization of scientists, environmentalists, business people, and policymakers working to improve the scientific basis of environmental decisionmaking. He joined the organization in 1990 and was its first Executive Director. As the 1987-88 Congressional Science Fellow of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and American Society of Zoology, Dr. Blockstein worked with the House of Representatives Environment Subcommittee of the Science Committee to prepare the National Biological Diversity Conservation and Environmental Research Act. He has a B.S. in wildlife ecology from the University of Wisconsin and a M.S. and Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Minnesota. He has conducted research on conservation of tropical pigeons and doves and on population and community ecology of forest birds. Dr. Blockstein has worked on a wide range of policy issues including increasing the representation of minorities in science, mechanisms to improve the linkage between science and decisionmaking on environmental issues and electronic processes to communicate scientific information on the environment.

Dr. Bell is originally from southwestern Virginia where he obtained his BS and MS degrees in Agronomy from Virginia Tech.  He worked for four years on surface mine reclamation research for Virginia Tech before completing his Ph.D. at Penn State University in 1990.  Dr. Bell joined the faculty in the Department of Soil, Water, and Climate at the University of Minnesota as an assistant professor of soil science in 1991 and was promoted to full professor in 2002.  Dr. Bell’s research and teaching programs focus on pedology, genesis and morphology of wetland soils, soil mapping, and application of geographic information science for soil and environmental sciences. He has authored numerous book chapters and published 50+ scientific articles.  He has worked internationally in Australia and Morocco on issues of land resource assessment and soil degradation.  Dr. Bell has served as Editor-in-Chief of Geoderma, the International Journal of Soil Science and Associate Editor of the Soil Science Society of America Journal. He has taught courses in Wetland Soils, Soil Genesis and Landscape Relations, Soil Conservation, Introduction to Environmental Sciences, Geographic Information Science and field courses in Soil Mapping and Geomorphology.   Dr. Bell has received numerous teaching awards and has been named a Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Bell currently serves as Associate Dean of Academic Programs and Faculty Affairs for the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.  In this role he has led a significant curriculum revision effort in the college focusing on creating opportunities for experiential and interdisciplinary learning as well as restructuring agricultural curriculum to meet the future needs of society.  This includes several new majors under development in agricultural science and education, plant sciences and organic food systems.  He has recently served on the organizing committee for two national conferences focusing on Agricultural Curriculum for the 21^st Century through the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

Antje Danielson is currently the Administrative Director of the Institute of the Environment and the Water: Systems, Science, and Society interdisciplinary environmental graduate program. She is a geochemist but most of her recent work is focused on carbon emissions reduction strategies. She has worked at a number of universities as a researcher, teacher, and implementation practitioner. She created environmental programs at Harvard University and Durham University in the UK and has taught geology and environmental studies. She is known for her expertise in working with interdisciplinary groups. Antje Danielson is also the Co-Founder of Zipcar where she shaped the vision, technology, operational procedures, and early business relations of the company. Antje was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, where she received her Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Freie Universität Berlin. She has worked and studied in many countries including South Africa, Italy, the UK, Canada, and the US.

Christopher F. D'Elia earned his A.B. in Biology from Middlebury College, his Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Georgia, and did postdoctoral work at UCLA and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Prior to joining Louisiana State University in July 2009 as Professor and Dean of the School of the Coast and Environment, he was Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Research and Graduate Studies and Professor of Environmental Science & Policy and Marine Science at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. There he also directed the International Ocean Institute-USA and the Center for Science and Policy Applications for the Coastal Environment and served from 2007-2008 as Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. He has held appointments as the Ruth Patrick Distinguished Scholar in Aquatic Science at the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia), as the Director of the Biological Oceanography Program at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. and as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute. Dr. D’Elia has held numerous research grants and has authored or coauthored over sixty scientific publications on the nutrient dynamics of estuaries and coral reefs, and on science policy.

Dr. Philip K. Hopke is the Bayard D. Clarkson Distinguished Professor at Clarkson University, the Director of the Center for Air Resources Engineering and Science (CARES), and the Director of the Institute for a Sustainable Environment (ISE).  Dr. Hopke is the past Chair of EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), and has served on the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB). Professor Hopke is a Past President of the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR), and was a member of the more than a dozen National Research Council committees. He is a member of the NRC’s Board of Environmental Studies and Toxicology.  He is a fellow of the International Aerosol Research Assembly, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association for Aerosol Research.  He is an elected member of the International Statistics Institute and the recipient of the Eastern Analytical Symposium Award in Chemometrics. He is also a recipient of the David Sinclair Award of the AAAR. He served as a Jefferson Science Fellow at the U.S. Department of State during the 2008-09 academic year. Professor Hopke received his B.S. in Chemistry from Trinity College (Hartford) and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in chemistry from Princeton University. After a post-doctoral appointment at M.I.T. and four years as an assistant professor at the State University College at Fredonia, NY, Dr. Hopke joined the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, rising to the rank of professor of environmental chemistry, and subsequently came to Clarkson in 1989 as the first Robert A. Plane Professor with a principal appointment in the Department of Chemistry. He moved his principal appointment to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2000.   Since 2002, he has been the Clarkson Professor and Director of CARES.  As of July 1, 2010, he has taken on the directorship of the ISE that houses Clarkson’s undergraduate and graduate environmental science degree programs as well as managing Clarkson’s sustainability initiatives.

 Stephanie Kaza is Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Vermont, serving the Environmental Program with an appointment through the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. She teaches and advises undergraduate and graduate students with a concentration in the environmental humanities. Her courses include: Religion and Ecology, Ecofeminism, Unlearning Consumerism, and Introduction to Environmental Studies. Dr. Kaza’s interdisciplinary approach is reflected in her academic training: Ph.D. in Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz; M.A. in Education, Stanford University; M.Div., Starr King School for the Ministry; and B.A. in Biology, Oberlin College. As co-chair of the UVM Environmental Council, Professor Kaza has been actively engaged in campus sustainability initiatives to reduce waste, conserve energy, and promote environmental values.

 Robert Krueger received his Ph.D in Geography from Clark University in 2001.  After graduation, he joined the Interdisciplinary and Global Studies Program at WPI.  In 2007, Krueger became the founding director of WPI’s first Bachelors of Arts program, Sustainability and Environmental Studies.  In 2011, Krueger was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded tenure.  Krueger’s research and teaching on urban sustainability issues have taken him around the world.  In 2006, for example, he worked with communities around the tsunami reconstruction effort in Thailand.  In 2007, Krueger worked with community groups in the informal settlements of Windhoek, Namibia on issues of sanitation and clean water.  Closer to home, Krueger has been a Co-PI on two US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants focused on environmental justice issues in Worcester.   One project, which focused on Quinsigamond Village, developed alternative methodologies for assessing cumulative health risks of people living in disadvantaged communities.  More recently, Krueger worked with community members in Main South to develop a network of cisterns that would both mitigate stormwater runoff and provide the community with cheap, fresh water.  Krueger serves as the Co-Chair of the US EPA’s Environmental Justice Working Group.  He is also Board President of the Regional Environmental Council.  A broad, international audience recognizes Krueger’s scholarship on urban sustainability.  He has published dozens of papers in prestigious internationally peer-reviewed journals.  He is the co-editor of the book The Sustainable Development Paradox published by Guilford Press in New York and London.  This summer, at the invitation of the Luxembourg government, Krueger will travel to Luxembourg to assess the implementation of that country’s three-year-old sustainable development policy.  Krueger sits of the editorial board of Local Environment: The international journal of justice and sustainability, Sustainability, and The Journal of Community Engagement.  Krueger sits on the Executive Committee of the Planning and Environment Research Group of the Royal Geographical Society.  Krueger has been recognized for his quality work, innovation, and commitment to his community through the following awards:  the Alden Award for Excellence in Higher Education (2007), the Romeo L. Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Education, the William Meinhofer Award for Faculty Excellence (2008), and the Denise Nicoletti Trustees Award for Service to Community (2011).

Rod is Professor of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, director of the environmental studies program and chair of the environmental caucus at Northern Arizona University. The caucus consists of over 350 students, faculty, staff, and community members, committed to creative and strategic communication to advance the institutional commitment to sustainability (environmental caucus.nau.edu). His current research focuses on the application of biogeochemistry and geomorphology to the sustainable management of river systems in the Western US, and on the transformation of environmental curricula to incorporate more sustainability learning outcomes.  As the founding director of the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit, he worked to integrate federally funded environmental research across the Colorado Plateau and assisted in the establishment of a national network of CESUs.  He has been the chair and the director of several earth sciences and environmental academic programs. As director, he led the transition of NAU’s Center for Environmental Sciences and Education into the Center for Sustainable Environments. He then co-led the efforts to transform the Center for Sustainable Environments and the Department of Geology into a new School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability. His recent sabbatical leave at six prominent sustainability and environmental institutions, as well as his active participation in CEDD and in the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, has positioned him to better understand the issues associated with developing and implementing sustainability curricula and operations.  More info is available at www.cefns.nau.edu/Academic/CSE/ParnellResearchandBio.shtml.

 David Schejbal is Dean of Continuing Education, Outreach and E-Learning (CEOEL) at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. He has been in this position since July 2007.

CEOEL is financially the largest division in UW-Extension, overseeing a budget of $92M. The division works with all 26 campuses in the University of Wisconsin System, focusing on expanding the array of credit, noncredit, and degree programs for adult and nontraditional students in Wisconsin and beyond. The Division also builds online programs; manages independent learning; promotes diversity and economic development; and provides student services, student recruiting, and marketing. In 2009, the Division launched a fully online Bachelor of Science in Sustainable Management program that currently has more than 350 enrollments; in 2011 the Division established The University of Wisconsin System eCampus; and in 2012, the Division will begin a new, fully online Master of Science in Sustainable Management program.

Prior to coming to UW-Extension, Schejbal was Associate Vice Chancellor and Director of Continuing Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he co-chaired the Campus Sustainability Committee and was a member of the Environmental Council. Before that, he was Associate Dean of University College and Director of Summer Session and Special Programs at Northwestern University. Schejbal holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Connecticut.

John F. Slater is Associate Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences at Southern New Hampshire University, Manchester, NH and formerly Associate Professor in Environmental Science and Chemistry, and Dean of Arts & Sciences at Daniel Webster College, Nashua, NH.  He completed all of his graduate work at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.  Dr. Slater’s M.S. involved studying the chemical and physical relationships between glacial snow and ice, and the atmosphere at Summit, Greenland.  His Ph.D. focused on chemical, physical, and radiative properties of aerosols in New England.  Dr. Slater was a NASA Earth System Science Fellow from 1999-2002 and has published several peer-reviewed scientific papers on atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric remote sensing (satellite measurements), glacial ice and snow chemistry, and radiative climate forcing.  Additionally, he is chair of New Hampshire ENVIROTHON Advisory Committee (environmental science academic competition for North American high school students) and a co-author of New Hampshire’s Environmental Literacy Plan.