Miles Barger
barger at uoregon.edu

I grew up throughout the eastern US playing the piano, performing magic, singing in choir, writing poetry, listening to everything, winning the Pine Car Derby, swinging in jazz band, building architectural models, and generally being eccentric. I was drawn to one question: how do these things relate? The luxury of a liberal arts education—weeks reading Immanuel Kant, months poring over Elizabeth Bishop, a semester in France, years composing obscure
music—combined with an ever-expanding exploration of the back country very roundaboutly led to an answer: reverent appreciation of nature's patterns and processes. I now devote all my attention, both personal and professional, to expanding and sharing that appreciation by any and all means.

And while I acknowledge the greatness of both, I much prefer Prince to Michael Jackson.

Melanie Knapp
melaniek at uoregon.edu

I'll be making the big move to Oregon from the Midwest. I graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Biology and a certificate combining liberal arts and business management. Since then I've done a variety of things - worked in a soil ecology lab, did research for an upcoming book on environmental social science, worked and volunteered at organic gardens, co-taught an environmental studies course at an independent school, ran a marathon, and worked at a local outdoor gear shop.

This summer I'll be heading out to Dexter, OR to get my Permaculture Design and Ecovillage Design Education certificates through Lost Valley Educational Center's 2 month Permaculture and Community course, and I'll be starting concurrent degrees in Environmental Studies and Community and Regional Planning in the fall. My academic interests include: how we go about planning, designing, and developing sustainable communities, why people (myself included) do or do not engage in pro-environmental behaviors, policy, ecological economics and economics in general, ecology, human perceptions of environment, and sustainable agriculture.

My other interests include climbing and bouldering, food (growing, cooking, preserving, and eating), reading, writing, hiking, amateur violin playing, and biking. I live in Duma, a wonderful community in a beautiful old house a few blocks from campus.

Ignacio Krell Rivera
ignacio at uoregon.edu

I was born in Chile in 1979, and I graduated from Universidad de Chile as a sociologist in 2006. My professional interest have become situated in practical and research issues on indigenous peoples, rural sociology, ecological traditional knowledge, conservation, and environmental conflict resolution.

My approach to the field of ecology has been yet more practical than academic. From my early years in the university, I have participated in environmental justice movements and requisitions for the protection of endangered eco and life systems. These experiences have influenced my current intrest in studying and observing  with increased attention, the socio-environmental phenomenon and thus to join the ENVS Program.

I also directed an ecotourism project working closely with the indigenous Mapuche communities of southern Chile until June of 2008 (www.trafkuraexpediciones.cl) In the future I want to continue developing applied research and real experiences relating to rural sustainability, environmental education and intercultural communication.

Sara Nienaber
nienaber at uoregon.edu

My life as an environmentalist began with reading library books about nature and hiking/being carried through county park trails in my hometown of Cincinnati, OH. I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University in 2009 with a BA in Zoology. While an undergraduate, I became interested in the sublethal
and often subtle effects that pesticides and other chemical pollutants can have on wildlife and human health. I plan on concentrations in Biology and
Environmental Policy. Ultimately, I want to find ways for chemical pollution policy to be focused around ecosystem health, and not what is least restrictive to polluters. I hope that ENVS will help me accomplish my lifelong goal of being a Planeteer. I'm looking forward to a life in Eugene full of time outdoors and good vegetarian food. A few interests of mine include cooking, environmental and social justice, amphibians, laughing, and playing the ukulele.

Kory Northrop
northrop at uoregon.edu

I am from a small, suburban town of Chicago called Lake Bluff. For the past six years I have lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. After earning my B.S. in
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology in 2007 I decided to stay in New Orleans to work for AmeriCorps. During this time I worked as a volunteer coordinator, construction crew leader, and case manager with two non-profits specializing in home rehabilitations for low-income families. These experiences revealed to me the pitfalls of poor city planning, effects of disregarding environmental indicators, and the need for a coherent recovery plan. From my time in New Orleans came a desire to study sustainable community development and disaster preparedness. By recommitting ourselves to understanding environmental processes we can try to mitigate the potential of future disasters. While we cannot prevent natural phenomena from occurring, we can judiciously plan our settlements to ensure our safety and a healthy, vibrant ecosystem.

To pass the time, I enjoy writing music, reading, backgammon, cooking, playing sports, and sitting on porches. In addition to the beautiful landscapes in Oregon, I look forward to riding my bicycle on well-paved streets with bike lanes that lack construction debris and potholes large enough to swallow a howitzer.

Julia Ridgeway
ridgeway at uoregon.edu

I am from San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in a diverse, academic family. My mother is a feminist literary critic from Buenos Aires and her world has influenced me greatly. I am fluent in Spanish, have spent time in Mexico as a child and have gone to Buenos Aires every year to visit friends and family. These experiences have not only given me a strong love of all of the Americas but also a unique perspective on U.S. approaches to environmentalism and environmental challenges.

I received a B.S. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and a B.A. in English from Rice University. My interests have changed consistently throughout the years, but I have found my passion in focusing on food production, sustainability and justice. To paint my interests with a broad stroke, I want to know what we eat, who eats it, why, and what effect it has on our bodies and our environment.

In my free time I enjoy travel, tennis, piano and art in all forms. I am a bit of an odd person out in the environmental studies crowd because I am not much of an outdoorswoman, but perhaps two years in Oregon will change that. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to study at the University of Oregon and I look forward to stimulating experiences both in and out of the classroom.

Chris Roddy
croddy at uoregon.edu

I am an agriculturalist, composter and new media communications guru from New York City. I was recently the communications manager at The After-School Corporation (TASC) <http://www.tascorp.org/>, a nonprofit dedicated to giving all kids opportunities to grow through after-school and summer activities that support, educate and inspire them. Working in new media for over nine years (yikes) now, I am passionate about the power of communication to support local & regional food systems. I volunteered with the NYC Greenmarket <http://www.cenyc.org/greenmarket> and continue to serve on advisory boards for Slow Food NYC <http://www.slowfoodnyc.org> and The Greenhorns <http://www.thegreenhorns.net>, a small nonprofit serving the rosy cheeked young muscle of a new American countryside. A graduate of Fordham University, I enjoy playing banjo, mulching and laughing at (with) my cats Sid and Pumpkin.

Shannan Stoll
sstoll at uoregon.edu

I grew up hiking, biking and tidepool-hopping around the Pacific Northwest. In college, I played around with ecology and poetry—with sea turtle conservation in Mexico and magic realism in the literature of marginalized groups—and ended up majoring in Biology and English.

Since then, I’ve worked on energy efficiency and education projects for underserved populations in Detroit, community-based renewable energy projects in Seattle, monitored shorebirds and sea turtles in North Carolina, and freelanced for local papers off and on. I’m passionate about environmental justice, marine conservation and writing, and I'm excited to connect these areas in my studies at UO.

Other passions include bikes, homebrews and swimming in any natural body of water I find.

Brandi Veltri
veltri at uoregon.edu

I am currently a dual-enrolled student in the ENVS and Law Programs. My career interests are in International Environmental Policy, particularly in Latin America. I have been an environmental advocate since I was a small child but really became enthralled with the issues in Latin America as an undergrad at the University of North Carolina Asheville. My B.S. was in Environmental Studies and Political Science and culminated in a senior field project on the links between environmental degradation, indigenous rights, and globalization in Honduras. More broadly, I am attempting to bridge the gap between science and policy.

I am originally from AZ but have lived in CO, NC, and now OR. I spent some time traveling around the US, working odd jobs, and generally absorbing information before going back to school. Thus, I have a little experience in a whole lot of unrelated things and my personal interests are as varied. A few highlights include herbal/holistic medicine, gardening, snowboarding, camping, kayaking, photography, crafts,
Sumi-i painting, and spinning fire nunchucks.

Kevin Belanger
belanger at uoregon.edu

I come to Eugene by way of a few places, spending most of my life in Massachusetts and Maryland, a year in Colorado, then a few glorious months in Eugene before starting grad school.  I received my B.S. in Geography from the University of Maryland in May 2007.

After graduating, I immediately moved out to an abandoned silver mining town outside of Aspen, Colorado, giving guided hiking tours in the summer and guided ski and snowshoe tours in the winter.  I had the unique and amazing experience of living in an old cabin, by myself, without electricity or running water or a reliable method to get back to civilization.  You learn a lot about yourself when you have to cohabitate with ground squirrels and spend days shoveling just to see out your windows.

During my undergraduate education, I was able to do several internships, including a summer at an organic farm and CSA, a year at the USDA, and a year in the county park and planning commission where my school was located.  Because of those experiences, I am now working on a concurrent master's degree in environmental studies, focusing on sustainable agriculture and community development, and community and regional planning.

My ultimate goal is to go into planning with a sustainability focus, and since moving to Eugene, I've been lucky enough to work with Transportation Planning for the City of Eugene, focusing on bicycle and pedestrian facilities.  I hope to combine all these experiences in my future career path.

Sue Dockstader
sdocksta at uoregon.edu

I graduated with a B.S. in Community Health from the UO.  I have training in alternative energy design and installation with certification in photovoltaic knowledge from the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP).  I have spent most of my adult life fighting wildfires and working for economic, racial and social justice.  I also work as a stage hand for International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 675. I am an avid mushroomer, brew my own beer, and as a former rugby player, I'm just getting used to the "no contact" nature of soccer.  I've lived in Eugene for over 20 years with my girlfriend who is a professional set designer.  I am interested in the social and economic aspects of energy generation and water access with specific emphasis on gender relations.

Kevin Horan
horan at uoregon.edu

I hail from Concord, California, a diverse and well-populated enclave in the East Bay Area. I am the middle of five children in a creative and energetic family whose household was very entertaining to grow up in. My pleasant upbringing brought about my general open-mindedness and inventiveness, as well as my disdain for the materialism and sprawl of modern suburbia.

I graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2006 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Law & Society. It was here that I developed a global consciousness, where I learned to place my own actions and interactions into their necessary worldly perspective. From early on, I wanted to improve the relationship between our human communities and the natural world. My interests have shifted from national parks to environmental law to urban planning, but I have settled on renewable energy and green business as my projected lifelong focus. Basically, I want to make our world more sustainable and renewable energy will be my way of making a positive impact.

Dana Maher
maher at uoregon.edu

I graduated from the University of Kansas in 2007 with a BS in Physics and have spent the last year working for the state of Kansas, first as an energy policy researcher and later as technical staff for energy and water efficiency projects in public facilities. My work allowed me to apply the research skills I developed in school to problems relating to my interest in sustainability and provided me with many learning opportunities. Working for the state led me to discover my primary interests, water resources management and building resource use efficiency.

My specific interest in sustainability grew out of a general environmentalist sentiment fostered by my parents. Dad, a geologist, gave me love of the outdoors through summer field trips with his students. Mom, an English professor with background in Great Plains and environmental literature, made apparent humanity's roots in and cultural connection to nature. In college, I made the previously missing connection between environmental and social justice, finally completing the ideological circuit. I've always loved experimental science and was drawn to sustainability as an opportunity to participate in the empirical solution of an enormously complex and important optimization problem. While at KU I bunked in a communal living dorm and a local co-op (the infamous Sunflower House), two outwardly disparate but fundamentally similar environments that taught me to be efficient in my daily life.

Thomas Mason
mason3 at uoregon.edu

Like many of the environmental studies students, I’ve got a somewhat eclectic background.  I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and then headed off to England to do my undergraduate degree in Art History.  After a series of post-graduation jobs that included being a hotel concierge in Miami, a coffee shop manager in Washington and a bartender in Mexico, I settled into a career at a New York auction house as an appraiser and authenticator of paintings.  Early in 2003, my growing concern over environmental issues and America’s involvement in the world caused me to reassess my situation and take a different course.

I joined the Peace Corps as an environmental volunteer and moved from the Upper East Side of Manhattan to the Southern Highlands of Tanzania.  I taught a variety of gardening, farming and nutrition practices that were aimed at making my small rural village healthier and more self-sustaining while reducing its impact on the wilderness that surrounded it. After serving two years in one village I signed on for a one year extension in which I worked with eight remote villages that were scattered throughout a protected rainforest in the Usambara mountains.

My interests lie primarily in the preservation of wilderness areas in the developing world and in finding practical and positive ways to reduce the environmental impact of poor, rural communities that often share the same space.  I do not like pina coladas, but love getting caught in the rain, which is great for life in Oregon.

Amanda Peacher
peacher at uoregon.edu

I grew up in Boise, Idaho, and have worked as an environmental organizer to restore endangered Snake River salmon, as a wilderness ranger in the backcountry of Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, and have dabbled in freelance writing since college. I received my BA in 2005 in Environmental Studies, English, and Music at a small liberal arts school called the College of Idaho.

Chris Stratton
jstratto at uoregon.edu

I grew up in rural Kentucky and received my undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies from Oberlin College in 2002. I am pursuing a concurrent master’s degree in Architecture at UO. I’m an unabashed generalist. My insatiable curiosity has led me on a long, circuitous road and provided considerable life experience along the way. What is it they say about curiosity and cats?

My concentrations will be Economics and Environmental Policy, and I’m hoping to use both to inform the shaping of our built environment and the ways we humans interact with the rest of nature. My academic interests include: ecological economics, land use planning, agricultural policy, and green architecture.

In my imminently diminishing free time, I like to learn about language (geek alert!), cook, photograph things, pretend I’m going to start a garden, bike, hike, and let out my more competitive side on some sort of sporting field.

Ali Abbors
aabbors at uoregon.edu

Concentration areas: Sustainable Agriculture; Natural Resources Management

Advisor: Geraldine Moreno, Anthropology

For my terminal project, I am writing a guide designed to help local governments and nonprofit agencies plan and build community gardens to increase food security among low-income and under-represented community members. With a local organization, Huerto de la Familia (The Family Garden) and the city of Springfield, OR as models, I will use mapping, specific case studies, and community input to write a step-by-step guide of best practices for designing community gardens to benefit food-insecure communities.

I was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and received my BA in Anthropology from Occidental College in 2001. Since graduation, I have worked in fundraising for the Humane Society, as an AmeriCorps environmental educator on the Navajo Nation and at a Bay Area conservation corps, and as an educator for the National Audubon Society in New Mexico and Washington DC. In addition to my GTF assignments here at school, I've been thrilled to work as one of the group leaders at the UO's Urban Farm. I love animals (wild and domestic), gardening, canning, cooking, knitting, sewing, hiking, biking, camping, traveling, and sharing a good meal with friends.

Cody Evers
cevers at uoregon.edu

Concentration areas: Ecology; Planning and GIS

Advisor: Scott Bridgham, Biology

Concurrent degree: Community and Regional Planning (PPPM)

I am pursuing the use of Geographic Information Systems in assessing habitat suitability as applied to conservation planning. I have been conducting research into the spatial appropriateness of recent changes to BLM land in Western Oregon, a natural resource plan coined the WOPR. In particular, I am seeking to judge land use changes in relation to modeled habitat quality of the Northern Spotted Owl.

On the side, I work with a community walkability project under Professor Marc Schlossberg in the Planning, Public Policy, and Management (PPPM) department. We develop mobile GIS tools for helping communities participate and analyze data on barriers and assets to mult-modal transportation. I have been developing a web interface for publishing collected data using both ArcGIS and GoogleEarth API, allowing participants to continue to interact with and learn from project results well after its conclusion.

I am passionate about art in general and oil painting in particular (see my work at www.codyevers.com). In my work, I explore interactions between natural landscape and human structures, particularly as these impacts relate to our perceptions of nature. During my time outside of school, I live in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where I continue my art and am pursuing a possible research project seeking to map out a riparian ecological corridor with a local conservation organization. I also enjoy birding, biking, running, skiing, and graphic design.

Wen Lee
ylee16 at uoregon.edu

Concentration areas: Sustainable Development; Educational Television

Advisor: Jon Palfreman, Journalism and Communication

Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management; Department of Planning, Public Policy, and Management

This is my second year in the Environmental Studies Program, and I am excited to be back! I am originally from Southern California, and earned a BA in Biology at Occidental College in Los Angeles. I aspire to make the earth a nicer place to live by a) fighting poverty in developing countries; b) improving environmental practices in commercial industries; c) stopping the madness that is American hyper-consumerism; or d) all of the above.

My terminal project addresses option c). I am producing a television show entitled "Know Your Stuff!: Coffee" that aims to show consumers just what lies behind a cup of coffee. It is the incredible story of the coffee bean, starting from plantations in Costa Rica and ending with coffeehouses in the United States. It's a wild and crazy adventure, I assure you. After graduation, I hope to translate this idea into a full television series about the environmental impacts behind the production of everyday goods. I believe that if people knew more about what it takes to make all their "stuff", they would consume less junk. Indeed, an educated American consumer population is a good thing!

Furthermore, I like elephants, the color orange, and triple-decker peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I also thoroughly enjoy squatting in recycling bins.

Adam Novick
anovick at uoregon.edu

Concentration Areas: Principles and Methods in Conservation Policy;
Conservation Policy in Law and Land Use Planning; Conceptions of Nature,
Environment, and Conservation.

Advisors:
Rob Ribe, Landscape Architecture
Peter Walker, Geography and Environmental Studies
Rich Margerum, Planning, Public Policy and Management
Patrick Hurley, Environmental Studies

Research Interests: I am interested in the political and policy implications of disequilibrium ecology for conserving biodiversity on private lands. I am especially interested in the Willamette Valley's oak savanna, which is disappearing not only to development, but also to succession and exotic species. Based on empirical evidence and research by others, I find that policies to regulate species inadvertently risk exacerbating the loss of this ecosystem, by discouraging its conservation and maintenance, due to the effect of regulation on the market value of land. I also find that as a society, we tend to mislead ourselves about the nature and effects of such policies, apparently to defend our power to use species as weapons to fight development. If we are to save human-dependent ecosystems on private land with constraints on public funding, I suggest we might need to (1) clarify whether the primary objective of conservation policy is to conserve biodiversity or only limit development; (2) consider potential harm to species in decisions to regulate them; and (3) consider an alternate strategy of allowing private investment in such ecosystems, to avoid discouraging their maintenance. I also conclude that such changes require questioning fiercely held concepts of nature and conservation, but that these changes might be feasible under existing US law.

Some related interests include political ecology, environmental economics, game theory, property and wildlife law, collaborative planning, communicative planning, narrative policy analysis, Leopold's land ethic, and distortion of policy debate in controversial natural resource issues.

Prior to entering the ENVS program, I worked as a technical writer, produced field recordings of traditional African percussion, and began trying to save wildlife habitat on private land.

William Truce
wtruce at uoregon.edu

Academic Background:  I hold a B.S. in Primate Behavior and Ecology, a B.A. in Anthropology, and a minor in Environmental Studies from Central Washington University. My past research experiences have covered several topics, including: habitat transformation of beavers, the population viability of a particular run of Bull Trout, the social proximities of a captive group of chimpanzees, and an independent study on the behavioral ecology of a population of Balinese Long-tailed Macaques (Macaca fascicularis). These degrees and experiences have provided in-depth knowledge on a range of subjects, such as: human ecology (cultural and biological), a case-study on the behavior and ecology of a particular animal group, and the socio-cultural and biologic perspectives on the environmental ‘crisis.’

Current Interests:  My life-long passion is for Wildlife and Habitat Preservation. Yet, I am taking a non-traditional and interdisciplinary approach towards pushing forth this effort. I am striving to synergize physical geography, ecology, and environmental policy, along with an enveloping understanding of the socio-cultural ‘reality’ that the preservation issue of focus is embedded in. Though, this may sound like a Herculean task, I find particular aspects of these fields to be necessary ingredients for the recipe of effective preservation management strategies. My particular research interests cover the gamete of preservation tasks, including: population viability, habitat/ecosystem status, stakeholder concerns, but are ultimately focused on developing holistic management strategies that attempt to mediate the concerns of all stakeholders (i.e. human and non-human).      

Christine Zeller
czeller at uoregon.edu

I graduated from the UO with a BS in physics and music and a certificate from the Clark Honors College. I worked for the past several years as a legal assistant on environmental cases. Through that work I decided I would like to do further study regarding quantitative analysis of environmental systems and how that analysis is used in the creation and revision of environmental policy and law. I am a born and raised Eugenean and continue to live here with my daughter.