Core Faculty

Brendan Bohannan

Associate Professor of Biology
Brendan joined the University of Oregon faculty in September of 2006, after 8 years on the faculty at Stanford University. He is particularly fascinated with the diversity of microbial life and much of his research is focused on understanding the causes and consequences of microbial biodiversity. He has research projects around the world, including in the Brazilian Amazon, South Africa, Australia, Michigan, and Oregon. His work has been published in the journals Nature, Science, PLoS, PNAS and many others. Brendan was awarded a Williams Fellowship and a Wulf Professorship in recognition of his teaching at UO, which includes Ecology (BI 370), Community Ecology (BI472/572), and the Philosophy of Ecology (BI410/510, with Ted Toadvine). When not professing, Brendan can be found climbing mountains or digging in his garden.

http://biology.uoregon.edu/ceeb/faculty_pages/Bohannan/

Peg Boulay

Co-Director of the Environmental Leadership Program
Peg, a member of the UO faculty since 2009, is a wildlife ecologist with a broad, applied background in research, conservation, management, planning, policy, public participation, and communications. Her current interests include environmental monitoring, ecological restoration, experiential education, and “community-based science.” She currently teaches ENVS 427 Environmental and Ecological Monitoring, and ENVS 411 special topic courses (Understanding Place: the McKenzie Watershed and – new in 2014 – Ecological Restoration of Streams and Wetlands). As part of the Environmental Leadership Program (ENVS 429), she directs service-learning projects involving conservation science and community engagement topics. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, gardening, cooking, and studying natural history – especially bird-watching and amateur mycology.

Scott D. Bridgham

Director of the Environmental Science Institute
Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies
Scott joined the UO faculty in 2003, after nine years on the faculty at the University of Notre Dame. Before that he was a postdoctoral associate and research associate at the University of Minnesota—Duluth. He is an ecosystem ecologist who has worked historically mostly in wetlands, but currently he also works in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. His current research projects focus on climate change effects on ecosystems processes and plant range distributions, the biogeochemistry and microbial ecology of methane production, and restoration ecology. Scott regularly teaches Wetland Ecology and Management (ENVS 465/565), Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology (ENVS 476/576), and a research methods course for the first-year graduate sequence (ENVS 632). He has also taught Introduction to Environmental Studies: Natural Sciences (ENVS 202). He is an avid whitewater kayaker, runner, mountain biker, etc.

http://ceeb.uoregon.edu/Bridgham/Bridgham.php

Trudy Ann Cameron

Raymond F. Mikesell Professor of Environmental and Resource Economics
Trudy has served in a policy advising capacity on the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, both on the Environmental Economics Advisory Committee and as chair of the of the U.S. EPA’s Advisory Council on Clean Air Compliance Analysis, the group which monitors the EPA’s ongoing legislatively mandated benefit-cost analysis of the Clean Air Act. She served as president of the 800-member Association of Environmental and Resource Economics (AERE) during 2007-2008, and has served in the past as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Resources for the Future. Trudy’s research interests concern the valuation of non-market goods–in particular, the empirical measurement of the social benefits of environmental regulations and policies. Her research in recent years has emphasized measurement of the willingness of households to incur the costs of climate change mitigation policies and regulations to reduce environmental health risks. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Health Canada. She teaches environmental economics and econometrics at the graduate level, as well as environmental and natural resource economics at the undergraduate level. She also teaches a survey course on environmental and natural resource economics for Environmental Studies students called “Allocating Scarce Environmental Resources.”

http://www.uoregon.edu/~cameron/vita/

Matthew Dennis

Professor of History
Matt received his PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and joined the History faculty at the University of Oregon in Fall 1988. In addition to environmental history, his research fields include colonial America and the early national United States, American culture and politics, the history of public memory and commemoration, and urbanism and American cities. His books include Cultivating a Landscape of Peace: Iroquois-European Encounters in 17th-Century America; Red, White, & Blue Letter Days: An American Calendar; Riot & Revelry in Early America (ed.); and Encyclopedia of Holidays and Celebrations, 3 vols. (ed.). His most recent book, Seneca Possessed: Indians, Witchcraft, and Power in the Early American Republic, was published in 2010. Thoreau continues to inspire him to become an “expert in home-cosmography,” though he wouldn’t mind also going around the world to Zanzibar to count the cats.

http://history.uoregon.edu/faculty/profiles/index.php?name=mjdennis

Alan Dickman

Director of Environmental Studies
Research Associate Professor of Biology
Senior Instructor and Research Associate Professor of Biology
Alan received undergraduate degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz before coming to the University of Oregon in 1979 to do his doctoral work on fire and disease interactions in mountain hemlock forests. After short stints teaching at Pacific Lutheran University and Lane Community College, Alan joined the biology faculty at the UO in 1986 where he has taught introductory biology for majors and non-majors, upper division forest biology and botany, and an introduction to environmental science course. He was appointed Director of the Environmental Studies Program in 2006. In his spare time, Alan enjoys gardening, canoeing, fly-fishing, and pretending to learn to play piano.

http://biology.uoregon.edu/people/Dickman/dickman.php

Kathryn Lynch

Co-Director of the Environmental Leadership Program
Katie, a member of the UO faculty since 2005, is an environmental anthropologist and has worked in Peru, Ecuador, Indonesia and the United States examining issues of community-based natural resource management. Her research interests include tropical conservation, gender and natural resource issues, ethnobotany and the cultural uses of wild plants, ecofeminism, critical pedagogy and engaged environmental education. She currently teaches environmental education in theory & practice (ENVS 425/525) and directs a wide variety of service-learning projects as part of the Environmental Leadership Program (ENVS 429). She has a strong commitment to participatory, collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches and is completely inspired by the truly spectacular landscapes found all over Oregon.

Richard Margerum

Associate Professor of Planning, Public Policy, and Management
Richard holds a Ph.D. in planning from the University of Wisconsin—Madison, where his dissertation examined collaborative approaches to environmental management. He worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for three years on watershed management and growth management. In 1995 he moved to Australia as a postdoctoral Fulbright fellow, and later joined the faculty of the Queensland University of Technology. His research in Australia focused on collaborative approaches to watershed management and regional growth management. He is currently an Associate Professor and Department Head for the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management Department at the University of Oregon. He has published over 20 articles and book chapters on collaborative planning, environmental planning and growth management and continues to focus on planning process, conflict management, and institutional and coordination issues. In a national study of planning departments, Dr. Margerum was ranked in the top 50 of faculty for the number of journal article publications. Richard has conducted research in collaboration with several Oregon watershed councils; he is the past Chair of the Steering Committee for the Long Tom Watershed Council. In 2007-08, he was a Visiting Scientist with the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), where he worked with researchers on regional natural resources along the Great Barrier Reef coastline.

http://pppm.uoregon.edu/index.cfm?mode=faculty&page=richmargerum

Patricia F. McDowell

Professor of Geography
Pat is a physical geographer with a Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin. Her specialty is fluvial geomorphology. She teaches courses on geomorphology, fluvial geomorphology, and watershed science and policy. Her research is based on field work and GIS analysis, and she has conducted research in many parts of Oregon, as well as Alaska, the Midwest, and New England. Her current research focuses on river channels and floodplains, human impacts on rivers, and river restoration. She has had research grants from the National Science Foundation, U.S. EPA, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. She has served on several National Research Council panels studying river policy problems. She has served as department head of Geography and as Associate Vice President for Research at the University of Oregon. She is a strong supporter of local river action groups through service on advisory committees for several local watershed councils and a land trust.

http://geography.uoregon.edu/mcdowell/

Ronald Mitchell

Professor of Political Science
Ron has published International Politics and the Environment (Sage, 2009), International Environmental Politics (Sage, 2008), Global Environmental Assessments: Information and Influence (with William Clark, David Cash, and Nancy Dickson, MIT Press, 2006), and Intentional Oil Pollution at Sea: Environmental Policy and Treaty Compliance (MIT Press, 1994). He was the University of Oregon’s commencement speaker in 2008. He has published numerous articles and chapters in edited volumes. His current research interests include the effectiveness of international environmental agreements (focusing at present on climate change, fisheries, and transboundary air pollution) and he has developed a database of all multilateral environmental treaties and corresponding performance indicators. He is the co-director (with C. Susan Weiler of Whitman College) of the Dissertation Initiative For The Advancement Of Climate Change Research (DISCCRS) program which helps new scientists working on climate change develop interdisciplinary skills to improve their understanding of, and ability to help solve, the problem of climate change. He teaches courses on international relations, international environmental politics, and international organization.

http://pages.uoregon.edu/rmitchel/

Brook Muller

Associate Professor of Architecture
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts
Brook teaches design studios and courses in sustainable architecture, theory and media. He is also the Director of the Certificate Program in Ecological Design within the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. His research focuses on the design process in its formative stages and the theoretical foundations of ecologically responsive architectural practice. Brook received a BA in environmental studies from Brown University in 1987 and an MArch from the University of Oregon in 1992. From 1993 to 1996, Brook worked with Behnsich & Partner Architects in Stuttgart, Germany, and served as co-project leader on the IBN Institute for Nature Research, a European Union pilot project for human and environmentally friendly building. Brook was an Assistant Professor in the Architecture Department at California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo from 2000-2004, where he was awarded the Wesley Ward Outstanding Teaching Award from the College of Architecture and Environmental Design in 2002. He was recently awarded the Oregon Campus Compact Judith Ramaley Faculty Award for Civic Engagement in Sustainability (2009).

http://architecture.uoregon.edu/faculty/muller

Kari Norgaard

Director of Graduate Studies for Environmental Studies
Associate Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies
Over the past ten years I have published and taught in the areas of environmental sociology, gender and environment, race and environment, climate change, sociology of culture, social movements and sociology of emotions. I currently have two active areas of research 1) work on the social organization of denial (especially regarding climate change), and 2) environmental justice work with Native American Tribes on the Klamath River. Both these areas of scholarship have been nationally recognized through the award of research grants, speaking invitations, and coverage of my research by high profile media outlets including the Washington Post, National Geographic, British Broadcasting System, and National Public Radio. My book Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions and Everyday Life was published by MIT Press in the Spring of 2011

Josh Roering

Associate Professor of Geological Sciences
Josh joined the UO faculty in 2001 and is a geomorphologist with NSF- and NASA-funded projects in New Zealand, Northern California, South Africa, and Oregon. His research interests include landscape evolution modeling, quantitative topographic analysis using airborne laser altimetry, and biotic and climate controls on sediment production. Josh serves as an associate editor for the journal Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. In 2005, Josh received the University of Oregon’s Ersted Award for distinguished teaching. He regularly teaches Environmental Geology (GEOL 102), Earth and Environmental Data Analysis (GEOL 418/518), Hillslope Geomorphology (GEOL 441/541), and Tectonic Geomorphology (410/510). He enjoys playing tennis, listening to Neil Young LPs, and following the Minnesota Twins.

http://www.uoregon.edu/~jroering/

David Sutherland

Assistant Professor of Geological Sciences
Dave is a physical oceanographer who joined the UO faculty in 2011. His research interests are focused on understanding how coastal circulation interacts with various estuarine environments and how the physical dynamics control biological, chemical, and geological processes (e.g., larval transport, temperature and salinity variations, water quality, ecosystem services, etc.). Current projects center on the Coos Bay estuary in Oregon, and several fjord systems in Greenland, as well as Puget Sound, which is a fjord system closer to home. He teaches two introductory classes (ENVS 202 and GEOL 307), and is developing more advanced courses on estuarine and coastal oceanography and fluid dynamics.

http://pages.uoregon.edu/dsuth/

Ted Toadvine

Department Head of Philosophy; Associate Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies
Ted joined the UO faculty in 2003, after teaching in Kansas, Michigan, and Florida. His research interests are in contemporary continental philosophy (especially phenomenology and post-structuralism), philosophy of nature, and environmental philosophy. Ongoing research interests include ecophenomenology, embodiment, animality, environmental aesthetics, philosophy of ecology, ecological restoration, biodiversity, the history of concepts of nature, and the role of the environmental humanities within interdisciplinary environmental studies. Ted is the author of Merleau-Ponty’s Philosophy of Nature (Northwestern, 2009), editor or translator of seven books, and Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Philosophy, the official journal of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy. He regularly teaches introduction to environmental studies: humanities and courses in environmental philosophy, environmental ethics, and environmental aesthetics. Since moving to Oregon, he has become an avid fungophile and a fan of Morton Feldman.

http://pages.uoregon.edu/uophil/faculty/profiles/toadvine/

Peter Walker

Associate Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies
Peter joined the UO faculty in 1997, after receiving his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in geography. His research interests are in environmental politics and concepts of nature in Africa and the American West. He regularly teaches introduction to environmental studies: social science (ENVS 201), political ecology (ENVS 450/550), historical and contemporary ideas of nature (Geography 462/562), Sustainability (ENVS 410/510), Geography of Africa (Geography 462/562), Population and Environment (Geography 341), Perspectives on Nature and Society (ENVS 420/520), and seminar in political ecology (ENVS 607).

http://geography.uoregon.edu/walker/

Marsha Weisiger

Associate Professor of History
Marsha Weisiger joined the University of Oregon faculty in 2011 as an environmental historian and the Julie and Rocky Dixon Chair of U.S. Western History and Associate Professor of History. She teaches courses in environmental history, the American West, Native American history, and the art of writing history. She received her Ph.D. in history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA in history from the University of Oklahoma, and BA degrees in anthropology (archaeology) and history from Arizona State University. Before coming to Oregon, she taught history for many years in southern New Mexico. Her current research focuses on western rivers and the meaning of “wildness,” and she is also working on a study of the intersections of the 1960s-70s counterculture and environmentalism, including such subjects as the Hoedads tree-planting collective and reclamation art. She is most recently the author of the award-winning Dreaming of Sheep in Navajo Country, an environmental history of livestock grazing and conservation policy. Previous publications include the prize-winning Land of Plenty: Oklahomans in the Cotton Fields of Arizona, 1933-1942, a social and labor history. For many years she worked as a consultant and administrator in historic preservation and is principal author of the forthcoming Buildings of Wisconsin. She is a strong advocate for bringing historical insights to environmental debates and in 2003 organized a symposium at New Mexico State University, “Leopold Forum: El Lobo,” which brought together historians, scientists, ranchers, environmentalists, and government officials for a public conversation on the past, present, and future of the endangered Mexican Gray Wolf. She is currently a member of the editorial board for Environmental History and serves on the Council of the Western History Association. She is an avid river runner (a swamper, really), and loves camping, biking, and walking with her border collie, Maia, along the Willamette River.

http://history.uoregon.edu/faculty/profiles/index.php?name=weisiger

Louise Westling

Professor of English

Molly Westling grew up in NE Florida among the alligators, palmettos, and water moccasins, graduated from college in Virginia, and earned graduate degrees in English at the Universities of Iowa and Oregon. She has taught at colleges and universities in Kentucky, Oregon, and Germany and has been teaching Environmental Studies courses for more than twenty years. Research interests have migrated from studies of Southern American writers to landscape and American fiction, into ecocritical theory, environmental justice literature, and critical animal studies. Her books include Sacred Groves and Ravaged Gardens: The Fiction of Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, and Flannery O’Connor and The Green Breast of the New World: Landscape and Gender in American Literature. Recent articles have examined human/animal relations in literature from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Virginia Woolf, and the philosophy of Dewey, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty as grounding ecocritical approaches to literary texts. For the past few years she has branched out into the practice of cross-species communication by learning to herd sheep with her Australian Kelpie dogs.

http://www.uoregon.edu/~engl/people/faculty/westling/

Richard York

Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies
Richard grew up in Oregon.  He joined the UO faculty in 2002.  He is the Richard A. Bray Faculty Fellow at the UO and the Chair-Elect of the Environment and Technology Section (ETS) of the American Sociological Association (ASA).  He has published dozens of articles, including ones in American Sociological Review, Ecological Economics, Conservation Biology, Nature Climate Change, Social Problems, Sociological Theory, and Theory and Society. He has published three books with Monthly Review Press: The Critique of Intelligent Design and The Ecological Rift, both with John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark, and The Science and Humanism of Stephen Jay Gould with Brett Clark.  In recognition of his research, he has twice (2004 and 2007) received the Outstanding Publication Award and once (2011) the Honorable Mention for the same award from the ETS of the ASA, and the Rural Sociology Best Paper Award (2011) from the Rural Sociological Society.  He has also received the Teaching and Mentorship Award (2011) from the ETS of the ASA.  His research focuses on the social structural forces that generate environmental crises and the philosophy, history, and sociology of science. He teaches courses on environmental sociology, social theory, and quantitative methodology.

http://sociology.uoregon.edu/faculty/york.php