Research interests: market-based mechanisms and trading systems for environmental compliance, conservation and restoration; the commons; definitions and valuation of natural capital ecosystem services.
Josh is a co-founder and principal of Good Company, a sustainability research and consulting firm. For his professional bio, visit Good Company on the web (www.goodcompany.com ). Before joining ESSP, Josh taught courses on sustainable development and sustainable business in the Department of Planning, Public Policy and Management.
I might be new to the Environmental Studies program, but I've been at the University of Oregon
for a while now. After majoring in English and Biology (with a concentration in Environmental
Studies) at Kenyon College in Ohio, I began work towards a doctoral degree in English here at
UO. My work in the English program has been interesting, but not as inspiring as working on
the borders between disciplines. I look forward to continuing my work on literary and cultural
representations of the environment, as well as doing work outside of the English department in
the areas of Biology and Geography. I'm interested in fostering lines of communication between
the sciences and humanities and thinking about what it means to engage in "interdisciplinary"
and "multidisciplinary" studies. I'm also looking forward to putting my own interests in
dialogue; I hope to work in areas as (seemingly) disparate as landscape ecology, environmental
justice, the rhetoric of science, race and space, resource management, and ecocriticism. Most of all, I'm excited by the prospect of learning from and with other scholars that are thinking about
how to integrate various approaches in the service of environmental problem solving.
Janet Fiskio
jfiskiol at uoregon.edu
Focal Department: English
Concentration Areas: Philosophy and Biology
Advisor: Molly Westling, English
Previous Degrees:
B.A. Earlham College, Religion
M.Div. Earlham School of Religion
M.A. University of Oregon, Environmental Studies
Before enrolling at the University of Oregon I completed 2 terms with AmeriCorp's program "Communities in Partnership to Stop Violence against Women and Children" as a community educator. I also worked at Sexual Assault Support Services, where I coordinated education programs and taught self-defense for women and girls.
Research Interests: 20th century American literature and ecocriticism; evolutionary theory, particularly in the work of Thoreau, Nabhan, and Deleuze and Guattari; urban literature and environmental justice; continental, indigenous, and feminist philosophies of science. I've just returned from the Neotropical Ecology program in Ecuador.
Courses taught:
ENVS 435: Environmental Justice (Winter 2007)
ENG 220: Introduction to the Major (Spring 2007, Fall 2006)
WR 122: College Composition 2 (Winter 2006, Spring 2005)
ENVS 411: Philosophy of Agriculture (Fall 2005)
ENVS 203: Introduction to Environmental Studies (Summer 2005)
WR 121: College Composition 1 (Fall 2004)
ENVS 411: Ecofeminism (Winter 2004)
ENVS 411: Ecological Knowledges (Fall 2003)
Sarah Jaquette Ray
sjaquett at uoregon.edu
Focal Department: English
Research Interests: My research investigates the ways that the idea of "nature" or "the environment" is used for various projects of social control. For example, I'm interested in the phenomenon that political ecologist Betsy Hartmann has called "the greening of hate" in American history, and am currently working on research that deals with anti-immigrant environmentalism in Arizona. Preserving "nature" has historically served as a justification for less savory agendas, from environmental racism and biodiversity enclosures to eugenics and vigilantism against tides of "invasive species"--a problematic euphemism that conflates flora, fauna, and migrants-- pressuring American borders. How can understanding this history of green hate help make environmentalism a more effective theoretical and political tool for social and environmental justice? I approach this question with tools from social ecocriticism, cultural theory, political geography, and environmental history. I came to this program with a MA from UT-Austin in American Studies, a BA in Religious Studies and Women's Studies from Swarthmore College, and a well-used but mostly forgotten certificate in Bartending.
I live in Corvallis with my husband Jimmy, our dog Skye, and our five chickens, who are well organized against us by the lead hen, Mrs. Cluckington.
Courses Taught:
ENVS 411: Topic: Society, Nature and U.S. History (Spring 2006)
WR 121: College Composition I
WR 122: College Composition II
WR 123: Research Composition
Shangrila comes to the ESSP program with a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs from Ohio University, Athens, OH, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences from St.Xavier's Campus, Kathmandu University, Nepal. She has also been a reporter for The Himalayan Times in Nepal, writing with a 'science, technology and environment' beat.
Her research interests lie at the intersection of Environment and Development Studies, Environmental Justice and Political Ecology. For her dissertation project, Shangrila seeks to explore the tensions embedded in environment-development debates in the global South, and to advance discussions of environmental justice in a North-South or international context, through the analysis of contemporary climate change negotiations between and within the global North and South.
Broadly conceived, my interests encompass the ontological and socio-cultural dimensions of
place and placelessness in post-Enlightenment to postmodern contexts. Protection of forests and
other human and non-human animal habitats through both direct action and theoretical
approaches also comprise an important area of interest.
For my M.A. thesis (Philosophy, Graduate Theological Union, 2006), I explored the ways in
which Paul Celan’s poetry enacts the Heideggerian concept of Be-ing as the co-located action of
human and non-human beings as embodied in the world. I also completed a B.A. in English at
U.C. Berkeley.
Currently, I am writing a book about a community redwood forest in the north coast region of
California. The park was initially created in the late nineteenth century by a land grant of an
uncut logging claim on the outskirts of Eureka and today still boasts many ancient redwoods as
well as second growth trees. The book will be in print by the end of 2007, so check back for
more information. Better yet, visit the park!
My burning questions: 1) Where and what is “place” in a world dominated by globalization?
(aka What to do when there’s no where there), and 2) How can the concept of legal standing be
expanded to include the life forms and natural resources upon which all life depends?
Forests = water = life.
Psychology
Ezra Markowitz
emarkowi at uoregon.edu
Focal Department: Psychology
Research Interests: As a Conservation Psychologist, there are many topics I am interested in exploring through the application of an interdisciplinary approach to the study of individual actors. Currently, my research thoughts have turned to two driving questions. First, how do individuals think about others' environmentally-relevant actions? What sorts of motivations and intentions do we ascribe to the people we observe throughout our daily lives with respect to those others' environmental behaviors? Second, what role does empathic connection to nature play in driving various 'proenvironmental behaviors' (PEBs)? If an individual's sense of feeling connected to the natural world does predict participation in various PEBs, how can we increase such feelings in an attempt to improve our physical, psychological, and emotional relationships to nature?
I am a recent transplant to Oregon, having lived the past 22 years primarily in New York. I love being outdoors, running, and playing my saxophone when I can find time. I currently live in Corvallis with my partner, Melissa.
5223 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5223, Voice (541) 346-5000, Fax (541) 346-5954
Visit us in Pacific Hall, Room 10 or email us at ecostudy@uoregon.edu
