College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Community Sustainability

Greetings!  My scholarly work centers on community engagement for conservation and sustainability.  I strive to integrate these disciplines: engagement processes and their evaluation, human dimensions of natural resource conservation, environmental education, citizen science, and community/civic participation.  My teaching is focused on environmental and place-based education and on community engagement. In addition, I work with teams of educators and diverse community partners to develop MSU Extension programs and evaluation regarding community-based conservation volunteer programs and K-8 STEM teacher professional development programs using place-based pedagogy.  I conduct applied evaluation research on factors that foster community engagement in conservation and sustainability.  One specific project includes deliberative dialogues and mental modeling to engage publics in generating policy options to guide Great Lakes Literacy and Stewardship programming in K-12 systems.  Another long-term, ongoing project consists of iterative evaluations of the Michigan Conservation Stewards Program as inquiry regarding programming impacts, improvement and long-terms benefits for new conservation partners (e.g., urban and suburban partners, land conservancies, city park systems).  I enjoy spending time with my family, hiking, kayaking, fishing, hunting, and exploring all sorts of outdoor and historic places -- whether urban or rural.

Courses I Teach

CSUS 301 – Community Engagement for Sustainability – required for all CSUS undergraduates

CSUS 445 – Community-Based Environmental and Sustainability Education

CSUS 310 – (Summer, online) – History of Environmental Thought and Sustainability