Environmental
Studies Faculty
Jan
Amend, Associate Professor (Earth and
Planetary Sciences),
Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley.
Microbial
geochemistry of shallow marine and
continental hydrothermal ecosystems. Focus on geochemical constraints
on the
metabolism of microorganisms as well as the effects of microbes on the
geochemistry of their habitat. Current field sites include the thermal
vents of
the Aeolian Islands in southern Italy and hot springs in Yellowstone
National
Park.
Professors:
Lars
Angenent,
Assistant Professor (Environmental
Engineering), Ph.D., Iowa State University. Bioaerosols, Anaerobic
waste
treatment, biological wastewater treatment.
Raymond
E. Arvidson, James S. McDonnell
Distinguished
University Professor (Earth and Planetary Sciences), Ph.D., Brown
University. Remote
sensing and
surface process studies of Venus, Mars and the Earth including lander
and rover
surface operations on Mars aimed at testing hypotheses related to early
warm
and wet conditions on the planet.
Richard
Axelbaum, Associate
Professor (Environmental
Engineering), Ph.D., University of California, Davis. Gas-phase
synthesis of
advanced materials, soot formation in flames, fundamental flame studies
Carrine
Blank, Assistant Professor (Earth and
Planetary Sciences),
Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley.
Geochemical and
molecular biological
approaches studying microbial populations in the boiling springs and
geysers of
Yellowstone National Park. Evolutionary history of microbes
as a means of
understanding the early evolution of life and the geochemical
conditions under
which early life evolved.
Pratim Briswas, Stifel and
Quinette Jens Professor
of Environmental Engineering, Ph.D., California Institute of Technology. Teaching and research
interests include
aerosol science and engineering; nanoparticle technology; air quality
engineering;combustion; materials processing for environmental
technologies,
environmentally benign processing, environmental nanotechnology, and
the
thermal sciences.
Jon
M.
Chase, Assistant
Professor (Biology), Ph.D., University of Chicago.
Diversity, distribution, and abundance of animal and plant
species from the population/community/ecosystem perspective and the
patterns
and processes that develop at the interface between local and regional
spatial
scales.
Geoff
Childs, Assistant Professor
(Anthropology),
Ph.D., Indiana University.
Synthesis of Anthropology and Demography in studying
Tibetan societies.
Robert
E. Criss, Professor (Earth
and Planetary
Sciences), Ph.D., California Institute of Technology.
Stable isotope geochemistry, hydrothermal systems and ore
deposits, river and groundwater hydrology, granitic batholiths, and
mathematical
modeling.
Willem Dickhoff, Professor
(Physics), Ph.D., Free
University, Amsterdam.
Team-teaches Physics 171/EnSt 272: Physics and Society, an
introduction
to physics, its goals, methods, and relevance for society. Topics
include energy
as a unifying principle of physics and society's use of energy; nuclear
energy;
global climate change; science and government; and bad and
pseudo-science.
Milorad
(Mike) Dudukovic, Laura and
William Jens Professor
(Chemical Engineering), Ph.D., IIT, Chicago.
Chemical reaction engineering involving kinetic-transport
interactions in multiphase systems.
Bob
Dymek, Professor (Earth
and Planetary
Sciences), Ph.D., California Institute of Technology.
Professor Dymek utilizes field, chemical, and phase
petrology in the study of igneous and metamorphic processes. More
recently, he
has begun to examine trace elements in sedimentary and metasedimentary
rocks as
recorders of crustal evolution. He has carried out extensive
field
studies in West Greenland investigating high-grade Archaean gneisses,
and in
the Grenville Province of Canada investigating Proterozoic massif
anorthosites
and related rocks. Dr. Dymek is especially interested in
geological
problems that have a fundamental bearing on Precambrian Earth history.
J.
Claude Evans,
Associate Professor (Philosophy), Ph.D., SUNY-Stony Brook. Teaches Phil 235
Introduction to
Environmental Ethics and occasionally an advanced course on topics in
the
philosophy of the environment. The introduction deals with issues such
as
animal rights, anthropocentrism vs. biocentrism, Aldo Leopold's "land
ethic," wilderness, deep ecology, biodiversity, sustainability,
environmental economics, and corporate responsibility.
Bruce
Fegley, Professor (Earth
and Planetary
Sciences), Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Paleo-environmental
questions such as
the effects of large asteroidal and cometary impact on the terrestrial
biosphere at the time of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary and the
connection
between impacts on the early Earth and the origin of life. Currently
teaching
Thermo and Phase Equilibria, Earth System Science and Planetary
Geochemistry.
Dan
Giammar, Assistant
Professor (Environmental
Engineering), Ph.D., California Institute of Technology. Aquatic chemistry in
natural and
engineered systems, chemical reactions at the solid-water interface,
engineering for water quality control, fate and transport of inorganic
contaminants
in the environment.
T.
R. Kidder, Professor
(Anthropology), Ph.D., Harvard
University. North
American
archaeology, geoarchaeology, ceramic analysis, humans and climate
change, plant
domestication; Mississippi River, southeastern United States.
Tiffany
Knight, Assistant
Professor (Biology), Ph.D., University of Pittsburg.
Effects of interspecific interactions, in particular
herbivory and pollination, on the population dynamics of rare and
invasive
plants.
Maxine Lipeles, Professor (Engineering and Policy), J.D., Harvard University. Environmental policy and regulation, particularly hazardous waste and water pollution.
William R.
Lowry, Professor
(Political Science), Ph.D.,
Stanford University. Environmental
policy, regulation, and public lands management.
Edward
S. Macias,
Professor
(Chemistry), Ph.D.,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Problems of the polluted
atmosphere with
particular emphasis on the causes of haze in pristine areas of the
United
States such as the Grand Canyon.
F. Beth
Martin, Engineering and
Science Director,
Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic, M.S. (Environmental
Engineering) Washington
University. Environmental
Policy
and its interaction with science and engineering.
Ken
Olsen, Assistant
Professor (Biology), Ph.D., Washington
University. Plant
evolutionary
biology, including the molecular genetic basis of adaptation, the
mechanisms by
which populations diverge, and the population genetics of crop
domestication.
Clare
Palmer, Associate
Professor (Philosophy), Ph.D., Oxford University.
Environmental philosophy and ethics, feminist ethics,
Continental philosophy, Whitehead and process philosophy.
Professor
Palmer's books include Environmental Ethics and Process Thinking
(Oxford, 1998)
and forthcoming co-edited books Killing Animals (University of Illinois
Press,
2005), and Critical Concepts in Philosophy: Environmental Philosophy (5
vols.)
(Routledge, November 2004).
Jill
Pasteris, Professor (Earth
and Planetary
Sciences), Ph.D., Yale University.
Traditional mineralogic-geologic approach to
non-traditional
materials. Application
of
vibrational spectroscopy, laser scanning confocal microscopy,
microthermometry,
and more traditional geochemical analysis techniques to: fluid
inclusions in
minerals and glasses, nanocrystalline precipitates and skeletal
minerals in
bacteria and humans, CO2 introduced onto the
ocean floor.
Bruce
Petersen, Associate Professor
(Economics), Ph.D.,
Harvard University. Teaches
EnSt/Econ 453 Environmental Economics. The course considers the reasons
why
economies may generate excessive levels of pollution, what economists
mean by
"optimal" pollution levels and "efficient" pollution
abatement, and how such outcomes can be achieved. The course also
examines the
practice of pollution control in the United States, including water
pollution
and various types of local, regional, and global air pollution.
Robert
Pollak, Professor (Economics), Ph.D., MIT. Teaches EnSt/Econ 453
Environmental
Economics. The course considers the reasons why economies may generate
excessive levels of pollution, what economists mean by "optimal"
pollution levels and "efficient" pollution abatement, and how such
outcomes can be achieved. The course also examines the practice of
pollution
control in the United States, including water pollution and various
types of
local, regional, and global air pollution.
D.
Tab Rasmussen, Associate Professor
(Anthropology),
Ph.D., Duke University. Evolution
of early primates; biology of living prosimian primates; changes in
mammalian
communities during the Cenozoic (last 60 million years); extinctions of
primates and birds in Madagascar; paleontological field work in Africa
and
North America; courses taught include Primate Biology, Primate
Evolution,
Paleontological Laboratory Methods and Analysis.
Barbara
A. Schaal,
Professor (Biology), Ph.D., Yale University.
Conservation biology of plants; studying the genetic
consequence of habitat fragmentation and management practices in
several native
plant species.
Jennifer
R. Smith, Assistant Professor
(Earth and Planetary
Sciences), Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania.
Use of geologic and archaeological tools to study the
relations between ancient humans and their environment.
Glenn
Stone
Professor
(Anthropology),
Ph.D., University of Arizona.
Cultural and political ecology; indigenous agriculture;
population;
settlement patterns; ethnoarchaeology.
Robert
W. Sussman
Professor
(Anthropology), Ph.D., Duke
University. Primate
evolution and
ecology; conservation strategies and policies in tropical environments,
such as
Madagascar, Costa Rica, Guyana, and the Indian Ocean Islands.
Alan
R.
Templeton
Professor (Biology), Ph.D.,
University of Michigan.
Applies molecular genetic techniques to problems arising
in
conservation biology, including management of captive populations of
endangered
species, management of natural populations of endangered species,
management of
natural populations, reintroduction of endangered species to restored
habitats,
and inferring taxonomic status of endangered groups.
Jay R.
Turner
Associate Professor
(Engineering and
Policy, Chemical Engineering), D. Sc., Washington University. Environmental reaction
engineering with
emphasis on air pollution characterization and control. Policy and
technical
aspects of transportation / air quality issues.
Jane
Wolff
Assistant Professor
(Architecture), MLA,
Harvard University. Prof. Wolff has practiced landscape and urban
design in the
Bay Area, and before her appointment at Washington University, she
taught at
the California College of Arts and Crafts and the Ohio State University. She is the author of Delta
Primer
a
book designed to
educate diverse
audiences about the contested landscape of the California Delta. Her research
interests deal with
the hybrid landscapes produced by natural process and cultural
intervention.
Her study topics have included the architecture of the Finnish railway
system,
the history of land reclamation in the Netherlands, and the cultural
landscapes
of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and her work has been supported by
two
Fulbright Scholarships, a Charles Eliot Traveling Fellowship, and a
grant from
the Graham Foundation for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.
Brian Wrenn
Assistant Professor
(Civil Engineering),
Ph.D., University of Illinois. Environmental Biotechnology:
Bioremediation
Processes, Soil, Sediment, Groundwater Treatment.