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2021 Election Results

May 25, 2021 2016 Conference, 2017 Conference, 2018 Conference, AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Branded Books Series

Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences Announces New Board Members

BALTIMORE, Maryland (June 14, 2021) — The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) has announced the results of its 2021 Board of Directors election, naming a new secretary, three at-large Board members, and three nominations committee members.

Incoming Board Secretary:

Valerie Rountree, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands, has served as the AESS Conference Program Chair for multiple years and remains an engaged Membership Committee member.

Newly elected at-large Board members include:

Clara Fang, PhD candidate in environmental studies at Antioch University New England;

Lissy Goralnik, faculty member at Michigan State University in the department of community sustainability; and

David Murphy, Associate Professor and Chair of Environmental Studies at St Lawrence University.

New members of the nominations committee include:

Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Program Director and Associate Professor at Skidmore College;

Sharon Locke, Professor and Director of the STEM Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville; and

Sailaja Nandigama, Assistant Professor at Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, Rajasthan Campus, India.

The newly elected will officially take office following the close of the annual AESS conference, which is being held virtually, June 28 – July 1.

To find out more about the elected, visit AESS’s election page.

Board Secretary

Valerie Rountree

Assistant Professor Environmental Studies
University of Redlands

Board At-Large

Clara Fang

PhD Candidate, Environmental Studies

Lissy Goralnik

Assistant Professor, Department of Community Sustainability

Michigan State University

David Murphy

Chair and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
St. Lawrence University

Nominations Committee

Nurcan Atalan-Helicke, Ph.D

Associate Professor & Director
Environmental Studies and Sciences Program
Skidmore College

Sharon Locke

Professor of Environmental Sciences and Director of the Center for STEM Research, Education, and Outreach

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Dr. Sailaja Nandigama

Assistant Professor (PhD in Development Studies from ISS, the Netherlands)
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
Rajasthan, India
Office: 6168 M, Ext:5700
Social Media/Webpages:

 

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Earth Day Resources!

April 22, 2021 2016 Conference, 2017 Conference, 2018 Conference, AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Branded Books Series

Happy Earth Day from the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences! This Earth Day, AESS wanted to share these great resources for educators and students to use.

Books:

  • American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau
    • Edited by Bill McKibben
    • “As America and the world grapple with the consequences of global environmental change, writer and activist Bill McKibben offers this unprecedented, provocative, and timely anthology, gathering the best and most significant American environmental writing from the last two centuries.”
  • A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
    • By Bill Bryson
    • “A 1998 autobiographical book by travel writer Bill Bryson, describing his attempt to walk the Appalachian Trail with his friend “Stephen Katz”. The book is written in a humorous style, interspersed with more serious discussions of matters relating to the trail’s history, and the surrounding sociology, ecology, trees, plants, animals and people.”
  • Arctic Dreams
    • By Barry Lopez
    • “This bestselling, groundbreaking exploration of the Far North is a classic of natural history, anthropology, and travel writing.”
  • Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
    • By Michael Braungart and William McDonough
    • “In nature, the “waste” of one system becomes food for another. Everything can be designed to be disassembled and safely returned to the soil as biological nutrients, or re-utilized as high-quality materials for new products as technical nutrients without contamination.”
  • Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality
    • By Robert D. Bullard
    • “Starting with the premise that all Americans have a basic right to live in a healthy environment, Dumping in Dixie chronicles the efforts of five African American communities, empowered by the civil rights movement, to link environmentalism with issues of social justice.”
  • Lessons in Environmental Justice
    • Edited by Michael Mascarenas
    • “Lessons in Environmental Justice provides an entry point to the field by bringing together the works of individuals who are creating a new and vibrant wave of environmental justice scholarship. methodology, and activism. The 18 essays in this collection explore a wide range of controversies and debates, from the U.S. and other societies.”
  • Silent Spring
    • By Rachel Carson
    • “Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement. It is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century.”
  • Small Wonder
    • By Barbara Kingsolver
    • “Whether she is contemplating the Grand Canyon, her vegetable garden, motherhood, genetic engineering, or the future of a nation founded on the best of all human impulses, these essays are grounded in the author’s belief that our largest problems have grown from the earth’s remotest corners as well as our own backyards, and that answers may lie in both those places.”
  • The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century
    • By Alex Prud’homme
    • “Alex Prud’homme’s remarkable work of investigative journalism shows how freshwater is the pressing global issue of the twenty-first century.”
  • The World Without Us
    • By Alan Weisman
    • “The World Without Us is a 2007 non-fiction book about what would happen to the natural and built environment if humans suddenly disappeared.”

Film and Television:

Podcasts:

Websites and Apps:

  • Endangered Species Conservation Site 
    • “The goal of The Endangered Species Conservation Site is to help inform people about the importance of protecting endangered plant and animal species, profile success stories of species recovery, emphasize the critical role of the Endangered Species Act, and highlight the individual actions that we can take.”
    • Website: www.esconservsite.org
  • Endangered Species Database
    • “Search by species, state, or county in this database maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .”
    • Website: www.fws.gov/endangered/
  • iNaturalist (app)
    • “Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe.” 
    • Website: https://www.inaturalist.org/
  • SHARE Greater Lynchburg 
    • “SHARE Greater Lynchburg is a community engagement conduit offering simple ways for neighbors, nonprofits, and businesses to come together and strengthen our local community.” 
    • Website: sharegreaterlynchburg.org/

Other Opportunities:

 

Thank you to the AESS members who contributed to this list and the Randolph College Lipscomb Library for sharing their collaborative list of recommended resources!

 

Other Sources:

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AAPI Statement

April 8, 2021 2016 Conference, 2017 Conference, 2018 Conference, AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Branded Books Series

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences supports Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people and communities. We condemn recent acts of violence toward Asians.  The tragedy in Atlanta is a horrific example of a growing trend of overt violence, and part of a much longer history in the United States of AAPI discrimination that is often underreported, unacknowledged, or ignored. AESS stands in solidarity with community leaders, students, and educators who are actively engaged in anti-racist action and serving the needs of the most vulnerable members of the AAPI community.

We grieve for the victims Daoyou Feng, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Paul Andre Michels, Soon Chung Park, Xiaojie Tan, Delaina Ashley Yaun, and Yong Yue, and their families.

Our AESS community is committed to elevating the voices of those who are members of marginalized and minoritized groups in Environmental Studies and Sciences.  An important step toward achieving that goal is for those who hold the power associated with privileged, historically dominant identities in the United States to become educated to promote the greater good.  Here are some resources for that work.

Resources

Academia can be a common setting for bullying related to identity. We encourage our members to learn about cognitive bias, how to interrupt bias and how to intervene when they witness bias and discrimination.

Effecting Personal and Organizational Change

Curricular Resources

Films, Books, and Websites

  • Brave New Films
  • Healing Justice
  • The Color of Fear, a film by Lee Mon Wah
  • Ritu Bhasin’s website
  • Young, Proud and Sung-Jee (Emily Ku and Joyce Lee)
  • Biased ( Jennifer Eberhardt)
  • Waking Up White (D. Irving)  
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Position Announcement

March 22, 2021 2016 Conference, 2017 Conference, 2018 Conference, AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Branded Books Series, JESS

Advertisement for JESS Editor-in-Chief

The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, the flagship journal of the Association of  Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS), is seeking an Editor-in-Chief. Established in 2010,  JESS is published by Springer, part of Springer Nature. The journal offers a venue for relevant  interdisciplinary environmental research, practice and public policy dialogue. In addition to  setting a rigorous, credible standard for interdisciplinary environmental research, the journal also  aims to represent diverse voices in the ESS community. Toward this end, recent initiatives  include a new “essays with attitude” op/ed section and plans for an undergraduate research section. The journal has a high standard for publication and an international readership,  publication record, and editorial board. 

AESS seeks to appoint an Editor-in-Chief (EiC) to succeed Walter (Tony) Rosenbaum, the  founding EiC who will be retiring from the journal in September of 2021. The position for the new EiC will commence June 1, 2021 to provide overlap between the new EiC and Emeritus EiC  for transition mentoring. 

The newly appointed EiC will have full editorial responsibility for the content published in the  journal and for ensuring that the ethos, editorial standards, policies and scope of JESS are  maintained. They will also be responsible for providing strategic guidance and overseeing the  scope of content and work of 26 Associate Editors. The EiC will lead an Editorial Board of 30 members and collaborate closely with the AESS Board. The AESS board expects the EiC to have  a strong presence in the organization, contributing to the Annual Conference, attending monthly  board meetings as an ex officio representative of JESS, and chairing the AESS Publications  Committee. 

While no single candidate is likely to exemplify all of the following characteristics, we are seeking an EiC who is: 

  • An active scholar with publishing experience situated in one or more areas of the fields of environmental studies and sciences. 
  • Experienced as a journal editor, associate editor, or special issue editor, with strong  critical analysis and appraisal skills, and a good understanding of peer review and publication ethics. 
  • Prepared to help JESS realize the goals of AESS with respect to equity and inclusion.  The EiC must understand strategies for mitigating biases against scholars based on their gender, race, ethnicity, institutional type, and other factors that have led to  marginalization, historically, in ESS.  
  • Able to demonstrate strong leadership and collaboration skills.  
  • Able to articulate a clear vision for JESS consistent with the interdisciplinary mission of AESS. 
  • Interested in building strong community relationships with environmental studies and  science scholars and practitioners at all levels.  
  • Dedicated to further developing JESS as a leader in the rapidly evolving landscapes of interdisciplinary scholarly journal publishing and of the fields of ESS. 

In addition, although the publisher provides administrative services, the EiC must be able to dedicate a significant amount of time on a regular basis to a busy and thriving journal. See the  position description for details of the work. 

Term of appointment 

The term of office will be for five years, with an option for renewal by mutual consent for a  further term. The position offers an honorarium. 

Applications 

Applications should include a full CV, a letter explaining interest in the position and  qualifications, and a separate document that outlines a vision for the future of JESS, in relation to  the AESS mission and to the increasingly open-access environment of scholarly publishing.  

Applications should be sent to the JESS Search Committee at:  

EICapply@aessonline.org 

Applications will be reviewed by a Search Committee that will recommend the candidate for hire  to the AESS Board. The Search Committee consists of the AESS leadership, Board members,  and two Associate Editors of JESS. Tony Rosenbaum (JESS Editor-in-Chief) and Melinda Paul  (Springer Publishing Editor JESS) are ex officio advisors to the Committee. The AESS Board  will make the final selection of the EiC. 

Closing date for applications 

April 15, 2021 

Interviews and start date 

Interviews will begin in early May. The anticipated start date of the position is June 1, 2021. 

AESS does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, sexual  orientation, gender identity, national origin, marital status, disability, or veteran status in its  education or employment programs or activities.

Position Description pdf

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Call for papers: environmental advocacy

October 8, 2020 AESS News Bulletins, JESS

The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, produced quarterly by the international publisher Springer Nature, is looking to publish a collection of articles about current environmental advocacy.  We invite you to submit a manuscript for consideration among these selected articles.  We encourage manuscripts focused on the research, teaching, or application of advocacy concerning

  • climate change

  • biodiversity conservation

  • energy transition

  • environmental justice

  • environmental education 

  • toxics pollution

Articles may be original research, commentary, book reviews, and case studies. Contributions are welcome from scholars, educators, policy practitioners, policy advocates and students. 

Please include on the title page “For the Symposium on Environmental Advocacy.”

Manuscripts are due by October 31, 2020.

Please submit your manuscript at the journal website, http://www.springer.com/environment/journal/13412. Read the “Submission Guidelines” and follow the instructions provided for new authors. 

If you’d like to send an abstract before submitting a manuscript, editors would be happy to give you feedback. Please email at the addresses below.

Clara Fang
Symposium Editor
cfang@antioch.edu

Walter Rosenbaum
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences
tonyros@ufl.edu  

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Mystery Mondays on AESS Social Media

October 6, 2020 AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Member Spotlight

What is Mystery Monday? You might have seen #MM or #MysteryMonday on social media sites, and we’re getting in on the fun.

We would like to share your stories, research, projects, teaching and interactions with ESS. Not published? That’s fine! Tell us how you came to major in ESS or be an AESS member. Retired? That’s fine, too. Tell us about a memorable ESS moment. See form for more details.

In the past we’ve shared shout-outs for members as they submit news, and this is a maturation of that idea where we collect information to feature a member each week. This works toward our goals to increase engagement and foster community in a digital space.

Our 2020 fall social media interns have developed this project, and we hope to give them the opportunity to feature 8-10 members during their fall internship with AESS. This is open to ALL AESS members. We hope to engage students, post-grads, faculty, etc. – all are welcome and encouraged to share. We will be posting these on AESS Instagram and Facebook pages with links to twitter and LinkedIn.

This is where we need your input!

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The following content is accessible for members only, please sign in.

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Kat Owens Intro

October 1, 2020 AESS News Bulletins, Member Spotlight

Welcome President-Elect, Kat Owens!

Kat Owens was elected to the President-Elect (2020-22) and will transition to AESS President for a two-year term beginning 2022.

Kat Owens is an associate professor in the department of Politics, Economics, and International Studies at the University of Hartford in Connecticut where she is also director of the University Interdisciplinary Studies program. 

Owens’ work crosses the social and natural sciences, seeking to link environmental science with policy. In 2015, working under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, she created a open source college course on marine debris. In this experiential course, students used scientific methods to collect and catalog debris from Connecticut’s shoreline, and then shared the results with state-level policy makers. In 2016, Owens was one of fifteen inaugural faculty to join ENACT (The Educational Network for Active Civic Transformation), created by Brandeis’ International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life. In ENACT courses, students conduct research, create policy briefs, meet with lawmakers, and write opinion editorials advocating for or against bills in the state legislature. Through funding from the National Geographic Society while on a Fulbright Nehru grant, she worked in 2019 to train stakeholders in Thiruvananthapuram, India in data collection and policy-advocacy methods. A second project, also sponsored by National Geographic (currently postponed by COVID19), will entail similar work in Tororo, Uganda. 

She started attending AESS meetings in 2016 after years of trying to find an association or society that appreciated and supported interdisciplinary work. She was thrilled to find a welcoming community of vibrant and talented researchers, teachers, artists, and advocates in AESS. Kat lives with her husband, three children, dog, and six chickens in central Connecticut. 

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JESS Festschrift to honor Monty Hempel

August 24, 2020 AESS News Bulletins, JESS

New Deadline –

Call for Papers and Media Contributions: Special Edition of Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences to Honor Lamont (Monty) Hempel 

A festschrift to honor the life of Dr. Lamont (Monty) Hempel will be published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences in Summer/Fall 2021. The volume will include 15-20 peer-reviewed articles. We welcome contributions on subjects related to Monty’s personal and professional interests, including: 

  • Environmental media and communication; 
  • Environmental politics, policy, and governance; 
  • Experiential environmental education; 
  • Sustainability; and, 
  • The Anthropocene – climate change, biodiversity and other aspects 

Appropriate contributions include research articles; review articles synthesizing scholarship in relevant areas; articles addressing to implications of research and scholarship to environmental policy, governance and politics; and, non-text contributions. Non-text contributions may include video and images related to Monty Hempel’s work on environmental documentaries and his use of art to communicate and inspire understanding and appreciation of environmental issues. 

On December 4, 2019, Monty Hempel, Hedco Chair in Environmental Studies and the Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands, passed away following a brief illness. Monty was an innovative interdisciplinary scholar, educator, mentor, and talented documentary filmmaker. His scholarship focused on environmental science, governance and politics, communication, and experiential education, emphasizing climate disruption and marine environmental protection. 

Monty Hempel served as the first president of the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) and as a member of the executive committee of the national Council of Environmental Deans and Directors (CEDD). His pragmatic idealism and personal modesty belied his significant achievements over more than four decades. 

Please submit for consideration Abstracts (required) of at least 250 words to Dr. Peter Saundry, Johns Hopkins University, psaundr1@jhu.edu by September 17, 2020. Articles should consist of approximately 4,000 – 9,000 words (before references) and conform to guidelines in the journal’s “Submission Guidelines” found at the journal’s website, https://www.springer.com/journal/13412. Completed first drafts of articles must be received by November 19, 2020 to begin the peer review process. 

Dr. Lamont (Monty) Hempel Festschrift Editorial Committee: Peter Saundry (Chief Editor), David Blockstein (AESS Senior Adviser), Wil Burns (American University), Tony Rosenbaum (University of Florida), Kimberly Smith (Carleton College)

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Two New Resources for AESS Members

August 13, 2020 AESS News Bulletins

The AESS Professional Development Committee is excited to share two new resources to assist with 2020-2021 teaching. These resources are available to AESS members after they have logged into their account at aessonline.org.

AESS Expert Network

In order to support online and socially distanced teaching this coming year, the AESS Professional Development Committee has created a list of AESS members who are willing to:

1) do virtual class visits to discuss their research;
2) do virtual class visits to discuss their community sustainability work; and/or
3) collaborate with faculty in other locations to connect their students with community stakeholders and activists in your city or town.

Teaching Out-of-Doors Workshop Notes

This compilation is available to AESS members as a benefit of membership.
keywords: agroforestry, sustainable food systems, climate geoengineering, environmental justice, environmental ethics, sustainability, global environmental negotiations, supply chain, eco-art, economics of national parks, environmental science, dragonfly behavior, coyote distribution, energy for international development, climate change, participatory budgeting, renewable energy policy, forest management, Indigenous environmental justice, ecosystem restoration, Anthropocene, congressional oversight, environmental planning, landscape architecture, fieldbooks, urban planning, cultural geography, natural resource restoration, biogas, behavior change during covid-19, community development, health, fossil fuel divestment, transportation justice, religion and environment, climate engineering, science communication, stormwater management, water quality, information literacy, library research, toxicology, equity, diversity
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AESS Calls for Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion

June 5, 2020 AESS News Bulletins

AESS Calls for Racial Justice, Equity and Inclusion

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences is saddened and outraged by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless other Black people as part of practices operating under systemic racism and institutional injustice, including racism and persecution by law enforcement.  We write in support of the multitude of people who are suffering the harm of racial prejudice.   We write in solidarity with the protestors who are mobilizing around the world to raise awareness of the need for justice and recognition that Black Lives Matter.  We note the work of our AESS Diversity Committee and in particular our collaboration with Antioch University on the Diversity and Environment Webinar series.  On Thursday June 4, 2020, the webinar by Sarika Tandon focused on “Race and Environment” had more than 500 registrants who had the opportunity to become more educated on this important topic (slide deck and recording available here:  Antioch University Community Resilience Center website).  We also realize the magnitude of the problem and the ongoing, constant need for education and action.

The theme of our upcoming low carbon conference (July 15-17) is “Research and Action.”  We call for action toward issues of racial and environmental justice that so many of our researchers study.  The white privilege of the majority of scholars, professionals, and activists in Environmental Studies and Sciences, so strongly colors our perspective on environmental issues that AESS will not be able to be an excellent professional organization without continued attention to diversifying our organization and promoting equity and justice within our organization, our communities, our institutions, and the fields of Environmental Studies and Sciences.  Environmental issues disproportionately impact people of color and will never be satisfactorily addressed while embedded in a racially unjust system, as so compelling explained recently by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson in Racism Derails our Efforts to Save the Planet.

Working in collaboration with one another and our communities, we can make a positive difference. Our AESS Diversity Committee works to engage a broader set of voices, those of ESS professionals and students of different intersectional identities, in order to positively shape our organization (AESS Diversity Committee Charter).  They have organized an open session at our upcoming AESS Low Carbon Conference 2020 .  Antioch University and AESS are co-sponsoring upcoming Environmental Advocacy Webinars that feature talks on environmental justice and mobilizing the power of local communities and youth.  Yet, we recognize that we are not doing enough work on racial justice as an organization and that we need to continue to make steps forward.   Educating ourselves is an important ongoing measure.  In that spirit, we share some useful perspectives on AntiRacism Resources,  500 Women Scientists Take Action Black Lives Matter and  Environmentalists for Black Lives Matter.

We look forward to learning about your ideas for progress.  Please share with us at the AESS Conference or by contacting us at dei@aessonline.org

-The AESS Board of Directors

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The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) is an independent faculty-and-student-based professional association in higher education, designed to serve the needs of environmental scholars and scientists who value interdisciplinary approaches to research, teaching, and problem-solving.

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