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AESS Announces 2024 Award Winners

June 20, 2024 AESS News Bulletins

Contact: Carolyn Anthon

support@aessonline.org 

Office: (202) 503-4638 

June 20, 2024

For immediate release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) has selected the four recipients of the 2024 AESS Awards to be recognized at a virtual ceremony during the AESS Annual Conference, June 20-21, 2024. Since 2010, these awards have recognized faculty, scholars and students in Environmental Studies and Sciences at all career stages who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service to the AESS community.

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences is a scholarly and professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary research, teaching and service for faculty and students in the more than 1,000 Environmental academic programs nationwide and beyond.  

2024 Award Recipients

Dr. Stephanie Kaza has been awarded the William R. Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.  Named for an AESS founder, Dr. William R. Freudenburg, this Award seeks to recognize and advance the spirit of AESS co-founder, the late Professor William R. Freudenburg, who spawned a new generation of environmental professionals and academics who have pursued interdisciplinary research to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. Through this award, AESS honors members of the profession who have also devoted their lives to strengthening our field by mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists and activists. Dr. Stephanie Kaza is Professor Emeritus in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Vermont (UVM). She is a writer, a practicing Soto Zen Buddhist and tireless advocate for interdisciplinary studies. For many years, she served as the Director of the Environmental Program at UVM  and on the U.S. Council of Environmental Deans and Directors. Dr. Kaza has been a leader in the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies for most of her career. 

Dr. Kaza’s scholarly contributions reflect a commitment to integrative environmental scholarship. Her publications underscore the significance of humanities in interdisciplinary environmental studies. Notably, her last three books, published by the Buddhist press Shambala Publications, delve into the intersection of spirituality and ecology. Equally significant is Dr. Kaza’s impact as an educator. Throughout her extensive career, she has excelled in teaching and lecturing on various topics. In 2011, she received the UVM George V. Kidder Outstanding Faculty Award, a testament to her excellence in teaching. Dr. Stephanie Kaza has a lifetime of commitment to interdisciplinary environmental studies and sciences. AESS is delighted to recognize her long-standing contributions to the organization as one of the founding members and to the field overall. 

Dr. Laurence Delina has been awarded the AESS Early Career Award. This Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and promising future potential for teaching, research, policy, or activism in any field of environmental science and studies. Through this award, AESS honors individuals who are early in their careers, but have made significant contributions to knowledge, community and diversity in environmental studies and science, and have a career plan and trajectory that promise to continue and bolster such contributions. Dr. Delina’s research is primarily focused on climate, energy and resilience with a specific emphasis on vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia, his home region. The committee noted accomplishments as a scholar as well as dedication in the field – particularly the collaborative and consistent support of students and more junior researchers via the Delina Research Group. Dr. Delina exemplifies the spirit of AESS in terms of scholarly and participatory approaches to ESS.

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AESS Announces 2023 Award Winners

July 21, 2023 AESS News Bulletins

Contact: Carolyn Anthon

canthon@aessonline.org 

Office: (202) 503-4638 

July 21, 2023

For immediate release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) recognized three recipients of the 2023 AESS Awards during the AESS Annual Conference, July 9-12, 2023. Since 2010, these awards have recognized faculty, scholars and students in Environmental Studies and Sciences at all career stages who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service to the AESS community.

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences is a scholarly and professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary research, teaching and service for faculty and students in the more than 1,000 Environmental academic programs nationwide and beyond.  

2023 Award Recipients

Dr. James Proctor has been awarded the William R. Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.  Named for an AESS founder, Dr. William R. Freudenburg, this Award seeks to recognize and advance the spirit of AESS co-founder, the late Professor William R. Freudenburg, who spawned a new generation of environmental professionals and academics who have pursued interdisciplinary research to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. Through this award, AESS honors members of the profession who have also devoted their lives to strengthening our field by mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists and activists. Jim Proctor is a Professor in the Environmental Studies Program at Lewis & Clark College, with a broad academic background spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, and research interests in environmental theory. For over 30 years, Jim has been an innovative and productive scholar in Environmental Studies, an attentive and creative teacher in the ES classroom, and a generous and supportive mentor to many others in our interdisciplinary space. Jim was one of the founding members of AESS, and has written extensively about the discipline itself as well as many essential ideas in ESS, including social constructivism, environmental education, ideological conflict, and ethics. Most recently, he has developed the Ecotypes survey, an impressive synthesis of a variety of foundational ideas in ESS, and he is also heading the AESS Frameworks Project, a group working to understand and improve how ideological frameworks are understood and deployed in ESS classrooms. He has an incredible ability to bring people together around interesting topics and to create meaningful products from those efforts.

Dr. Lisa Powell has been awarded the AESS Early Career Award. This Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and promising future potential for teaching, research, policy, or activism in any field of environmental science and studies.  Through this award, AESS honors individuals who are early in their careers, but have made significant contributions to knowledge, community and diversity in environmental studies and science, and have a career plan and trajectory that promise to continue and bolster such contributions. Lisa Powell is Director of the Center for Human and Environmental Sustainability, and Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Agriculture at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Lisa is an interdisciplinary scholar of environments and food systems, whose research, teaching, and program development work weaves together her training in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, as well as her life-long involvement in her family’s farm. In her role as Director of Sweet Briar’s Center for Human and Environmental Sustainability, Lisa collaborates with students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities on sustainability initiatives. She leads the academic and community-focused aspects of SBC’s agricultural areas, including the greenhouse, apiary, vineyard, garden, and forests. As a researcher, Lisa pursues a range of questions that all ultimately address human-environment relationships, most frequently in the contexts of food systems, policy, land use, and education.

Our Student Paper Award winner is Mr Peizhe Li . The AESS Student Paper Award recognizes the potential in graduate student research to create new insights and impact in environmental science and studies, and to engage with environmental policy, practice, and education.

Peizhe Li’s paper is titled “Climate adaptation planning for cultural heritages in coastal tourism destinations: A multi-objective optimization approach.” Peizhe Li is a graduate research and teaching assistant in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University. His research interests include human dimension of climate change, adaptation planning for cultural heritages, and tourists’ stress, emotions, and coping. He is passionate about addressing and exploring environmental and social issues of tourism and park management through research, education, and community engagement. We look forward to his continued impact on the world of ESS, as well as participation in the AESS Community.

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AESS Announces 2021 Award Winners

June 11, 2021 2016 Conference, 2017 Conference, 2018 Conference, AESS News Bulletins, AESS Voices, Branded Books Series

Contact: Carolyn Anthon

canthon@aessonline.org 

Office: (202) 503-4638 

June 10, 2021

For immediate release

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences (AESS) has selected the four recipients of the 2021 AESS Awards to be recognized at a virtual ceremony during the AESS Annual Conference, June 28-July 1, 2021. Since 2010, these awards have recognized faculty, scholars and students in Environmental Studies and Sciences at all career stages who exemplify the highest standards of teaching, scholarship and service to the AESS community.

The Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences is a scholarly and professional organization that promotes interdisciplinary research, teaching and service for faculty and students in the more than 1,000 Environmental academic programs nationwide and beyond.  

2021 Award Recipients

Dr. Abigail Abrash Walton has been awarded the William R. Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award.  Named for an AESS founder, Dr. William R. Freudenburg, this Award seeks to recognize and advance the spirit of AESS co-founder, the late Professor William R. Freudenburg, who spawned a new generation of environmental professionals and academics who have pursued interdisciplinary research to address some of the most pressing issues of our time. Through this award, AESS honors members of the profession who have also devoted their lives to strengthening our field by mentoring the next generation of environmental scientists and activists. Dr. Abrash Walton serves as an administrative leader and faculty in Antioch University’s Department of Environmental Studies. Her list of leadership roles include founding Steering Committee member of Engaging Scientists and Engineers in Policy, advisory board member of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment, program directory for the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, and presently Director of Environmental Studies and Interdisciplinary Programs and Co-directory of the Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience program. Professor Abrash Walton prioritizes social justice and advocacy in sustainability efforts, which mirrors the priorities and values that are increasingly representing the AESS community. Her commitment to AESS is particularly strong, and she continues to drive collaborative efforts.

Dr. Chelsie Romulo and Dr. Cassandra Brooks have been awarded the AESS Early Career Award. This Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments and promising future potential for teaching, research, policy, or activism in any field of environmental science and studies.  Through this award, AESS honors individuals who are early in their careers, but have made significant contributions to knowledge, community and diversity in environmental studies and science, and have a career plan and trajectory that promise to continue and bolster such contributions. Dr. Romulo has produced outstanding applied scholarship with massive potential for impact. Her research at the University of Northern Colorado, where she is an assistant professor in Geography, GIS, and Sustainability focuses on conservation and natural resource management using a combination of remote sensing and economic analyses to understand impacts and options for natural resource use. Dr. Cassandra Brooks is driven to understand and contribute to environmental governance. She embraces interdisciplinary studies drawing on marine science, environmental policy, and science communication. Dr. Brooks is an assistant professor in Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Professors Romulo and Brooks exemplify the spirit of AESS in terms of scholarly and participatory approaches to ESS.

Our Student Paper Award winner is Ms. Urooj Raja. The AESS Student Paper Award recognizes the potential in graduate student research to create new insights and impact in environmental science and studies, and to engage with environmental policy, practice, and education. Ms. Raja is a PhD Candidate in environmental studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her research examines the potential of emerging technology like virtual reality to shrink psychological distance to ‘wicked’ environmental problems. She has garnered awards for her research and her work has been highlighted by media ranging from the New York Times to the Washington Post and used by The United States Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). We look forward to her continued impact on the world of ESS, as well as participation in the AESS Community.

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Monty Hempel – In Memoriam

December 30, 2019 AESS News Bulletins, Member Spotlight

photo used with permission

Lamont (Monty) Hempel (1950-2019)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Monty Hempel, AESS’ first interim President and a founder of our organization, on December 4th. As Monty was a founding leader of AESS, we believe it is important for us to look back and recognize his work in environmental studies and our organization. 

Monty was the Hedco Chair in Environmental Studies and the Director of the Center for Environmental Studies at the University of Redlands as well as a committed filmmaker.  His academic and film work, through his non-profit organization Blue Planet United, focused on sustainability and often marine issues in particular. Monty emphasized emotional connection to the world, as in his short film Eye to Eye with Whales. Anyone who knew Monty could tell you that he also fostered hope and connection between people. A single conversation with him could tell you how kind and optimistic he was, despite working and documenting environmental problems that pose existential threats to plants and animals, including humans, in a changing world.

Monty was among a group of people who decided that there needed to be a community of scholars and students dedicated to advancing interdisciplinary environmental research and teaching. They decided to create AESS to enable this community. Monty and this innovative group took the bold steps to make the organization we are a part of today. We are grateful for the moxy and adventurous spirit that this required, emblematic of our first leader.  In memory of Monty, AESS has decided to create a standing award in environmental communications in his name. We wish the family heartfelt peace.

It is perhaps fitting to end with Monty’s own words which open Eye to Eye with Whales as it tells us what he thought our lives were really about:

The best thing about being human is the moral sense of awe that connects us to the web of life.

His family requests that donations be made to The Coral Reef Alliance, 1330 Broadway, Suite 600, Oakland, CA.

 

Signed,

Peter J. Jacques, President

David Hassenzahl, Founding Secretary, Past President

John A. “Skip” Laitner, Past President

Wil Burns, Past President

Phil Camill, Past President

Kimberly Smith, First Elected Past President

Tony Rosenbaum, Founding Board Member, Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal for Environmental Studies and Sciences

Greg Mohr, Founding Treasurer

Stephanie Pfirman, Founding Board Member

Stephanie Kaza, Founding Board Member

David Blockstein, Founding Board Member

Bob Wilkinson, Co-founder of the first meeting at UC Santa Barbara with Bill Freudenburg

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AESS Member Presented with Prestigious Award

October 5, 2018 AESS News Bulletins, Member Spotlight

DePaul researcher recognized with Early Career Scientist Award from ISA

Dr. Jess Vogt pursues research on urban forest sustainability

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Dr. Jess Vogt of Chicago, Illinois, is the recipient of the 2018 International Society of Arboriculture’s (ISA) Early Career Scientist Award. This Award of Distinction is given to professionals showing exceptional promise in arboriculture research.

Click here for a video on Jess Vogt.

Vogt is an assistant professor of environmental science and studies at DePaul University. She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Science with an interest in urban social-ecological systems and sustainability science with an emphasis on urban forestry.

“Dr. Vogt has accomplished a great deal early in her career, impacting not only the research and practice of arboriculture, but increasing our understanding of how arboriculture and urban forestry interfaces with other professions,” says Paul Ries, ISA Board President. “Her enthusiasm for her students, for education, and for the fields she studies is evident and admirable.”

Vogt’s research lab at DePaul, the Lab for Urban Forestry in the Anthropocene (LUFA), enables her students to study how urban forests, the people who care for them, and communities are managing challenges like climate change. ”The Anthropocene is the new era that scientists say we’ve entered because of the massive impacts human activity has on the planet,” explains Vogt. ”LUFA studies how urban forests can contribute to the sustainability of communities in the Anthropocene. We have a website that we use to house publications and information about projects, so I have a place to point those who are asking for more information about my research and teaching.”

Colleagues say Vogt has an impressive compilation of industry research for her less than 10 years of study. When asked what she attributes to this achievement, Vogt responds, “The short answer is hard work, a bit of luck, and great collaborators and students.” She reflects over all the influences from her work as research assistant, her many mentors, and now most recently her Assistant Professorship at DePaul where she believes her personal mission and career goals align with that of the university. “DePaul provides great support through research grants and funding for student research assistants, which provide collaboration and allows me to accomplish much more than I would on my own,” she adds.

In regards to being chosen for this year’s Early-Career Scientist Award, Vogt says, “I am surprised, happy, humbled, honored, and grateful to have been selected for this award.”  She credits the support, encouragement, and collaboration of others for her being able to be as productive as she has been.  “I’ve been so fortunate during my early career to have been surrounded by an extensive network of mentors, colleagues, coauthors, and students.”

Vogt was recognized during the opening ceremony of the ISA Annual International Conference and Trade Show on Sunday, August 5 in Columbus, Ohio.  “By recognizing individuals who have a positive impact on arboriculture, ISA helps provide role models and learning opportunities for all of us,” added Robert Bartlett Jr., chairman and CEO of Bartlett Tree Experts. “We applaud Dr. Jess Vogt and all of the honorees for their contributions in research, education and mentoring.”

ISA serves more than 30,000 members and credential holders worldwide, and has been honoring members and industry professionals with the Awards of Distinction since 1963. The winners are selected by the ISA Awards Committee, a diverse group of experts in arboriculture, and are approved by ISA’s Board of Directors.

 

***Above press release provided to AESS by  International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).***

ABOUT ISA           

The International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), headquartered in Champaign, Ill., is a nonprofit organization supporting tree care research and education around the world. To promote the importance of arboriculture, ISA manages

the consumer education web site, www.treesaregood.org, which fulfills the association’s mission to help educate the public about the importance and value of proper tree care. Also, as part of ISA’s dedication to the care and preservation of shade and ornamental trees, it offers the only internationally-recognized certification program in the industry. For more information on ISA and Certified Arborists, visit www.isa-arbor.com.

 

ABOUT BARTLETT TREE EXPERTS

The F.A. Bartlett Tree Expert Company was founded in 1907 by Francis A. Bartlett and is the world’s leading scientific tree and shrub care company.  The organization’s current chairman, Robert A. Bartlett Jr., represents the third generation of Bartlett family management.  Bartlett has locations in 27 U.S. states, Canada, Ireland, and Great Britain. Services include pruning, insect and disease management, fertilization and soil care, cabling and bracing, tree lightning protection systems, and tree and stump removal. Its corporate offices are located in Stamford, Connecticut.  To find out more, visit the company’s web site at www.bartlett.com or call 1-877-BARTLETT (227-8538).

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Freudenburg Nominations

February 9, 2016 2016 Conference

Freudenburg Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations are Open

Have you thought about who to nominate for the 2016 Freudenburg Award? Award Nominations are now open! We encourage you to learn about William “Bill” Freudenburg’s legacy and past recipients.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS MARCH 1, 2016.

CLICK HERE TO NOMINATE.

Beth Karlin, Awards Committee Chair, can answer your questions BKARLIN@USC.EDU.

Read more about the 2015 award winner, Tony Rosenbaum.

tony award

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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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