Faculty
Learn about other ESPP Faculty Awards, Appointments, and Accomplishments |
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Adesoji (Soji) O. Adelaja
Department: Agricultural Economics
E-mail: adelaja@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.landpolicy.msu.edu/
Dr. Soji Adelaja is the John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor in Land Policy and Co-Director of the Victor Institute at Michigan State University. He leads MSU's Land Policy Program. Dr. Adelaja holds joint faculty appointments as professor in the department of Agricultural Economics; Department of Geography; and Department of Community, Agricultural and Recreational Resource Studies. Dr. Adelaja commenced his appointment at MSU on January 1, 2004. Prior to that, he served as the Executive Dean of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Dean of Cook College, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Director of Rutgers Cooperative Extension at Rutgers University where he was on the faculty for 18 years.
Dr. Adelaja is an eclectic scholar and team builder whose research and outreach programs span a variety of areas. He is best known for his work in Land Use Policy, Agricultural Policy at the Urban Fringe, Economic Development of Food and Natural Resource-based Industries, and Emerging Issues in the Food Industry. A committed land grant scholar, his work has shaped public policy toward agriculture and other land-based industries at the urban fringe.
Evangelyn C. Alocilja
Department: Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering
E-mail: alocilja@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.egr.msu.edu/~alocilja
My research focus is to develop biosensors and bioanalytical devices for real-time, sensitive, specific, and on-site detection and monitoring of microbial pathogens in farms, food, and the environment for biosafety and homeland security. The biosensor designs we are currently working on include electrochemical and optical sensing platforms using antibodies, DNA fragments, and biomimetic receptors as the biological sensing elements. Rapid detection of pathogens has potential for minimizing the deadly organisms from being passed on up the food chain and preventing their transfer from the source to the table. Beneficiaries of the technologies are the consumers, food industries, farm industries, tourism, and the homeland. Direct benefits to Michigan and the United States include a safer food supply, cleaner water system, a healthier population, and more energetic work force. Such benefits will translate to a better society, economy, and environment.
Jeffrey A. Andresen
Department: Geography
E-mail: andresen@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/andresen/andresen.html
The focus of my research is the influence and impact of weather and climate on agricultural activities. Current and recent past themes include: identification of climatological trends and potential impacts, agronomic impacts associated with potential future changes in climate, irrigation water use in agriculture, weather and risk management in agricultural production systems, winter hardiness and mortality of crops and insects, and the measurement and use of leaf wetness data for determination of plant disease risk.
Joseph Arvai
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies, ESPP
E-mail: sknkwrks@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~sknkwrks/people/arvai/joe.html
Joe Arvai is an Associate Professor of Judgment and Decision Making within the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies and the Environmental Science and Policy Program at Michigan State University. He is also a faculty member in MSU's Cognitive Science Program. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master's Degree in Oceanography, and a PhD in Risk and Decision Science from The University of British Columbia. He is a recipient of the highly prestigious Chauncey Starr Award, which each year honors the individual aged 40 or younger who has made exceptional contributions to the discipline of risk analysis. He has also served on a series of advisory panels, most notably for the EPA Science Advisory Bord and the National Academy of Science. He conducts an active research program that focuses on advancing and testing theories in the decision sciences that deal with how people make decisions‹both as individuals and in groups‹largely in the absence of formalized decision support. Informed by this work, a second objective of his research is to develop and test decision aids that can be used by people to improve decision quality across a variety of contexts.
Rafael Auras
Department: Packaging
E-mail: aurasraf@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.packaging.msu.edu/Rafael.php
Dr. Auras' research focuses on the development and implementation of better sustainable packaging systems, the production and use of edible and biodegradable polymers in packaging, mass transfer phenomenon in polymers, and food product/package compatibility and interaction. Currently, Dr. Auras' research group is working on developing biodegradable mulch films for the agricultural industry. The development and use of biodegradable plastic mulch would eliminate the need to remove mulch films at the end of the growing season reducing costs and the pollution creates by disposing of polymers in landfill. In addition, Dr. Auras' research group is working on assessing packaging compostability in order to produce better sustainable packaging systems.
Mark Axelrod
Department: Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: axelrod3@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.jmc.msu.edu/faculty/show.asp?id=90
I am a Visiting Assistant Professor in James Madison College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. I am completing a doctorate in Political Science, and also hold a law degree. My teaching and research interests center around the negotiation and implementation of international law, with a particular focus on international environmental agreements. My primary project at the moment addresses negotiation practices of rising and declining global powers, drawing on interview research and a random sample of multilateral treaties. Other research interests involve the influence of democratic institutions on environmental protection and treaty enforcement.
Jon F. Bartholic
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies
E-mail: bartholi@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.hydra.iwr.msu.edu/iwr/personnel-info.asp?st_id=1
Jon Bartholic has directed water quality and land use studies at regional, state, county and local watershed levels to aid in determining susceptible groundwater contamination areas and utilization of appropriate land use practices. He has and continues to work closely with MSU colleagues, multiple federal and state agencies and organizations on water quality and quantity issues, and land use and whole-farm planning from a watershed perspective. Most recently he has been working with others to develop an accessible integrated environmental information Web-based system including remote sensing and GIS technologies to aid users in making sound environmental, resource, and land use decisions.
Sandra S. Batie
Department: Agricultural Economics
E-mail: batie@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.aec.msu.edu/agecon/faculty/batie.htm
Sandra S. Batie came to MSU from Virginia Tech in 1993 to become the first holder of the Elton R. Smith Professor in Food and Agricultural Policy in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics. She has had a distinguished career as an economic policy analyst, specializing in natural resource, agro-environmental, and agricultural policy issues at both the federal and state levels. She has also had two sabbatical leaves, the first with The Conservation Foundation and the second with the National Governors Association, both located in Washington, D.C.
She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington and a M.S. and Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Oregon State University. She is Past-President and Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association and the Southern Agricultural Economics Association (SAEA) and is currently Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees for Winrock International. Sandra is also the Coordinator of the Sustainable Michigan Endowed Project here at MSU. This project, funded by a W.K. Kellogg Foundation Endowment, and guided by an executive committee comprised mainly of endowed chairs at MSU is dedicated to being a catalyst for engaged scholarship and research related to sustainability and to Michigan.
Richard J. Bawden
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies
E-mail: bawden@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.carrs.msu.edu/Main/People/faculty%20bios%5Cbawden.asp
The Role of Universities in, and Engagement with, a ‘Risk Society’; Sustainable Agricultural and Rural Development; Ethics of, and in, Development; Systemic Education, Research and Discourse; Systemic Organizational and Community Development.
James R. Bence
Department: Fisheries & Wildlife
E-mail: bence@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/user/bence
My research program is primarily aimed at developing better understanding of fish community and population dynamics, and improving methods for assessing fish stocks through quantitative analyses and modeling. My program emphasizes fisheries of the Great Lakes, and I have worked on assessments for a variety of species in lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior. Special areas of expertise include statistical catch-age analysis and environmental intervention analysis. I have worked to expand conventional catch-age models to incorporate predator-prey interactions, and evaluated catch-age models through simulations. I have general interests in environmental statistics and decision-making in the face of uncertainty.
George W. Bird
Department: Entomology
E-mail: birdg@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.ent.msu.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=104
Dr. Bird is a Professor of Nematology in the Department of Entomology at Michigan State University. He is a recipient of the MSU and College of Natural Science Distinguished Faculty Awards. He is also a Fellow of both the American Phytopathologial Society and the Society of Nematologists. Dr. Bird received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Rutgers University and the Ph.D. degree from Cornell University. Before coming to MSU, he was a Research Scientist with Agriculture Canada and an Associate Professor at the University of Georgia in the Department of Plant Pathology and Plant Genetics. Dr. Bird is in his 15th year as a member of the Board of Directors of the Rodale Institute and is a former Director of Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education for the United States Department of Agriculture/Cooperative States Research, Extension and Education Service. He is co-editor of the 2006 book entitled, Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract. George has expertise in the areas of nematology, soil biology, sustainable development and organic systems.
Stephen A. Boyd
Department: Crop and Soil Sciences
E-mail: boyds@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~boyds/
- Mechanistic interactions of organic toxicants with natural and anthropogenic organic phases in soils, and with natural and modified clays
- Design, synthesis and characterization of chemically modified clays for sorption and/or catalytic degradation of organic contaminants and heavy metals
- Development of geochemical controls on the bioavailability and toxicity of organic contaminants in soils and sediments
- Biodegradation of xenobiotics, especially reductive dechlorination reactions of PCBs in anaerobic habitats
- Bioavailability of soil- and sediment-bound organic contaminants to pollutant degrading bacteria, and humans
- Effects of contaminant biodegradation on toxicity
Henry Brimmer
Department: Advertising
E-mail: hbrimmer@msu.edu
Web site: http://adv.msu.edu/people/faculty/473
Henry Brimmer has been a graphic designer and educator for the past 25 years. He currently teaches graphic design through the College of Communication Arts & Sciences. He came to MSU a year ago from San Francisco via Utah and Iillinois, and wishes to involve his students in projects related to environmental issues. Currently his students are working on projects for the student organic farm.
Daniel A. Bronstein
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies
E-mail: bronstei@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.carrs.msu.edu/Main/People/faculty%20bios%5Cbronstei.asp
Daniel Bronstein’s interests are in the area of environmental policy and law. He is active in such areas as standard setting for hazardous chemicals (through MSU’s Institute for Environmental Toxicology), impact assessment and health. In recent years he has become involved in evaluating major dam projects in foreign countries (Three Gorges, Sardar Sarovar) and, through that work, has become interested in issues of sustainable development and ecotourism.
Douglas D. Buhler
Department: Crop and Soil
Sciences
E-mail: buhler@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.maes.msu.edu/about/buhler.htm
My research is centered on the development of integrated, ecologically-based weed management systems that reduce herbicide use and protect the natural resource base. This goal is approached through 1) determination of the influence of management practices and site characteristics on weed population dynamics and the weed seed bank in the soil, 2) assessment of the interactions between weed population dynamics and effectiveness of cultural and chemical weed control practices, and 3) evaluation and development of decision support systems for integrated weed management with emphasis on weed emergence dynamics.
Steven J. Bursian
Department: Animal Science
E-mail: bursian@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.canr.msu.edu/dept/ans/community/people/bursian_steve.html
Steve Bursian’s research interests focus on the effects of natural toxins and environmental contaminants on avian and mammalian species. Specific interests include the effects of polyhalogenated environmental contaminants such as PCBs and dioxins on fur-bearing mammals and the effects of such compounds on developing avian embryos. Many of our studies have assessed the effects of site-specific pollutants on wildlife sentinel species in order to provide data required for environmental risk assessments.
Thomas M. Burton
Department: Zoology
E-mail: burtont@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.zoology.msu.edu/all-faculty/thomas-m-burton.html
Community dynamics in streams, wetlands and lakes. Bioassessment of Great Lakes coastal marshes, inland forested wetlands and streams. Published papers on salamander and fish ecology, use of natural systems for recycling wastewater, effects of stormwater runoff on lakes and streams, and plant and animal community dynamics in streams and wetlands. Most recent research emphasizes wetlands.
F. William Cambray
Department: Geological Sciences
E-mail: cambray@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~cambray
- Tectonic setting of the banded iron formations in Michigan
- Emplacement of plutonic rocks: Wasatch Mountains, Utah
- Superimposed deformation
- Origin of the midcontinent rift system
- Tectonic history of Eastern Siberia
David J. Campbell
Department: Geography
E-mail: djc@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/campbell/campbell.html
Environment and Development: people-environment interaction - relationship between land use, environment and socio-economic systems in rural areas, with particular reference to arid and semi-arid lands. Conflict over resources in semi-arid areas of Africa. Information Systems for Decision Support in Africa. Food security in rural Africa. Social and economic aspects of drought and desertification.
Joseph L. Chartkoff
Department: Anthropology
E-mail: chartko1@msu.edu
Web site:
I am an archaeologist with a primary focus on adaptive strategies and the evolution of relationships between human populations and their environments, both from the perspective of subsistence behavior and the perspective of ecosystem dynamics. In my primary research area, California, for example, anthropogenic fire for habitat management is an important theme. Another theme I pursue is the prehistoric management of riverine salmon extraction to sustain the fish population while feeding the human population. My theoretical orientation involves both cultural ecology and cultural evolution.
Kendra S. Cheruvelil
Department: Lyman Briggs School and Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: ksc@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.fw.msu.edu/people/CheruvelilKendra/KSC_2006.htm
I am an aquatic ecologist who enjoys working collaboratively to examine the roles that disturbance (human and natural), spatial scale, and spatial heterogeneity have on freshwater flora and fauna. I particularly enjoy addressing questions that both advance scientific understanding and are directly applicable to aquatic ecosystem management and conservation, and those that explicitly include the economic and social factors that drive the management and conservation of freshwaters. My main areas of interest include examining: 1) the role of aquatic plants in lake foodwebs, the effects of exotic species on lake foodwebs, and 3) the role of the landscape in structuring lake biology and chemistry. I use a variety of approaches to conduct my research, such as lake field surveys, mesocosm experiments, and statistical modeling. In addition to research, I enjoy teaching courses in biology, ecology, and environmental science. Courses that I've taught in the past include: Biology Limnology, Biology for Elementary School Teachers I & II, and Environmental and Conservation Biology.
Karen Chou
Department: Animal Science
E-mail: chouk@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.canr.msu.edu/dept/ans/community/people/chou_karen.html
Dr. Chou's major interest of research is environmental toxicology, with an emphasis on regulatory pathways that control the reproductive functions in mammalian species. Her research team examines the impact of environmental pollutants on reproductive and developmental health in human and animals. She has discovered new control mechanisms of the onset of sperm fertilizing ability and provided evidences for acceleration of aging-related testicular degeneration after early-life exposure to the Great Lakes contaminant and estrogenic compounds.
Mark A. Cochrane
Department: Geography
E-mail: cochrane@globalchange.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.globalchange.msu.edu/cochrane.html
Mark Cochrane is internationally renowned for documenting the severe effects of tropical forest fires that result from current human land-use. His research focuses on understanding spatial patterns, interactions and synergisms between multiple physical and biological factors that affect ecosystems. Recent work has emphasized human dimensions of land-cover change and the potential for sustainable development. Ongoing research projects aim to understand disturbance regime changes resulting from various forms of forest degradation, including fire, fragmentation and logging. Cochrane’s interdisciplinary work combines ecology, remote sensing and other fields of study to provide a landscape perspective of dynamic processes involved in land-cover change.
Thomas G. Coon
Department: Fisheries &
Wildlife
E-mail: coontg@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msue.msu.edu/portal/default.cfm
?pageset_id=25744&page_id=25758&msue_portal_id=25643
My research interests focus on the interactions within aquatic ecosystems – physical and biological – that influence population dynamics of fish. I have worked in a variety of aquatic systems, ranging from small headwater streams to large rivers and from southern impounded rivers to the Great Lakes and coral reefs. Most recently, I have investigated the influence of stream dynamics on early life history of migratory salmonids in Lake Michigan and the influence of coastal wetland dynamics on early life history of fishes in Lake Huron.
Alison M. Cupples
Department: Civil & Environmental Engineering
E-mail: cupplesa@erg.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.egr.msu.edu/~cupplesa/
Microbial degradation of soil and water contaminants. Previous research has focused on the dechlorination of the groundwater contaminants tetrachloroethene and trichloroethene. Future research will include the use of molecular methods to identify and quantify the microorganisms responsible for the in situ degradation of xenobiotics, such as the BTEX compounds and MTBE.
Bruce E. Dale
Department: Chemical Engineering & Materials Science
E-mail: bdale@egr.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.chems.msu.edu/php/faculty.php?user=bdale
Professor Dale's research and professional interests lie at the intersection of chemical engineering and the life sciences. Specifically, he is interested in the environmentally sustainable conversion of plant matter to industrial products- fuels, chemicals and materials- while meeting human and animal needs for food and feed. He led a National Research Council report entitled "Biobased Industrial Products: Research and Commercialization Priorities" which was published in May 2000. Dr. Dale has authored over 100 refereed journal papers and is an active consultant to industry. He holds thirteen U. S. and foreign patents.
Frank B. Dazzo
Department: Microbiology &
Molecular Genetics
E-mail: dazzo@msu.edu
Web site: http://mmg.msu.edu/faculty/dazzo.htm
Rhizosphere microbial ecology, beneficial plant-microbe interactions especially involving Rhizobium and legumes/cereals, developer of a new CMEIAS, scientific software package to strengthen microscopy-based approaches for understanding in situ microbial ecology.
William Derman
Department: Anthropology
E-mail: derman@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.anthropology.msu.edu/faculty/derman.shtml
Bill Derman has been carrying out research in Zimbabwe since 1987 after a long period of research in West Africa. His interests are in environment and change, planned rural development, analyses of development projects, and, more recently, decentralization of natural resource management institutions. For five years, beginning in 1989, he conducted a study of the Mid-Zambezi Rural Development Project, one of the only resettlement projects carried out in communal lands in Zimbabwe. He then turned to an examination of Zambezi Valley land-use planning in general. He critiqued the government for employing a technocratic, ecologically insensitive, and top-down approach to this area. With the Centre for Applied Social Sciences, he began a long-term study of the processes of water reform, water management institutions, and decentralization. This study was expanded to include Malawi under the leadership of Anne Ferguson and became part of the BASIS Collaborative Research Support Program on Land and Water in Southern Africa with Pauline Peters, Harvard University, as Team Leader. This study has now been expanded as part of BASIS II, which emphasizes land-water interfaces. The project will be carried out in Malawi and Zimbabwe with most of the field research being carried out by African researchers from the University of Zimbabwe and the University of Malawi.
Jim Detjen
Department: Journalism
E-mail: detjen@msu.edu
Web site: http://jrn.msu.edu/people/faculty/156
Jim Detjen, Director of the Knight Center for Environmental Journalism in the School of Journalism, holds the Knight Chair in Journalism in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. The Knight Center trains journalists in the United States and around the world to write about environmental and science issues. Professor Detjen conducts research on environmental journalism in the United States and other countries. The Knight Center runs a week-long training institute on Great Lakes environmental issues for American and Canadian journalists every other June. The Knight Center has also organized or participated in training workshops for environmental journalists in Russia, China, India, South Africa, Mexico, England and more than a dozen other countries. The Knight Center publishes EJ, a magazine; a web site (http://ej.msu.edu/) ; runs list servs for environmental journalists in Mexico and the United States; publishes the ECHO news service, containing summaries of environmental news in Michigan; and produces handbooks and resources for environmental journalists.
Thomas Dietz
Department: Sociology
E-mail: tdietz@msu.edu
Web site: http://ecoculturalgroup.msu.edu/people/dietz.htm
Thomas Dietz holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor of General Studies from Kent State University. He is a National Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and has been awarded the Distinguished Contribution Award of the American Sociological Association Section on Environment, Technology and Society. He currently chairs the U.S. National Research Council Panel on Public Participation on Environmental Assessment and Decision Making. He also serves as Secretary of Section K (Social, Economic, and Political Sciences) of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is Past-President of the Society for Human Ecology. He has co-authored or co-edited six books and more than 80 papers and book chapters. His current research examines the human driving forces of environmental change, environmental values and the interplay between science and democracy in environmental issues.
Tracy A. Dobson
Department: Fisheries &
Wildlife
E-mail: dobson@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.fw.msu.edu/people/DobsonTracy/
Tracy Dobson’s current research focuses on natural resources co-management in Malawi where she has worked for more than a decade advising the Departments of Fisheries, National Parks and Wildlife, and Forestry. She also studies tribal fishing rights in the Laurentian Great Lakes, global fishing ethics, social science contributions to conservation, and legal and institutional frameworks governing Great Lakes fisheries. In the latter connection she serves as a member of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission’s Board of Technical Experts. Additional interests include international environmental law, biodiversity preservation law, sex-based discrimination, environmental justice, and gender and environment.
Erin Dreelin
Department: Center for Water Sciences
E-mail: dreelin@msu.edu
Web site: http://cws.msu.edu/
Erin Dreelin recently received her PhD in Ecology from the University of Georgia. Her research focuses on sustainable development and innovative stormwater management practices to protect aquatic ecosystems. Dr. Dreelin’s work also has a strong emphasis on outreach. She works with local governments to revise building codes in order to improve land development practices and to encourage low impact development and Smart Growth techniques.
Lawrence T. Drzal
Department: Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
E-mail: drzal@egr.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.egr.msu.edu/cmsc/profiles/person.info/drzal.html
Professor Drzal's research is directed at exploring materials and processes that are efficient, useful for structural applications and environmentally friendly. This includes materials, interfaces and processing that are centered on both petroleum based and biobased polymers; inorganic and biobased reinforcements, nanoreinforcements and processes to fabricate them into composite materials. One area of research underpinning all of these activities is research into the fundamentals of adhesion. Some potential process technologies under active investigation are ultraviolet light, microwave, electron beam and powder processing. Major research is being undertaken to develop biobased, sustainable, structural biocomposites that can replace petroleum based structural composites. This includes new biobased biofiber reinforcements from plants, bioplastics from plant chemicals, and new methods for processing biocomposites with high reinforcement contents and surface treatments for optimization of biocomposite properties.
Diane Ebert-May
Department: Plant Biology
E-mail: ebertmay@msu.edu
Web site: http://plantbiology.msu.edu/faculty/faculty-research/diane-ebert-may/
Ebert-May's research group is developing and testing a web-based concept-mapping tool that enables students in science courses to visualize their thinking online as well as to receive immediate feedback (NSF Assessment funding). In addition, she is the PI of project FIRST II (Faculty Institutes for Reforming Science Teaching), an NSF-funded national dissemination network for science faculty professional development in teaching through biological field stations and marine labs. Her recent publications describe active, inquiry-based instructional strategies, research designs, and assessment. She teaches plant biology to majors and environmental science to non-majors in large courses. Ebert-May recruits and mentors science postdoctoral fellows in teaching and learning funded projects. Her plant ecology research continues on Niwot Ridge, Colorado, where she has conducted long-term ecological research on alpine tundra plant communities since 1971.
Kyle T. Evered
Department: Geography
E-mail: ktevered@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/evered.html
Kyle Evered's research interests involve political ecologies and environmental histories found in Eurasia . Some of his recent projects have dealt with: small-scale farmers, their ecologies, and their views regarding potential impacts of Turkey becoming part of the European Union; the ecologies and geopolitics of poppy production in Eurasia , past and present; and, challenges for wetland conservation and local ecologies amid pressures for development.
Anne E. Ferguson
Department: Anthropology
E-mail: fergus12@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.anthropology.msu.edu/faculty/ferguson.shtml
Anne Ferguson, an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Women and International Development Program, does research and teaching in the areas of development studies; gender, agricultural and environmental change; and the political ecology of health. Dr. Ferguson has worked in Southern Africa since 1986 where she has studied development initiatives in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, and water sector reform. Her research in Malawi centers on the gendered social construction of agricultural technology and natural resource management programs and policies. She focuses on scientists, policy makers, and other development planners, as well as villagers and other actors in development initiatives. Dr. Ferguson has studied the social and cultural factors that underpin the maintenance of crop bio-diversity, examining how these factors shape agricultural technology improvement programs. She also has examined the social impacts of fisheries policies in Malawi. Currently, her research centers on the gender dimensions of Malawi’s new water reform policies. How are new international agreements and understandings in the water sector that promote governmental decentralization, stakeholder participation, neoliberal market reforms and environmental rights translated into national and local policies? How are these policies shaped, acted upon and implemented at the local level? Who benefits and who loses? Much of Dr. Ferguson’s research has been carried out in collaboration with colleagues at MSU and at the University of Malawi. Her research has been supported by the McArthur Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, Rockefeller Foundation, and USAID. In 2000, she received a Fulbright Hays Faculty Research Abroad Program grant to study the gender dimensions of Malawi’s and Zimbabwe’s water reforms.
Dr. Ferguson is one of the co-founders and faculty coordinators of the Gender, Justice and Environmental Change Graduate Specialization sponsored by the Colleges of Social Science and Agriculture and Natural Resources. Dr. Ferguson teaches gender studies courses with a focus on agriculture, environment and development.
Scott D. Fitzgerald
Department: Pathobiology and
Diagnostic Investigation
E-mail: fitzgerald@dcpah.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.pathobiology.msu.edu/people/fitzgerald.html
I am an anatomic veterinary pathologist with 15 years experience in infectious disease, toxicology and comparative pathology. I have board certification by both the American College of Veterinary Pathologists, and the American College of Poultry Veterinarians. My expertise spans most of the animal kingdom (fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, mammals). Experience with experimental studies in animals has included a variety of species: domestic birds (chickens, turkeys, pheasants), wild birds (crows, starlings, pigeons, mallard ducks), fish (goldfish, medaka, carp, minnows), and laboratory and wild mammals (mice, rats, voles, opossums, rabbits, mink, dogs, cats). I have worked with animal models for both viruses and bacteria, and studied toxicants including man-made organic compounds, heavy metals, plant and fungal toxins. Organ systems of special interest include the respiratory, lymphoid and urinary systems. I have conducted many animal studies involving Bio-Safety Level III agents at the University Research Containment Facility. Through my appointment in the Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (DCPAH) I have extensive experience with infectious disease diagnosis in food animals, companion animals and wildlife. I serve as the leader of the Diagnostic Laboratory’s surveillance programs for Tuberculosis in Wildlife and Salmonid Diseases, and collaborate on the West Nile Virus and Chronic Wasting Disease surveillance programs. My interest in animal disease extends to the population and ecosystem levels, and I am particularly interested in zoonotic and emerging diseases.
Pennie Foster-Fishman
Department: Psychology
E-mail: fosterfi@msu.edu
Web site: http://psychology.msu.edu/people/faculty/pff.htm
Pennie G. Foster-Fishman is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in organizational/community psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her research interests primarily emphasize organizational and community development and change, particularly those processes that can improve how services can better meet the needs of children, youth, and families. Toward this end, she has investigated human service delivery reform, multiple stakeholder collaboration, coalition development, community organizing, and resident empowerment as vehicles for change. She has also worked with a variety of human service delivery and not-for-profit organizations, working to improve their organizational operations, their work environment, and the efficacy of their service delivery. She has also worked with a variety of community-based coalitions, aiming to improve their collaborative processes and outcomes. Foster-Fishman has recently organized a Faculty Learning Community on the Scholarship of Engagement at Michigan State University. This Learning Community hopes to promote the understanding and valuing of university/community collaboration and community-based scholarly endeavors. Currently, she is leading a longitudinal evaluation of a comprehensive community initiative intended to promote individual, family, neighborhood, and community well-being.
Russell Freed
Department: Crop and Soil Sciences
E-mail: freed@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~freed
My research looks at the role of agriculture in international development. I have extensive experience in international research management, design and evaluation. I also have a plant-breeding program in oats and canola. My research utilizes genetics to reduce pesticide use in our food system.
Stuart H. Gage
Department: Entomology
E-mail: gages@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.ent.msu.edu/FacultyPages/gages/tabid/124/Default.aspx
Stuart Gage’s program focuses on environmental systems integration. He has expertise in dynamics of populations, landscape ecology and computational biology. Research activities can be categorized into five themes. The research involved within each of these themes addresses a common need to understand biotic systems at multiple temporal and geographic scales. These themes include measurement, analysis and visualization of: abundance and dispersal of organisms across the land; biological diversity in agricultural systems; patterns of agronomic production in the Midwest as mediated by natural processes; land use and land cover change in Michigan; and environmental acoustics as an indicator of ecosystem dynamics.
Stephen Gasteyer
Department: Sociology
E-mail: gasteyer@msu.edu
Stephen Gasteyer, assistant professor of Sociology, researches the structures and processes that influence community level access to critical natural resources and capacity to manage those resources. His work currently looks at:
1. The role of coalitions, social networks and social capital in the protecting water quality;
2. Community capitals, coalitions, and the development of sustainable food systems;
3. The factors that impact the capacity of communities to implement and manage water and wastewater infrastructure systems;
4. The role of advocacy coalitions and social networks in water management and the development of coupled hydrologic, economic, and social network models for understanding of surface water-groundwater interactions for protection of instream flows.
His research focuses on the US, Middle East and West Africa.
Before coming to Michigan State University (MSU), Gasteyer was on faculty in the Department of Human and Community Development (HCD) at University of Illinois. Prior to that, he was Research and Policy Director at the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) in Washington, DC and a research consultant on issues of global water governance. Gasteyer was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali from 1987 through 1990, and worked from 1993 through 1998 in the Palestinian territories. Stephen received a BA from Earlham College in 1987, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Iowa State University in 2001.
Joel Geffen
Department: Religious Studies
E-mail: geffen@msu.edu
Web site:
Dr. Geffen's areas of specialization are American ideas of nature and contemporary Native American issues. He has written about the values held by fish and wildlife biologists, the role of religious and spiritual beliefs in resource management, and Native American views of ecological restoration and species protection.
Carole E. Gibbs
Department: Criminal Justice and Fisheries & Wildlife
E-mail: gibbsca1@msu.edu
Web site: http://criminaljustice.msu.edu/people/Detail.asp?ContactID=290&RecPos=21
Dr. Gibbs is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University with a joint appointment in the School of Criminal Justice and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Her most recent research involves studying the relationship between corporate citizenship, sanctions, and environmental performance. Her other research interests include criminological theory, corporate crime, intersectionality, environmental crime, and environmental justice.
John P. Giesy
Department: Zoology
E-mail: jgiesy@aol.com
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/user/giesy
Professor Giesy attended Alma College in Alma, Michigan where, in 1970, he obtained a B.S. Degree, Summa cum laude with honors in Biology. Prof. Giesy obtained Masters and Doctor of Philosophy Degrees in Limnology from Michigan State University (MSU) in 1971 and 1974, respectively. From 1974 until 1981 he was affiliated with the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and a faculty member in the Institute of Ecology and Department of Zoology at the University of Georgia. He is currently Professor Emeritus at MSU where until 2006, he was Distinguished Professor of Zoology and on the faculties of the Integrative Toxicology and National Food Safety and Toxicology Centers. Currently, he is Professor and Canada Research Chair in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Saskatchewan where he is a faculty member in the Dept. of Veterinary Biomedical Sciences and on the Faculty of the Toxicology Centre. He is also Chair Professor at Large of Biology & Chemistry, at City University of Hong Kong and Concurrent Professor of Environmental Science at Nanjing University, China. Prof. Giesy is an environmental toxicologist who studies both the fates and effects of potentially toxic compounds and elements. Prof. Giesy has published 609 peer reviewed articles. He has authored 5 books and edited 7 books. His research is much used and cited by other researchers--Prof Giesy is the 2nd most in Ecology/Environmental Science for 1996-2006. He serves on the Boards of Scientific Councilors (BOSC) of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) (Executive Committee). Prof. Giesy has received a number of distinctions and awards including: 1993 he received the title of Distinguished Professor from Michigan State University; 1994 Vollenweider Medal for Aquatic Sciences from the National Water Research Institute of Canada; 1995, Founders Award, which is the highest award given by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry; 2002, SETAC/Menzie-Curra Environmental Education Award; 2003, Sir E.W. Russell Award in the Sciences from the British Soil Science Society. Prof. Giesy has served on the Board of Directors of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) from 1986 until 1992 and was president from1990 to 991. Prof. Giesy is a major donor to and sponsor of MSU and Alma College. Prof. Giesy is listed in 39 biographical listings, including Who's Who in the World.
Lynne G. Goldstein
Department: Anthropology
E-mail: lynneg@msu.edu
Web site: http://anthropology.msu.edu/faculty/goldstein.shtml
Lynne Goldstein is an archaeologist who has focused the majority of her research on Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. She has worked extensively with Native American tribes in Wisconsin and elsewhere, and in addition to a regionally based, environmentally focused research program in Southeastern Wisconsin, Goldstein has examined late prehistoric societies and their mortuary practices. Her work on mortuary analysis has included both prehistoric and historic sites, Native American and European. She has done extensive, collaborative work with geologists on landscape use and change over time, as well as projects focused on the geomorphology of specific sites.
Meredith Gore
Department: Fisheries & Wildlife, School of Criminology
E-mail: gorem@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.fw.msu.edu/~gorem/
My research interests are grounded in the concept that many issues in environmental management can be framed according to risk. I seek to understand how popular perceptions of risk influence political and management responses to risk and what normative significance managers and policymakers should give to such perceptions. I conduct applied, mixed methods research that informs and reflects more effective governance actions as well as deliberative processes.
Jeff T. Grabill
Department: Writing, Rhetoric and
American Cultures
E-mail: grabill@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.wide.msu.edu/Members/grabill
My research focuses on how to communicate with diverse audiences with respect to technical and scientific issues. In disciplinary terms, I work at the intersection of professional and technical writing, rhetorical theory, and literacy theory. I am interested in the literate and technological practices of citizens, users, workers, students, and other such people within complex institutional contexts. These interests have necessitated a concern with issues of public policy and the rather “mundane” procedures that lead to public policy, such as decision making about risk and health, the activities of citizen groups, and the plans of local communities and governments. My current work focuses on the ways in which information technologies are used (or not) to aid inquiry, decision making, and citizen action. This work deals with the design and use of information technologies as well as the rhetorical strategies non-expert audiences use to communicate in public contexts.
Sue C. Grady
Department: Geography
E-mail: gradys@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/grady.html
The focus of my research is medical (health) geography, human ecology, spatial epidemiology, and health disparity research. I utilize geographic information system applications and multilevel modeling to conduct exposure and health assessments. I am currently focusing on estimating spatial/geographic variations in adverse birth outcomes with respect to demographic, socioeconomic and environmental risk factors. I have a Master of Public Health degree in International Health and an interest in epidemiologic and health transition theory and policy and planning implications.
Stuart Grandy
Department: Crop and Soil Sciences
E-mail: grandya1@msu.edu
Web site:
My research examines how soil organisms interact with their environment to regulate ecosystem processes such as nutrient cycling, organic matter turnover, trace gas emissions, and agricultural productivity. This research encompasses multiple spatial scales and lies at the interface of soil ecology, biogeochemistry, and agronomy. While I use a range of fundamental laboratory methods, which include molecular chemical and microbiological approaches, I always have an eye towards applying my results to improve ecosystem management.
Edward J. Grafius
Department: Entomology
E-mail: grafius@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.ent.msu.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=112
I conduct research and extension on ecology and management of vegetable insect pests at Michigan State University. My research interests include insect ecology, biological control, host plant resistance, integrated pest management, sustainable agroecosystems, and evolution of insecticide resistance.
Robert J. Griffore
Department: Family and Child
Ecology
E-mail: griffore@msu.edu
Web site: http://families.msu.edu/FacultyBrowser.aspx?CategoryID=46
Some recent and current interests in the realm of scholarship and research include:
- Publication of a book on human ecology from a general systems point of view
- The ecology of bovine tuberculosis in Michigan – with special focus on Michigan farm families and on Michigan veterinarians
- Children’s environmental health
- Preschool children’s knowledge of the natural environment
- The school as an ecosystem and associated issues related to learning environments in the Detroit Public Schools
Richard E. Groop
Department: Geography
E-mail: groop@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/Groop/Groop.html
Conducts research on applications of geographic information systems, computer map design, and income and migration in Michigan and the United States.
Katherine L. Gross
Department: Kellogg Biological
Station
E-mail: kgross@kbs.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.kbs.msu.edu/faculty/gross/
I am interested in the processes that influence the diversity and composition of plant communities. I am particularly interested in the consequences and causes of spatial heterogeneity in resources in plant communities: how plants exploit this heterogeneity and the effect it has on diversity at a range of spatial scales. Although most of my past work has focused on successional and disturbed systems, I am now working in native prairie-savannah systems that occur along a productivity gradient in southwestern Michigan. We have established a large field experiment to directly test the relationship between spatial heterogeneity in soil nutrients and plant species diversity in prairie-savannas. We are also examining how patterns of diversity within and across communities vary with heterogeneity in soil resources and light. In conjunction with the work we are currently working with the Michigan Department of Veterans and Military Affairs to develop ecologically-based recommendations for restoration and preservation of prairie savanna and fens at the Ft. Custer Training Center. I am also interested in the determinants and consequence of diversity in agricultural ecosystems involved in a long-term project in agricultural ecology (the KBS LTER) in which we are investigating how plant diversity varies across agricultural systems with different types of management. Much of our current work focuses on the relationship between weed seed banks and the emergent weed community. I am also working with researchers from the MSU Center for Microbial Ecology (CME) to determine how changes in plant species diversity and composition influence soil microbial communities and how this relates to ecosystem processes such as C- and N-mineralization rates.
Geoffrey L. Habron
Department: Fisheries &
Wildlife
E-mail: habrong@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~habrong/
Community-based Adaptive Watershed Management (community-based conservation, adaptive management, watershed management, ecosystem management); whole systems thinking and practice; participatory action research and learning; marine fisheries; integration of social and ecological factors in natural resource management; geographic information systems.
Kimberly R. Hall
Department: Forestry, Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: hallkim@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.csis.msu.edu/personnel/hall_kim.htm
My research interests focus on the potential effects of climate change on vertebrates, and on integrating conservation of wildlife (especially forest songbirds) into landscape-scale forest management plans. I completed both an M.S. and Ph.D. at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment. My dissertation focused on evaluating the impacts of overabundant white-tailed deer on the breeding success and spatial patterns of habitat use in an understory-dependent songbird, the black-throated blue warbler. This work incorporated geographic boundary analysis, a relatively novel suite of statistical tools for identifying patterns of spatial clustering, and detecting spatial regions with highest rates of change. Currently, I am part of an interdisciplinary research group that is developing an integrated ecological/economic model of the effects of timber harvest and deer density in northern Michigan on forest regeneration, songbird biodiversity, and economic values. Other projects include applying novel statistical approaches to modeling impacts of climate change on vertebrates in California, and work with The Nature Conservancy on modeling stopover habitat for migratory birds in the Great Lakes region.
Stephen K. Hamilton
Department: Zoology
E-mail: hamilton@kbs.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.kbs.msu.edu/faculty/hamilton/
My principal research interests involve ecosystem ecology and biogeochemistry, with particular attention to aquatic environments and the movement of water through landscapes. I am especially interested in running waters, wetlands and floodplains. I also like to consider ecosystem processes at the landscape or watershed scale, and I prefer to do research that contributes to our understanding of environmental problems or improves our ability to manage ecosystems. My research has dealt with South American floodplains, Michigan streams and wetlands, zebra mussels in Michigan lakes, and the linkages among agriculture, water quality, carbon sequestration, and global change.
Jay R. Harman
Department: Geography
E-mail: harman@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.geo.msu.edu/faculty/harman/harman.html
I am interested in environmental ethics, with lesser emphases in climatology, plant geography of North America, and utilization of plant nectar sources by honeybees.
Craig K. Harris
Department: Sociology
E-mail: craig.harris@ssc.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~harrisc/
My background is in environmental sociology and sociological human ecology. Much of my research has focused on the social dimensions of the relationships between agriculture and the environment (especially pest management and fertility management), and on the social dimensions of the relationships between fisheries and the environment (especially fisheries management and technological change). I have also studied the linkages between energy and society, and the social dimensions of bovine tuberculosis. In my work on these various topics, I use a multilevel approach that looks at the interactions among the social psychology of human actors, the dynamics of communities and organizations, and the macro-level processes of culture and governance. As much as possible, I study reciprocal systemic interactions between social factors and elements at different scales of the biophysical environment.
Syed A. Hashsham
Department: Civil & Environmental Engineering
E-mail: hashsham@egr.msu.edu
Web site: http://www.egr.msu.edu/cee/people/hashsham.html
My current research interests include development of microarray (DNA chip) technology for environmental applications, bioremediation, and microbial ecology. I am also interested in mathematical modeling of molecular data. I teach Biological Principles of Environmental Engineering and Environmental Microbiology to graduate and undergraduate students. Currently two post-doctoral, five doctoral and three master’s students are part of my research group. Research projects include Development of Virulence Factor Activity Relationships Database (EPA), Field Scale Evaluation of Bioreactor Landfills (Department of Energy and Environmental Research and Education Foundation), and Health Hazards from Groundwater Contamination (NIEHS), and Development of Microbial Diversity DNA Chips (NSF).
Daniel B. Hayes
Department: Fisheries & Wildlife
E-mail: hayesdan@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.fw.msu.edu/people/HayesDaniel/
My principal research interests focus on the relationship between fish habitat and their population dynamics, and how this information can be used for improved natural resource management. I am also actively pursuing new methods and applications of statistics and mathematical models to quantify these relationships. To date, much of my research has focused on streams, and particularly the effects of dams on stream ecosystems and fish communities.
John P. Hoehn
Department: Agricultural Economics
E-mail: hoehn@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.aec.msu.edu/agecon/faculty/hoehn.htm
His research currently focuses on methods for valuing of non-market goods, the effect of environmental quality and regulation on the location of economic activity, the influence of environmental quality on recreational choices in the Great Lakes region and sustainable development. Past work includes natural resource damage assessments, environmental risk perceptions, methods for valuing land characteristics, the valuation of groundwater protection, and the economics of soil conservation. Hoehn’s work addresses issues that arise as state and national governments try to implement environmental policies.
Richard D. Horan
Department: Agricultural Economics
E-mail: horan@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.aec.msu.edu/agecon/faculty/horan.htm
My research interests are in the area of environmental and natural resource economics. Specifically, my research focuses on:
- The cost-effective allocation of control efforts in reducing agricultural nonpoint source pollution and the design of economic incentives to achieve cost-effective outcomes
- The conservation of wildlife and endangered species
- Management of wildlife disease
- Management and prevention of new introductions of alien invasive species
- Co-evolution of economic and ecological systems. In particular, the interactions between early man and his environment and the impacts this has had on the evolution of humans and economic and ecological systems
Philip H. Howard
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS)
E-mail: howardp@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~howardp/
My research focuses on investigating the relationships between food, agriculture and public health, as well as assisting communities to characterize and respond to changes in the food system. My current projects focus on: 1) Consolidation in the food system, particularly in the rapidly growing organic sector; 2) 'Food environments' and their potential influence on obesity and hypertension; and 3) National consumer interest in 'ecolabels' as a potential strategy for improving the livelihoods of small- and medium-scale farms.
Zachary Y. Huang
Department: Entomology
E-mail: bees@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.ent.msu.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=116
Almost anything related to honey bees interests Huang. Current research topics include: effect of Nosema apis on worker behavior and physiology, reproductive biology of Varroa mites, cloning the sodium channel genes of the Varroa mite to determine if mutation of this gene is responsible for mite resistance to Apistan (in collaboration with Ke Dong), effect of transgenic pollen on health of honey bees and as possible agents for pest control, and the role of melatonin in regulating social behavior in honey bee workers. He is the webmaster of a popular web site on bees, cyberbee.msu.edu and teaches two courses (Insect Physiology and Apiculture and Pollination). He recently invented a new device for Varroa mite control and a patent was granted to the Michigan State University
Richard C. Hula
Department: Political Science
E-mail: rhula@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.polisci.msu.edu/people/hula.htm
My research focuses on broad issues of urban politics and public policy. I initially became interested in environmental policy as brownfields redevelopment was increasingly presented as a strategy for urban revitalization. My focus has since expanded on other brownfield issues including:
- The process of bureaucratic change with respect to agency goals (public health to economic development)
- The role of citizen involvement in redevelopment planning and implementation
- Social justice issues in environmental policy
- The interaction of “hard science” and environmental policy (particularly with respect to site standards)
David W. Hyndman
Department: Geological Sciences
E-mail: hyndman@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.glg.msu.edu/people/hyndman/hyndman.html
David Hyndman’s research explores the physical and chemical processes that influence groundwater flow and solute transport, and the factors that affect seismic and electromagnetic wave propagation. We combine multiple independent data sets, such as crosswell seismic travel times, hydraulic heads and tracer concentrations through three-dimensional numerical simulations, to estimate aquifer properties with high resolution. This provides information about the influence of these properties on groundwater flow, solute transport, and bioremediation of organic contaminants. We also use a variety of models to explore processes occurring in natural and anthropogenically altered systems.
Dana M. Infante
Department: Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: infanted@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~infanted
I am interested in understanding the influence of landscape features and processes on aquatic organisms and quantifying the mechanisms by which that influence occurs. My experience examining hierarchical relationships between landscape factors and stream ecosystem variables includes the study of indirect landscape controls on Michigan fish assemblages through effects on stream channel shape as well as a comprehensive study of landscape effects on fish and macroinvertebrates through multiple measures of habitat in stream catchments of southeast Michigan. I am interested in questions of spatial variability (i.e., do mechanisms vary with scale, by region?), and in the applicability of different analytical techniques for addressing these questions. Because successful protection and management of aquatic systems requires an understanding of mechanisms of impairment, I have a broad goal of performing research that benefits management while ensuring sustainability.
Nan E. Johnson
Department: Sociology
E-mail: johnsonn@msu.edu
Web site: http://sociology.msu.edu/njohnson.html
Nan E. Johnson holds a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology, where she teaches Social Demography, and in the Agricultural Experiment Station, where she conducts research. Her research intersects Demography, Gerontology, and Rural Sociology. Her work explores differences between rural and urban elders in the social production of disability and its remediation through assistive technology and personal help.
Michael L. Jones
Department: Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: jonesm30@msu.edu
Web site: http://glpd.fw.msu.edu/Mike/
I teach and conduct research in fish population dynamics and ecology, resource management, and simulation modeling. I am especially interested in how uncertainty and risk affect resource management decision-making. I work closely with fishery management agencies to apply my research findings to current and emerging management issues.
Satish Joshi
Department: Agricultural Economics
E-mail: satish@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.aec.msu.edu/agecon/faculty/joshi.htm
My research interests are mainly in corporate environmental management, and economic and environmental analyses of emerging bio-fuel, bio-fiber and bio-plastic industries. My current funded research projects include:
- Developing life cycle environmental impact analysis tools for engineering design and watershed management
- Developing methods for estimating hidden costs of environmental regulations not identified by firm accounting systems
- Analyzing the role of information in improving firm profitability and stock market returns
- Analyzing the impacts of the ban on MTBE, renewable fuel standards and new ozone standards on corn-ethanol demand and Michigan agriculture
- Economic and environmental assessment of lignocellulosic ethanol as a transportation fuel
- Life cycle analysis of natural fiber composites and bioplastics
Linda Kalof
Department: Sociology
E-mail: lkalof@msu.edu
Web site: http://ecoculturalgroup.msu.edu/people/kalof.htm
I study environmental values, ethics and the cultural representations of humans and other animals, with a focus on how display and exhibition shape human identity, altruism, and biospheric concern. Framed by the social construction of marked bodies, my work has the potential for promoting kinship identities with other species and also with dissimilar human “others.” My research in this area has produced two book chapters, “The Human Self and the Animal Other,” (in Personal Identity and the Natural Environment, MIT, 2003) and “The Multilayered Discourses of Animal Concern” (in Social Discourse and Environmental Policy, Edward Elgar, 2000), two articles, “The Animal Text” (The Sociological Quarterly 40(4):565-586, 1999) and “Reading the Trophy: Exploring the Display of Dead Animal Bodies in Hunting Magazines” (forthcoming in Visual Studies). I am currently working on a book for Continuum, Reading Animals: Message and Meaning in Cultural Representations.
Norbert E. Kaminski
Department: Pharmacology and
Toxicology
E-mail: kamins11@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.phmtox.msu.edu/faculty/kaminski.asp
Norbert Kaminski’s research interests are in the areas of immunopharmacology and immunotoxicology. Currently, he has several ongoing research projects, each of which is focused on identifying the mechanisms by which specific agents alter normal responses of the immune system. One major research focus is to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which biologically active compounds derived from the Cannabis sativa plant, termed cannabinoids, and cannabinoid-like endogenous molecules alter T lymphocyte function. A second research emphasis is to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, including dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls, alter B lymphocyte function. A third major research focus is to elucidate the immunological mechanisms involved in chemical- and protein-mediated allergic airway disease. The overarching research focus is to develop a better understanding of the alterations in signal transduction and gene expression induced by immunotoxicants compromising immune competence.
Michael Kaplowitz
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies
E-mail: kaplowit@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~kaplowit/
Michael D. Kaplowitz has published more than two books, five book chapters, and 20 peer-reviewed articles in journals including American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, Ecological Economics, Journal of the American Water Resources Association, and the Journal of Environmental Planning & Management. Kaplowitz is PI or co-PI on more than $2 million of research grants in the areas of ecosystem valuation, watershed management, and land use. His current research includes a nationwide examination of wetland mitigation banking, a study of economic values of Great Lakes coastal wetland ecosystems, an investigation of the nation’s transfer of development rights programs, and some watershed-level studies of best management practices.
Stan Kaplowitz
Department: Sociology
E-mail: kaplowi1@msu.edu
Web site: http://sociology.msu.edu/skaplowitz.html
Stan Kaplowitz (Ph. D., U of Michigan 1971) is Professor of Sociology. He has published articles on: message discrepancy and persuasion, attitude change over time, perceptions of power, doctor-patient communication, the relationship between beliefs about racial statistics and racial attitudes, and student attitudes towards the large MSU riot of 1999. He has also been developing methods to improve the prediction of Lead Poisoning Risk of children from socio-demographic characteristics of individuals and their neighborhoods. He is currently interested in applying his interest in attitudes to understanding attitudes towards global warming and energy conservation.
James J. Kells
Department: Crop and Soil Sciences
E-mail: kells@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.msu.edu/~kells/
Dr. Kell's research revolves around weed science, integrated pest management and the biology of perennial weeds. He is also the extension specialist in weed control-corn, small grains, and forages.
John M. Kerr
Department: Community, Agriculture, Recreation & Resource Studies
E-mail: jkerr@msu.edu
Web site: https://www.carrs.msu.edu/Main/People/faculty%20bios%5Cjkerr.asp
Kerr's research involves the roles of community development, collective action, property rights, economic incentives and policies in natural resource management, particularly related to developing country agriculture and watershed management. Most of his research has focused on India; he has published a number of articles on determinants of farmers' adoption of soil and water conservation practices in India and on the performance of watershed development programs. A recent research project focuses on payments for environmental services programs in Indonesia, with an emphasis on designing programs for maximum benefit to poor people.
Bernard D. Knezek
Department: Crop and Soil
Sciences
E-mail: knezek@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.kbs.msu.edu/faculty/emeritus/knezek.php
Micronutrient nutrition and waste utilization; resource conserving agricultural cropping systems and soil and water conservation.
Daniel B. Kramer
Department: James Madison College and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
E-mail: dbk@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.jmc.msu.edu/faculty/show.asp?id=65
My research attempts to integrate ecology and conservation biology with economics, anthropology, psychology and sociology. A point of departure for my research is to first understand humans as key agents in ecosystems. With this understanding, it becomes important to know the role of human behavior, social and political institutions, public policy, demography, and human values on environmental outcomes. I am also interested in research on multiple-use commons. My most recent research examines the role of social capital in the management of lake water quality. Another study examines how different models of human behavior and an assumption of greater ecological complexity generate different ecological consequences among artisanal coral reef fisheries.
Kyoung-Nan Kwon
Department: Advertising, Public Relations & Retailing
E-mail: kwonky@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.cas.msu.edu/people/adv/452
Nan Kwon is interested in diverse aspects of consumer psychology. She has focused on consumer behavior, risk, and decision-making, with research on (a) ways of optimizing retail pricing strategies and (b) how risk perceptions play out in decision making and information/knowledge effect. Her environmental interests include price perception of pro-environmental products and marketing communication; the relationship between health consciousness and environmental concern (and, more broadly, different motivations for environmental action); and issues related to over-consumption and compulsive buying.
Douglas A. Landis
Department: Entomology
E-mail: landisd@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.ent.msu.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=120
I am interested in the influence of habitat and landscape structure on insect behavior, ecology, and the functioning of natural enemy populations and communities. I am particularly interested in the use of this knowledge in the design and management of ecologically based management systems for invasive plants and insects.
Maria Knight Lapinski
Department: Communication, the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center, and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station
E-mail: lapinsk3@msu.edu
Web site: http://foodsafe.msu.edu/Faculty/Maria_Lapinski.html
Maria Knight Lapinski is joint appointed as an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, the National Food Safety and Toxicology Center (NFSTC), and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) at Michigan State University. Dr. Lapinski received her doctorate from Michigan State University and her master's of arts from University of Hawaii, Manoa. She researches the impact of messages and social variables on health and environmental risk behaviors with a particular interest in culturally-based differences and similarities. Her work has been presented at national and international communication and public health conferences and has been published in public health and communication journals. Professor Lapinski's teaching interests include risk communication, international and intercultural health communication, and social influence.
John J. LaPres
Department: Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology
E-mail: lapres@msu.edu
Web site: http://www.bch.msu.edu/faculty/lapres.htm
John LaPres’ research is focused on the PAS superfamily of proteins and their role in toxicity. Specifically, he is interested in the signaling of dioxins and PCBs through the aryl hydrocarbon receptor and the role cofactors play in this toxic pathway. His secondary interests lie in the role hypoxia inducible factors (HIFs) play in tumor growth, angiogenesis and metal induced toxicity and transformation. His laboratory is focusing on characterizing the gene expression profiles of various cell lines and tissues following treatment to environmentally important metals, including nickel, cadmium and chromium. This approach has given us extensive experience in the production, application and analysis of cDNA microarrays. Our toxicogenomic studies will focus on critically evaluating identified genes for their role in metal induced toxicity.