Environmental Studies Faculty

The Department of Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary community of active scholars in the arts, humanities and natural and social sciences. We are dedicated to helping students and community members form a broad holistic understanding of the relationships between human and natural systems and give them the skills they need to identify and address the problems that exist within those relationships. This understanding is built on a foundation of valid, contextual knowledge informed by disciplinary study and experiential learning practices. Through faculty guidance and peer interaction, students gain an appreciation for the complexity of relationships between human, social and economic systems and natural ecosystems. Students in our program will learn to creatively apply both quantitative and qualitative methods to the complex environmental and social problems we currently face. Our innovative program produces broadly educated, highly skilled graduates who will become active and responsible citizens in the world community.

The Pacific University Environmental Studies Program welcomes Toby Hemenway, Scholar in Residence, who will be teaching a one-year course in Permaculture. Students who complete this course will receive certification in Permaculture.

Richard Van Buskirk

Restoration Ecology

Deke Gundersen

Toxicology, & Sustainability

Joel Gohdes

Environmental Chemistry

Edmond Alkaslassy

Forest Ecology

Jules Boykoff

Global Warming and the U.S. Prestige Press

Larry Lipin

Environmental History