Brief Bio
I twice moved from the Upper Midwest to Cornell. In 1971, I
came to Cornell as an undergraduate after leaving my hometown of Gary, Indiana.
Moving from the urban Rust Belt to bucolic rural New York was transformative. I
returned as a faculty member 27 years later, this time bringing my family from
Green Bay, Wisconsin where I lived, worked and ate cheese for 17 years. I constantly think about how organisms and
ecosystems are changing, driven by a fascination with plants, animals,
bacteria, fungi, rocks, weather and forces that shape the world. That includes people, which is why I pay
attention to how people affect living things, ecosystems and our physical
environment. If I had to sum up my
research and personal experiences, I’d say that I’m impressed at how life
thrives in a world dominated by human activity.
My time as an undergraduate at Cornell set me on a career
path as an ecologist. My research
efforts ended up focusing on freshwater fish in lakes and rivers, though I have
also worked with other dominant – and news-making – animals such as zebra
mussels. My research typically occurs in the Adirondack region of New York or
other locations that are cold for a large part of the year. Serendipity has also led me to focus on
thiamine (vitamin B1) as a regulator of ecological interactions ranging from
microbes to the large-scale mortality of fish and other animals.
I also maintain an ongoing interest in how science
influences and is influenced by cultural practices, historical trends and
public policy. This started in my liberal arts studies as an undergrad, then
continued with academic studies at MIT before I entered the messy real world
with a stint in coastal land use planning (California Coastal Commission). That
was followed by decades leading outreach efforts with the
Wisconsin Sea Grant Program and Cornell before returning to the classroom as an
instructor.
Teaching
NTRES 1101: Understanding Environment and Sustainability
Offered every fall semester:
This course examines two fundamental questions about biological, chemical and physical processes that influence the biosphere. First, how do humans obtain knowledge about these environmental processes? Second, how can we assess human influences upon these environmental processes? A key conceptual framework for the course is that environmental science provides tools for predicting future states of the earth’s environment. Case studies, readings, discussions, writing assignments, and group exercises provide a foundation for understanding predictions about how the biosphere is influenced by human activities.
