Marianne Krasny

Marianne Krasny directs the Cornell Civic Ecology Lab. She conducts research on the connections between community environmental stewardship, individual environmental actions, and wider systemic change. She is currently writing a book about scaling up individual climate action, such as plant-rich diet, through social networks and activism. Dr Krasny also collaborates with Civic Ecology Lab members to address questions related to the civic outcomes of global online courses, urban agriculture and sustainability initiatives, and youth development and environmental education programs. In her research, teaching, and outreach, Dr. Krasny collaborates with non-profit, Cooperative Extension, and sustainable business partners from China, Spain, and other countries around the world. Much of this engaged scholarship occurs remotely.

Dr. Krasny teaches courses on scaling up individual climate action through social networks and social movement organizations. She also serves as the Director of Graduate Studies for Natural Resources and teaches our introductory graduate course. She leads efforts to teach environmental and climate education Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) for international audiences, and to facilitate online learning and resource sharing communities for over 10,000 environmental activists and educators globally. Dr Krasny believes that given the scale of the climate justice crisis, faculty and students need to take action as part of our teaching and outreach.

Dr Krasny’s recent books include Civic Ecology: Adaptation and Transformation from the Ground Up (with K Tidball), Urban Environmental Education Review (with A Russ), Communicating Climate Change: A Guide for Educators (with A Armstrong and J Schuldt), Grassroots to Global: Broader Impacts of Civic Ecology and Advancing Environmental Education Practice. Dr Krasny was director of EPA’s National Environmental Education Training Program, and of the Garden Mosaics community gardening education program, and is a Public Voices Fellow and an International Fellow of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry.