Environmental Studies Department

Elly Engle, assistant professor of Environmental Studies, was recently recognized with the Early Career Award from the Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences. Engle discussed her down-to-earth approach to hands-on learning in the campus gardens, the Agrifood Program, Food Fellows, and plans for a local seed library.

As a micropaleontologist, Margaret Christie looks at small organisms and parts of organisms to determine what the environment was like in the past. As a professor of Environmental Studies, Christie primarily studies wetland and coastal environments, but she has worked on projects reconstructing sea level, earthquake recurrence intervals, and pollution histories. She is currently working to restore wetlands at the McDaniel Environmental Center. She teaches Climatology, Environmental Geology, and Science of Soil, Water, and Air as well as courses on Wetland Ecology and Environmental Problem Solving.

Growing up in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in the state of Washington, I have long been passionate about the environment and forests in particular. As a professor, I teach courses in environmental management, environmental policy, and conservation biology. I also lead a field-based digital storytelling course in the Amazon, The Forest Online. As a scientist, my research agenda is designed to improve forest governance and conservation planning using interdisciplinary research methods.