Research and teaching emphases are on the politics of international development and environmental conservation, with a focus on institutional change, property rights, poverty, and biodiversity. Written extensively on 1) indigenous knowledge, 2) community-based conservation, 3) common property, 4) population and resources, and 5) environmental identities. Recent interests include the decentralization of environmental policy (especially forestry and wildlife), and the emergence of environment as a subject of human concern.

Teaching emphasis is on the application of ecological knowledge to species conservation and ecosystem management. Research interests center on the influence of human activities on the condition of rivers and their watersheds, including the effects of land use on stream health, assessment of variation in flow regime, and estimation of nutrient loads and budgets. Additional, collaborative activities are directed at the translation of aquatic science into useful products for management, conservation, and restoration of running waters.

In October 2001 Dr. Rosina Bierbaum joined the University of Michigan as Dean of the School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE).

Since her arrival, Bierbaum has: overseen the creation of a new undergraduate Program in the Environment; enhanced interdisciplinary teaching and research by successfully recruiting thirteen new faculty to the school, eight of whom hold joint appointments in other colleges at the University of Michigan; developed a new MS track to link business, engineering and natural resources; tripled research activity in SNRE; reinvigorated Great Lakes research across campus; and expanded the mission of the School to include global change.

Research interests focus on land use change and its effects on ecosystems and on human vulnerability. This work connects a computer-based simulation (e.g., agent-based modeling) of land-use-change processes with GIS and remote sensing based data on historical patterns of landscape change and social surveys. We are working to couple these models with GIS-based data and other models to evaluate consequences of change. We are also working to understand the ways in which land-use decisions are made. Collaborative research investigate the effects of spatial and social neighborhoods on the physical and social risks on human health.

Instrumental in establishing the School's Environmental Justice Program that focuses on the differential impact of environmental contaminants on people of color and low-income communities; Founder and Director of the Environmental Justice Initiative for research and retrieval/dissemination conferences and policy briefings. Research and conferences include both a domestic and international foci, particularly on climate justice. Teaching portfolio includes: Introduction to Environmental Justice (Environ. 222), Conception, Practical Issues and Dilemmas in Environmental Justice (SNRE 582), and the Masters Project/NRE 701.

Jonathon Bulkley is the Peter M. Wege Professor of Sustainable Systems, and he holds a joint appointment with the College of Engineering.

Teaching efforts are concentrated in water policy, risk-benefit analysis, and case studies in natural resources. Research concentrates on the development and application of both quantitative and qualitative means to help policy makers and decision makers attain improved planning, evaluation, and management of natural resources, especially water resources. Recently, research interests have expanded to include curriculum development for effective teaching of sustainale systems concepts to a wide range of disciplines.

The goal of Bill Currie's research program, growing out of ecosystem science, is to understand the organization, causal interactions, and dynamics in ecosystems and landscapes and to contribute to the new field of sustainability science. If we can capture the right complexity in our models of natural systems, we can apply this understanding to represent, study, or simulate future scenarios in linked human-natural systems. Bill teaches Modeling Coupled Human-Natural Systems, Resilience thinking, and Bio-Based Carbon Mitigation and Biofuels.

Promoting environmental stewardship has proven to be difficult. Successful approaches seem to need a mixture of understanding, motivation and participation. None alone appear sufficient. Another fascinating notion is Green Care, the use of natural settings to promote human wellness in its many forms (e.g., physical, psychological, spiritual). Work in this area could be called Sustainable Living since it is about crafting a wholesome and meaningful existence on a finite planet. 

Beth Diamond is a landscape theorist, designer and cultural instigator who believes in landscape architecture as an art form and a visionary medium for social change and evolution. Her interests stem from a fascination with the qualities and expressions of the built world as a mirror of human civilization and her work in landscape architecture focuses on strategies to transform societies in sustainable and culturally affirming ways.

Teaching interests center around fish ecology, aquaculture, and environmental sciences. Current teaching includes a senior course on fish ecology and an introductory course on environmental sciences. Major research interest has focused on the ecology of natural fishes, particularly pike and muskellunge.  In addition, research interests include a focus on aquaculture, its role in feeding the world, especially poorer people in developing countries, and its impact on the environment.

Program Coordinator. Dr. Ellis' scholarly interests include landscape architecture, landscape planning, landscape ecology, spatial modeling and analysis, and applications of information technology to planning and design. A recent project includes the development of a Land Use Change Early Warning System for the National Park Service. Dr. Ellis has also been involved in designing an environmentally sustainable educational facility for Texas A&M University next to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in Costa Rica.

Research and teaching in conservation biology and the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. Major research projects focus on the impact of diseases on wildlife populations and the environmental causes leading to disease emergence. Other projects examine how habitat fragmentation and global climate change result in species extinction.

Tom Gladwin is the Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, and he holds a joint appointment with the Ross School of Business.

Professor Gladwin's research focuses on the intersection of environmentalism and globalism in relation to the behavior of industrial corporations. He has published extensively-more than 125 publications-on the theme that the challenges of environmental sustainability and economic globalization are probably the two most profound forces shaping human destiny. This theme is a vital and challenging one, and one to which Gladwin speaks provocatively. At the core of Gladwin's research is the idea that the reintegration of humanity with nature is necessary if organizational science is to support ecologically and socially sustainable development.

Bob Grese serves as Director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum.

My teaching and research involve ecologically-based landscape design and management that respects and heightens awareness of the cultural and natural history of a region.  I am particularly interested in the restoration and on-going management of urban wilds and role such lands can play in promoting environmental literacy and in re-connecting children and families with nature.  I have long been fascinated by the work of early designers such as Jens Jensen and Ossian Cole Simonds who borrowed from the native landscape in their work, and I feel there is much to be learned about their designs today.  I have a growing interest in green roofs and other low impact design strategies and incorporate native vegetation and can borrow from an understanding of locally native ecosystems.

Professor Hardin holds a joint position with the Department of Anthropology. Her areas of interest and scientific study include human/wildlife interactions, and social and environmental change related to tourism, logging, conservation and hunting in the forests of Central African Republic. Recent projects focus on the increasingly intertwined practices of health and environmental management in equatorial and southern Africa. She also studies historical and ethnographic aspects of concessionary politics involving corporations, NGOs, and local communities, particularly in Africa.