Environmental Studies Program

Expertise: Community and citizen science, ecology, evolution and urban biodiversity and conservation.

Colleen Hitchcock's academic interests are focused on the role of citizen science in ecological inquiry and conservation biology, specifically relating to studies of biodiversity, conservation, phenology and climate change. She is a lead organizer for the City Nature Challenge in eastern Massachusetts and is also interested in both the application of community/citizen science research as a model for learning by students. Learn more about her work.

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Expertise: International environmental policy, transborder conservation.

Charles Chester teaches global environmental politics at Brandeis, and is affiliated with the Fletcher and Vet Schools at Tufts University. He is a co-Principal Investigator of EMIGRA, an international research group examining the role of migratory species in providing ecosystem services and equitable outcomes for people. He is also Chair of the Yellowstone to Yukon Council, on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Bat Conservation International, and manages the website EarthWeb.info.

Expertise: Theory, film and media studies, contemporaneity, environmental humanities, the novel

Name Pronunciation: Irr as in "irregular" or "irritable"

Expertise: Environmental Justice, climate justice, global climate and geoengineering governance, international development, collective action on the Commons, and global conservation.

Prakash Kashwan’s research and teaching focuses on environmental and climate justice, climate governance, environmental policies and institutions, and the commons. He is the author of "Democracy in the Woods: Environmental Conservation and Social Justice in India, Tanzania and Mexico" (Oxford University Press, 2017), editor of "Climate Justice in India" (Cambridge University Press, 2022), and editor of the journal Environmental Politics. He advises international and multilateral agencies and welcomes research collaborations with graduate and undergraduate students.

To schedule office hours, please click this link, or email Professor Kashwan.

Expertise: Ecology, conservation biology and animal behavior. Pedagogical methods and innovations.

Dan Perlman's work in biology has ranged from studying colony-founding behaviors among tropical ants to helping regional conservation groups throughout the western United States set priorities for land and species protection. He also is interested in studying human learning. As founding director of the Brandeis Center for Teaching and Learning, Perlman worked with faculty to help them foster student learning. Perlman also developed a website, EcoLibrary.org, that freely distributes teaching materials developed for ecology and environmental studies.

Expertise: German as a foreign language; German climate action; grassroots climate activism.

Sabine von Mering is currently working on climate action and climate activism in Germany and the role of climate change as a challenge for the humanities. Her most recent publication is The Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism (2025).  As director of the Center for German and European Studies (CGES), she organizes lectures, conferences and cultural events in the interest of promoting transatlantic dialogue, including many webinars on current affairs that are open to all.

Expertise: Early American literature and culture, print culture and media, American religious history, art history and visual culture, theories of space and place, the American West

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Expertise: Climate science, physical oceanography, turbulence and mixing, estuarine and coastal fluid dynamics.

Sally Warner is a physical oceanographer who studies how water moves and mixes in the ocean. She is particularly interested in connecting the small, fast motions of turbulence to decadal-scale, global processes like El Niño and climate change. She has spent many months living and working on oceanographic research vessels in places like the equatorial Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. As an educator, she aims to teach climate science and oceanography in ways that highlight local case studies to motivate the underlying science.

• To schedule office hours, please click this link or email Professor Warner.

Expertise: American environmental studies, New England farm and forest history, sustainable agriculture, sustainable forestry, land conservation.

Brian Donahue taught courses on environmental issues, environmental history, sustainable farming and forestry, and early American culture. His primary research interests include the history and the prospects of human engagement with the land, especially in New England.

• Sustainable Working Landscapes Program