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Environmental Issues

Mark Davis

Ecology/Oak Savannas/Prairies

Biology Department

Davis is an ecologist who has received national grants, including several from the National Science Foundation to study the effects of fire and climate change on prairies and oak savannas. Davis is interested in both regional and global ecological issues. He was named the 1995 Minnesota College Science Teacher of the Year by the Minnesota Academy of Science and Minnesota Association of Science Teachers.

Daniel Hornbach

Freshwater Ecology/Zebra Mussels

Biology Department/Provost

Hornbach is a freshwater ecologist. He is currently researching factors that influence freshwater mussels in large river systems. He and Professor James Straka are working on a conservation project that uses DNA fingerprinting to produce a genetic map of an endangered fresh water mussel species on the Upper St. Croix River. Hornbach has been a consultant for government agencies concerned with threatened and endangered species of native mussels and the invasion by zebra mussels. He currently serves as the college's provost and dean of the faculty.

Aldemaro Romero

Environment in Latin America/Environmental Studies Program/Evolutionary Biology

Romero directs the college's Environmental Studies Program. He recently conducted research assessing the state of more than 600 environmental studies programs at colleges and universities around the country. He also launched Environ, an international peer-reviewed electronic journal that focuses on environmental issues. Romero specializes in evolutionary and conservation biology, with a focus on conservation and other environmental issues in Latin America. He is also an expert in marine biology.

In addition, he is interested in getting more students of color involved in environmental studies.

Brett Smith

U.S. Environmental Policy/Sustainable Development

International Studies/Political Science Departments

Smith's teaching and research centers on globalization and the environment, sustainable development and U.S. environmental policy and politics.

Karen Warren

Ecological Feminism/

Environmental Philosophy and Ethics

Philosophy Department

Warren is an expert on women and environmental ethics. She speaks widely on environmental issues, feminism, critical thinking skills and peace studies. She has written and edited numerous books, including Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What it Is and Why it Matters, Ecological Feminist Philosophers, as well as From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology and Bringing Peace Home. Warren was the Ecofeminist-Scholar-in-Residence at Murdoch University in Australia. In addition, she has received awards for developing environmental curricula for elementary and secondary students.