RESIDENCY FACULTY
Even faculty share KP duty at Camp Huntington NOTE: All residency faculty have terminal degrees in their fields. All are mentors at Empire State College.
Elaine Handley is a co-coordinator of the Adirondack/Environmental Residency and a mentor at the Saratoga Unit of the Northeast Center. Her field is American literature and writing, and she is an award winning poet whose work is informed by the natural world. She is currently completing an historical novel, Deep River, which is about the Underground Railroad. Elaine teaches a range of literature and writing courses including War Stories: Reading and Writing about the Impact of War, The Art of Memoir, The Research Paper, and Introduction to Peace.
Linda Jones earned a B.A. in English from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, a M.A. in English from Eastern Michigan University, and a M.S. in Geography and a Ph.D. in Geology and Environmental Geosciences from Northern Illinois University. Linda began her graduate work in English Literature before changing directions to study vegetation dynamics and landscape change in an oak woodland in Northern Illinois. She continued her research in forest dynamics at Lake Superior Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada where she employed the analysis of tree rings to assess the impact of acid precipitation on sugar maple forests. Prior to coming to the Northeast Center, Linda was an Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at Southwest Minnesota State University where she developed interdisciplinary courses that incorporated active learning strategies to increase students’ interest and performance in science. Linda is interested in working with students on a range of environmental issues and utilizing the vast natural resources of the area, including the Adirondacks.
She is also strongly interested in Writing and Folklore/Mythology.
Peggy Lynn is a part-time mentor at the Central New York Center. She has been a professional folksinger/songwriter for 25 years. Peggy has a B.S. from SUNY Empire State College in Women’s Studies and an M.A. in History from SUNY Oswego. She offers studies in American and Women’s History, Music across Cultures, American Protest Songs, and Women’s Studies. Peggy lived in the Adirondacks for 15 years and was dubbed “the voice of the mountains” by poet Maurice Kenny. She is especially enthusiastic about teaching Adirondack Oral Tradition because she and her performing partners have presented many traditional songs and stories at folk festivals and coffeehouses throughout the North Country.
Drew Monthie has been gardening, growing plants and studying plants for over three decades. He is a graduate of SUNY Cobleskill with an A.A.S. in Plant Science/Horticulture and a graduate of SUNY Empire State College with a B.S. in Ecology/Environmental Education and a M.A. in Ethnobotany. He operates a consulting business in Queensbury, NY specializing in native plant design and education and is also an Adjunct Professor for Empire State College.
Wayne Ouderkirk has been interested and involved in outdoor, conservation and environmental issues his whole life. He has been a faculty member at Empire State College since 1985, specializing in environmental philosophy and ethics, an area he has researched, written, published, and made numerous presentations about at national and international conferences. One of the founding faculty and co-coordinator of the Environmental/Adirondack Studies Residency, he is senior editor of Land, Value, Community: Callicott and Environmental Philosophy (SUNY Press, 2002) and co-editor of Nature, Value, Duty: Life on Earth with Holmes Rolston, III(Springer, 2007). He’s also an avid hiker who has climbed the Adirondack 46 High Peaks (summer and winter) and the Northeast 111. He’s also been spotted at contra, Cajun and Zydeco dances.
Michael Parsons is a mentor at the Hudson Valley Center. His Ph.D. is in Environmental Science (Curtin University, Australia) while his postdoctoral fellowship was based on the functional ecology of macropods and consequent trophic webs in semi-arid Australia (Murdoch University, Australia). Since moving to New York in 2010, he has been investigating the use of multi-modal sensory tools as a means to influence animal management and learning. His current studies include Animal Behavior, Wildlife Ecology, Sociobiology, Sustainability and Environmental Science.
Chris Rounds has been visiting the Adirondacks to camp, canoe, hike and kayak, for 40 years, and he's been with Empire State College for more than half of that time. He is an historian by training and a mentor through experience. Chris was on sabbatical during the spring and summer of 2010. He spent a total of four months in Mexico, where he had completed his Ph.D. field work in history. His sabbatical research focused on Mexico's modern political economy and the challenges the country faces in the near future. Those challenges relate to redressing economic inequalities, facilitating more balanced economic growth in the future, and addressing a wide array of environmental challenges. His home base is in the Binghamton area.
Duncan RyanMann earned a B.A. degree in liberal arts from The Evergreen State College and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania with concentrations in industrial organization, public finance, and health economics. He has taught on the faculties of the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University, and Williams College. Dr. RyanMann has also analyzed and managed health programs for the Washington State government. Dr. RyanMann has consulted with the World Bank and the Washington State government on economic and policy issues in health care and with the U.S. Department of Education on the higher education market. He has consulted with the New York State Governor’s Office of Regulatory Reform on applications of cost benefit analysis. Dr. RyanMann has a number of professional publications, including articles in The American Economic Review, The Rand Journal of Economics, The Journal of Higher Education, and The International Journal of Industrial Organization. His research interests are in the area of applied economics including health care economics and policy and environmental economics and policy. Dr. RyanMann’s teaching interests include health care economics and policy, environmental and ecological economics and policy, as well as core courses in microeconomics.
Nikki Shrimpton has a B.S. in Forestry from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in Forest Management from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and has been studying and/or teaching ecology and forestry since 1980. She has worked in temperate ecosystems in both the U.S. and U.K., and has been part of the Adirondack Residency since 1998. Although she is now the Dean of the Central New York Center, she still teaches and mentors, and is currently pursuing her academic interests in ethnobotany, sustainability, and edible forest gardening. In her spare time she is a cellist, fencer, and avid gardener.
Alan Stankiewicz has a B.F.A. from Pratt Institute and an M.A. from Central Connecticut State University. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. He currently owns a small textile design company and is a part-time mentor with Empire State College. This is Alan's second year teaching at the Adirondack Residency.
Nadine V. Wedderburn earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology, a M.S. in Engineering Management from Florida Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Public Management from Florida International University. Nadine has been engaged in Public Administration research and instruction since 2003. She has served as Research Assistant for urban research projects involving economic and community development, urban planning, and gentrification in South Florida. Her current research interests center on the impact of globalization on public management practice in small-medium cities. Prior to her career in teaching, she worked in the areas of construction cost analysis and project management on residential and commercial building projects. A well-rounded educator, Nadine enjoys learning with students about the ever-evolving relationship between systems and society. She enjoys integrating the social and natural sciences to help frame an understanding of how individuals and organizations relate to the analysis of public issues.
Kevin Woo has a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from Macquarie University, M.Sc. in Ecology & Biodiversity from Victoria University of Wellington, and a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Psychology/Biology from Southampton College of Long Island University. At Empire State College, he is a mentor at the Metropolitan Center, where his teaching and research interests overlap in the areas of animal behavior, ecology, and conservation. Moreover, he has been fortuitous to investigate questions in animal communication, sexual selection, and learning in a number of model species, such as lizards, fish, cuttlefish, insects, and marine mammals. In his first year with the college, he is preparing to spend his winters observing seals at haul out sites in New York City and Long Island, and developing some creative initiatives in media, community agriculture, and elementary education. Through the day, he dreams to be out surfing; however, he also has a low threshold for cold water. |
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