Environmental Studies Faculty
Program advisor: William Harmon Norton Professor of Geology Rhawn Denniston | Contact info
Any Cornell College faculty member planning an off-campus course that contains a substantive environmental studies component may request financial support from the Cargill Fund of the Environmental Studies Program.
Core Faculty
Rhawn Denniston
William Harmon Norton Professor of Geology
Teaches Climate Change, Climates of the Ice Age, Environmental Geology, Earth Surface Systems, and co-teaches Environmental Perspectives. Conducts research with students on stalagmites and ancient corals to understand prehistoric climate conditions around the world including Portugal, the Australian (sub)tropics, and the Dominican Republic. Ph.D., University of Iowa; M.S., University of New Mexico; B.A., Hamilton College.
Affiliated Faculty
Marty Condon
Professor of Biology
Collaborates with professional and student researchers around the world to study the evolution and ecology of plant-animal relationships in the tropics. Ph.D., University of Texas; B.S. University of Michigan.
A'amer Farooqi
Professor of Economics and Business
Co-teaches Environmental Perspectives. Research interests include environmental issues as they relate to economic growth in developing countries. Ph.D. and M.A., University of Pittsburgh; M.A., Ohio State University; B.A., Denison University.
Glenn Freeman
Associate Professor of English
Teaches American Nature Writers at the Wilderness Field Station in northern Minnesota. Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville; M.F.A., Vermont College; B.A., Goddard College.
Alice Ganzel
Associate Professor of Psychology
Teaches Environmental Psychology and Fundamentals of Psychological Science and Research Methods; Child, Adolescence, and Lifespan. Ph.D. and M.A. in developmental psychology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; B.A., University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Leslie Kathleen Hankins
Professor of English
Teaches Modern American Literature: Encountering the Wilderness in Literature and the Visual Arts. Ph.D. and M.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; B.A., Duke University. Serves as president of the Virginia Woolf Society.
Tammy Mildenstein
Assistant Professor of Biology
Teaches Environmental Biology, Wildlife and People, Endangered Species Conservation, Ecology, Pollination Ecology, Grassland Ecology and Humans, and off-campus field courses on international wildlife conservation biology. Conducts conservation-focused population ecological research on threatened species including flying foxes in tropical forests of SE Asia and on Pacific islands and monarch butterflies in Iowa tallgrass prairies. M.S. and Ph.D. in Wildlife Biology, University of Montana; B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Iowa State University.
Michelle Mouton
Professor of English
Teaches Romantic and Victorian literature, film, and AIDS literature and film. She is co-founder of the Foxden Press and co-teaches Introduction to Book Arts. She raises honeybees and teaches a first-year seminar on food and sustainability. Ph.D., English and critical theory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Drew Muscente
Assistant Professor of Geology
Drew teaches introductory and advanced courses in sedimentary (“soft rock”) geology. He and his students study the fossil record to better understand the evolution and preservation of ancient marine animal life. This research involves a mix of field and laboratory work on fossil specimens as well as an array of computational methods applied to large databases.
Brian Nowak-Thompson
Associate Professor of Biology and Chemistry
Teaches Environmental Chemistry. Ph.D. and M.S., Oregon State University; B.S., Northland College.
Mary Olson
Professor of Sociology
Conducts research on fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest. Ph.D. and M.S., University of Wisconsin; B.A., University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Misha Quill
Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Teaches courses in justice, gender, human rights, social organization, sustainability, medical anthropology, religious practice, and research methods. Her courses, which focus on the social world, often include trips in places such as India, Nepal, the Bahamas, Ireland, and Mexico. Quill's research in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Ireland focuses largely on the complex interactions that NGOs and nonprofits have with the people they seek to help. Ph.D., cultural anthropology, University of Iowa.
Craig Teague
Professor of Chemistry
Teaches Environmental Chemistry. Teaches courses in physical chemistry, Chemical Principles I & II, and other courses. In partnership with the Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee, his research with students explores methods of separating and capturing carbon dioxide, particularly using room temperature ionic liquids. Ph.D. in chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Emily Walsh
Associate Professor of Geology
Teaches linked geology-sociology courses focused on use of natural resources. Conducts research on the processes involved in mountain building. Ph.D., University of California at Santa Barbara; B.A., Middlebury College.
Jim White
Professor of Philosophy
Teaches Environmental Ethics and Ethics and Climate Change; His research involves climate ethics, and evolution and philosophy. Ph.D. and B.A., University of Virginia.
Isaac Winkler
Post-doctoral Researcher and Lecturer in the Department of Biology
Isaac teaches various courses in organismal biology. He studies the evolutionary relationships of insect groups to learn about how biodiversity arises. Ph.D., University of Maryland, B.S. Brigham Young University.