On behalf of the Search Committee for the next Director of the Program on the Environment, you are invited to attend the open presentations and Q&A sessions with the three finalists for the Director position. All will take place in Wallace Hall (ACC). The finalists will provide a 20-30 minute candidate statement to address their vision for the program, how they will approach accomplishing this vision, and a summary of their qualifications, with the remaining 45-55 minutes dedicated to a question and answer session.

Friday, May 20, 2016

Professor Rick Keil, School of Oceanography, University of Washington

12:30-1:45 p.m.

ACC 120

Rick Keil is an oceanographer interested in applying organic geochemistry to some of the most pressing environmental issues of our time, most especially climate change. He studies the fate of organic matter in aquatic environments, as well as the causes and consequences of oxygen minimum zones throughout the world. In addition to his research, in 2008 Keil started SoundCitizen, a citizen science project that sends Puget Sound residents out to sample the water from various sites throughout the region. The SoundCitizen lab then analyzes the samples to look at the links between urban settings and aquatic systems—documenting everything from the cooking spices that make their way to the waterways, to emerging pollutants.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Professor Peter Kahn, Department of Psychology and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, University of Washington

12:00-1:15 p.m.

ACC 012

Psychologist Peter Kahn is the Director of the Human Interaction with Nature and Technological Systems (HINTS) Lab at the UW, where he explores two trends that are reshaping human existence. One is the rapid degradation of the natural world. The other is the speed of technological development, both in terms of its computational sophistication and pervasiveness. Peter and his team dive into questions that arise out of these trends, such as how interaction with nature (and more wild nature) benefits people physically and psychologically, the psychological effects of interacting with technologies that simulate, mediate, or argument nature, and using deep and meaningful interaction with nature (what he calls interaction pattern design) to revision and contribute to urban sustainability. Peter is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecopsychology. He is also the author of five books with MIT Press, including Technological Nature: Adaptation and the Future of Human Life (2011).

Monday, May 23, 2016

Professor Nives Dolšak, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington

2:00-3:15 p.m.

ACC 012

Nives Dolšak studies how common pool resources are governed. She looks at the role of community action, social capital, market-based instruments, as well as traditional regulatory policies. Her research has examined these issues in the context of Washington State, the United States, Eastern and Central Europe, as well as whole world. A special area of focus is on global climate change policies that have been developed and implemented from the local to international level. Regionally she studies collaborative salmon management through Washington Sea Grant funded research, and serves as a member of the Puget Sound Partnership’s Science Panel.

See you there!