Corey Garza has agreed to serve as the UW College of the Environment’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, effective September 1.
In this role he will work closely with Dean Maya Tolstoy, College leadership, faculty, postdocs, staff, students and other community members to integrate an equity and justice lens into the College’s work, and advance our shared vision that excellent science, teaching and scholarship can only be achieved in a community which is inclusive and supportive of people of all backgrounds and identities.
“I’m very excited to join the College of the Environment and help support this important work,” said Garza. “Centering equity and justice in our culture and the research we do is essential to building a sustainable future, both for our institution and our planet.”
Currently a professor in the Department of Marine Science at California State University, Monterey Bay, Garza is a marine ecologist studying spatial dynamics in species-habitat associations in marine systems. He is the campus lead for the NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems, directs the Monterey Bay Regional Ocean Science Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, and serves on the Board of Directors of the American Geophysical Union and the Board of Trustees of the California Academy of Sciences.
Garza is a longtime advocate of diversity, equity and inclusion in the sciences, driven in part by his own experience as a first-generation student and member of a group historically underrepresented in STEM. In addition to his work building research and education infrastructure at CSU Monterey Bay, a Hispanic-serving institution, Garza previously served a three-year term on the National Board of Directors of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).
The College would like to thank the members of the Advisory Search Committee for their contributions to the hiring process:
- Peter Abe, Director, Seattle MESA
- Tim Essington, Director and Professor, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences
- Stephanie Harrington (Chair), Associate Dean for Administration, College of the Environment
- Bryce Lewis-Smith, Graduate Student, Marine and Environmental Affairs
- Julia Parrish, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, College of the Environment; Professor, Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and Biology
- Karen Thomas-Brown, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, College of Engineering
- LuAnne Thompson, Professor, Oceanography; Interim Director, Program on Climate Change
