Ms. Leslie Eldridge
Lecturer
MS, Environmental Science and Management, University of California at Santa Barbara, 2009; BS, Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University, 2000
My research and professional experience focuses on data-based and stakeholder-driven management and/or policy solutions to complex environmental problems. Most of my work has been in policy and legislation, but focuses on synthesizing the relevant scientific, cultural and economic information while facilitating interest groups to reach a negotiated set of management changes. For example, my graduate research and later professional work focused on how to reduce commercial shipping impacts on endangered whales off the coast of California. Management solutions were informed by a stakeholder group of marine biologists and ecologists, acousticians, environmental advocacy groups, federal and state government agencies and shipping industry representatives. I am especially interested in exploring ways to bring traditionally oppositional sides together to realize environmental, economic and social/cultural benefits. See full bio here
Office: Science Building 072
E-Mail: eldridgel@sou.edu
Dr. John J. Gutrich
Professor of Environmental Science & Policy
PhD, Environmental Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 2000; MS Program, Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 1994 – 1995; BS, Ecology, Evolution and Population Biology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1994; BS, Accounting, Krannert School of Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, 1994
My research interests include ecological and environmental economics, sustainable development, global climate change, environmental justice, watershed management, invasive species control, wetland ecology and management, and ecosystem modeling. My current research addresses ecological economic modeling of control efforts for rapid Ohia death (from Ceratocystis sp.) in Hawaii. My research efforts have addressed optimal forest management and the value of carbon sequestration in New Hampshire forests, the sustainable use of upland forested watersheds in Hawaii, invasive species control, valuation of non-market ecosystem goods and services, restoration wetland ecology, ecological and economic risks of marine transgenic organisms and cost-effective economic approaches considering federal anti-degradation requirements for rivers. See full bio here
Office: Taylor Hall 113
Phone: 541.552.6482
E-Mail: gutrichj@sou.edu
Dr. Hima Hassenruck-Gudipati
Assistant Professor
PhD, Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, 2021; BS, Mechanical Engineering, Minor Geology, Caltech, 2014
I am a geomorphologist interested in how environmental changes shape landscapes, focusing on rivers, deltas, and wetlands. My research investigates how key drivers like sea-level rise, altered precipitation patterns, and human activities influence landscape evolution. I use a combination of field methods, remote sensing, and numerical modeling to study watershed responses to climate change, river channel evolution, and sediment-hydrology dynamics. My work spans diverse regions and involves collaborations with tribal government and fellow researchers. Current projects include climate change impacts on lake sediment, floodplain inundation and evolution, and sediment-vegetation interactions.
Phone: 541.552.8545
E-Mail: hassenruckgudipatih@sou.edu
Dr. Karen Mager
Associate Professor
PhD, Biological Sciences, Concentration in Wildlife Biology and Conservation, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2012; BA, Biology, Earlham College, 2004
I am an interdisciplinary wildlife ecologist focused on the management and conservation of mammals. Much of my research has focused on caribou ecology, including how historical population dynamics and landscape features shape the genetic diversity and connectivity of caribou herds. Recognizing the important knowledge and values that people have for wildlife, I also incorporate historical and ethnographic approaches into my research. Beyond caribou, I love to work with students in a diversity of ecosystems using field methods such as small mammal trapping and camera trapping. Ultimately, I am motivated to contribute to ecosystem stewardship that enables wildlife populations to adapt to change and benefit human well-being.
Office: Science 068
Phone: 541.552.6850
E-Mail: magerk@sou.edu
Dr. Vincent M. Smith
Professor of Environmental Science & Policy, Director of the School of Science and Business
PhD, Environmental Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, 2011; MS Environmental Science, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon; BA Biology, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri
Vincent’s research explores the complex coupled human-environment systems that shape the world in which we live. He is currently looking specifically at food system design, community food insecurity, and the relationships between food policy and health. He is also working on research with an undergraduate researcher exploring the nature of food purchasing decisions as they relate to local buying systems. Overall, his research is driven by community and/or regional problem-solving. He actively partners with communities to understand socio-environmental problems and then apply that research in decision-making contexts. His work spans several traditional disciplinary boundaries including human ecology, environmental sociology, landscape ecology, agroecology, and human geography. See full bio here
Office: Britt Hall 134
Phone: 541.552.6802
E-Mail: smithv3@sou.edu
Dr. E. Jamie Trammell
Chair and Associate Professor of Environmental Science & Policy
PhD, Ecology, Evolution and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, 2011; MS, Geography, University of Nevada, Reno, 2004; BA, Biology and Environmental Studies, Western State College, 2003
I am a landscape ecologist interested in modeling landscape change with explicit focus on the integration of socioeconomic and biophysical drivers. I am particularly interested in modeling alternative landscape futures in order to better understand how various environmental drivers combine to determine the future condition of both terrestrial and aquatic systems. I continually work to translate disparate data sources (from climate to social to economic to ecological) into a common geospatial framework for landscape-level analyses, including the integration of aquatic and terrestrial systems, to facilitate visualization and communication. I enjoy working in complex land and seascapes to synthesize our knowledge about a given land or seascape. See full bio here
Office: Science Building 071
Phone: 541.552.6496
E-Mail: trammelle@sou.edu
Dr. Chhaya Werner
Assistant Professor
PhD, Population Biology, University of California Davis 2018; BA, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, 2014
I am a plant community ecologist and fire ecologist interested in how disturbances such as drought and fire interact to shape our forests, grasslands, and chaparral ecosystems. My research focuses on the interactions between plant species and how these differ across years and environmental conditions. I use a combination of quantitative and field methods including mathematical modeling, computation simulations, manipulative field experiments, and Bayesian analyses of large datasets. I collaborate broadly with local agencies and non-profit groups and international research collaborators. My current research foci include the natural and human drivers of fire regimes and post-fire regeneration in Southern Oregon forests, drought impacts on restoration of California grasslands, and revegetation patterns of the Klamath River dam removal and restoration. See website & full bio here
Office: Science Building 069
Phone: 541.552.6488
E-Mail: wernerc@sou.edu
Emeritus Faculty
Dr. Alissa Arp
Charles Lane
Contact Environmental Science
Environmental Science, Policy, and Sustainability Program
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6802
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