Center for Environmental Studies

Aly Tharp is the Program Director of the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth, organizing faith-based community action for climate and environmental justice. After graduating from AC, Aly joined a non-violent direct action campaign to stop the Keystone XL pipeline in East Texas and has been involved in numerous national mobilizations and Gulf South climate justice… [Read More]

Barron H. Henderson is a Physical Scientist at the U.S. EPA, where he uses atmospheric science to inform national policy and regulations. He holds a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was previously an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida. While at… [Read More]

Cara (Marusak) Rouvaldt received her BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science at Austin College. Since graduation in 2010, Cara has worked her way up to Environmental Project Manager at Halff Associates, Inc. She manages and prepares environmental impact studies (e.g., Categorical Exclusions, Environmental Assessments, and Environmental Impact Statements) in accordance with the National Environmental… [Read More]

Don Kelly is studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas while working as a design engineer for the Iota Foundation, a Berlin based non-profit distributed ledger research and development organization. Don believes that cultural paradigm shifts required for sustainable living can be motivated by the value proposition of attractive technologies that enable more… [Read More]

Erika Valek is a Soil Conservationist with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), where she works with farmers to design natural resource conservation plans for their land. Erika holds an MSc in Land Reclamation and Remediation from the University of Alberta and previously interned with the NRCS while attending… [Read More]

Jacob Lowe is a Project Manager for Stericycle Environmental Solutions. Jacob solves environmental compliance problems for industrial, medical, and other commercial facilities as well as municipal governments. He has wild stories. After an undergrad internship with the Texas Parks & Wildlife Fisheries Lab and a stint teaching tropical ecology in Peru, he signed on with… [Read More]

Kathryn Turner, Ph.D. is a Research Associate  at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, where she works on reducing diseases in perennial grains. Unlike corn, wheat, and rice, perennial grains do not need to be planted every year. Thus, fields do not need to be plowed annually, which reduces erosion, and their deeper roots impart… [Read More]

Katie Masucci is a Senior Environmental Education Coordinator for the City of Plano, Texas. Her interest in environmental education is a result of wonderful experiences as a Sneed Prairie field guide and an undergraduate internship with Plano. Katie teaches residents about water quality, efficiency and conservation using curricula that she and her teammates design. From… [Read More]

Lindsey (St. Clair) Griffin is an environmental scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at the Region 6 location in Dallas, Texas. She is the State Coordinator for the state of Oklahoma where she works with the agencies in charge of water quality standards, water quality monitoring, developing Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs), assessment of… [Read More]

Maegan Fitzgerald is a doctoral student in primatology and wildlife sciences at the Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University, Japan. She holds an M.S. in Ecosystem Science and Management from Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on using emerging technologies to identify strategies for balancing conservation and socioeconomic development in the Nimba region of Guinea,… [Read More]

Mari Elise Ewing is an associate professor of Environmental Studies at Austin College. She holds an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Mari Elise worked as a stewardship assistant for The Nature Conservancy of Colorado as a graduate student and interned at Bamberger Ranch Preserve in Texas as an undergraduate student.

Samantha Kannenberg received her BA in Environmental Studies and Biology at Austin College in 2013. As an undergraduate student, Samantha interned with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge in Texas. Since graduation, Samantha has been working as an Environmental Scientist and Project Manager at Halff Associates, Inc.… [Read More]

Shannon (Torrence) Houlette, Ph.D. is a Public Services Staff Officer with the U.S. Forest Service in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. Here previous postings have included wildlife biologist positions in Alaska and Arizona. Shannon holds a Ph.D. from Texas Tech University and a master’s degree from North Dakota State University. Shannon’s work has focused on species as diverse… [Read More]