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Lecturers
David Howland, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor in Writing Program
Class: Storytelling about Science (11:374:310)
Biography: Dave has been writing and editing for most of his life: in academia, the news media, and politics. After teaching composition for a dozen years at the University of New Hampshire, Dave joined the Rutgers Writing Program in Fall 2018. A former news reporter in California and with The Associated Press in Boston, Dave has a doctorate in Environmental Studies. As a grad student, he TA’d wildlife ecology classes and developed an approach to understanding the evolution of messy policy debates by mapping arguments and trends in the popular press. He loves to cook, hike, play music, climb trees, and hang out with his German Shepherds.
Meishka Mitchell, AICP, PP
Class: Environmental Justice (11:374:250)
Biography: Meishka L. Mitchell, AICP, PP, has over 20 years of visionary leadership experience in climate justice, environmental justice, and equitable neighborhood development. An “accidental environmentalist”, Meishka has spent her career tackling environmental injustice in frontline communities, beginning with her hometown of Camden, New Jersey. She has led efforts to address water equity, illegal dumping, air quality, brownfields redevelopment, and green energy with a focus on community education and engagement. She is committed to the expansion of the term “environment” to be inclusive of urban environments and BIPOC communities. Meishka has established several national award-winning sustainability collaborations that have become replicable models for collective impact in underserved communities. She is also a known advocate and sought out speaker for climate justice. Meishka is President & CEO of Emerald Cities Collaborative, a national nonprofit that advances racial, economic, and climate justice to build communities that are more equitable, economically just, and sustainable.
Meishka has a Master of City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania, is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners, and maintains a Professional Planners license with the State of New Jersey, where she lives with her two children.
Ed Potosnak
Class: Careers in EPIB (11:374:280)
Biography: Ed Potosnak is currently the Executive Director of New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Building on his experience on Capitol Hill, he applies his environmental, public policy, and government affairs expertise to advancing bold pro-conservation protections in New Jersey by passing laws and regulations to protect our environment. Ed was a high school chemistry teacher for a decade before he was awarded a highly competitive Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellowship to serve on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where he crafted policies designed to improve our nation’s health and competitiveness. Ed is the Chair of the New Jersey Keep it Green Coalition and New Jersey State Lead for the Coalition for the Delaware River Watershed. He is also a member of the Rutgers Glee Club Alumni Advisory Committee, the Board of Sustainable Jersey, and serves as a local elected Council Member in Franklin Township in Somerset County where he was formerly Franklin Township Board of Education President.
edpiii@rutgers.edu
Samuel Tabory, PhD
Class: Globalization, Development and Environment (11:374:305)
Biography: Sam’s teaching and research interests are focused on local-to-global climate and resource transitions planning. He works as Global Research Leader for the international non-profit initiative Collaborating for Resilience (CoRe), where he leverages research to advance grounded action, multi-level partnerships, policy dialogue, and coalition building for equitable climate and resource transitions globally. Professionally, Sam has contributed to reports commissioned by CGIAR, UN Environment, the World Bank, and NATO. His scholarly work has been published in Global Environmental Change, Urban Transformations, and the Journal of Industrial Ecology. He holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from Harvard University as well as dual master’s degrees in Latin American Studies and Community & Regional Planning from the University of Texas at Austin.
st1573@sebs.rutgers.edu
Teaching Assistants
Seukyoung Lee
Class: TA to Politics of Environmental Issues
Department: Sociology
Research interests
Sauvanithi Yupho
Class: TA Intro to HE recitations
Department: Geography
Research interests: flood management policies and flood protection infrastructure affect communities livelihoods and their adaptive capacities.
s.yupho@rutgers.edu
Kristi Wiedemann
Class: Intro to Human Ecology TA
Department: Bloustein School of Public Policy and Planning
Research interests: social values in the context of local textile production.
kristi.wiedemann@rutgers.edu
Frederic Traylor
Class: Politics of Environmental Issues
Home Department: Sociology
Research Interests: Fred Traylor is a Ph.D. student in Sociology at Rutgers University – New Brunswick. He primarily researches public opinion on climate change solutions, focusing on how solutions become seen as acceptable. His dissertation will explore how these solutions result from the socially mediated meanings of climate change as a problem. Among other projects, Fred is also researching the representativeness of novel survey sampling methods, the perceived moral hazard of technological solutions to climate change, the role of institutional trust in advancing support for climate policy, and how environmental attitudes affect and are affected by parenthood. He also studies how family ties and political disagreements affect religious behavior and belonging throughout the lifespan. He holds an MA in Sociology from Rutgers University, an MS in Social Data Analytics and Research from The University of Texas at Dallas, and a BA in Sociology, also from UT Dallas.
frederic.traylor@rutgers.edu
Nuzhat Fatema
Class: Introduction to Human Ecology
Home Department: Geography
Research Interests: Nuzhat Fatema is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at Rutgers University and a tenured faculty member in the Department of Development Studies at Khulna University, Bangladesh. She holds a Master’s in Development Studies and a PGD in Policy Studies from Murdoch University, Australia. Additionally, she has completed a PGD in Disaster Management from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET). Her research interests center around Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EbA) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) for disaster risk reduction (DRR), climate adaptation, and sustainable community development in the coastal context. Currently, she is working with the Household Decision-Making team in the NSF-funded Megalopolitan Coastal Transformation Hub (MACH) on household decision-making related to climate change adaptation and mitigation in climate-vulnerable communities in the tri-state regions of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
nf378@scarletmail.rutgers.edu