Note from EVST Chair, John Wargo

August 30, 2019

By now many of you may know that I am on sabbatical leave for the fall 2019 term.  This means that I will not teach until January 2020; my time will be devoted primarily to writing and research.  I will rejoin the EVST Senior Colloquium in the spring 2020 term, working with those pursuing the food and ag, environmental health, and environmental policy concentrations.   Next spring, I will again teach Environmental Law and Politics, with a focus on food, energy, and health.

First and most importantly you should know that the EVST major is on a serious growth curve.  I think this is due to the opportunity to pursue the BA or BS degree programs and the choice to concentrate on problems or issues of your choice.

The 2019-2020 Senior Colloquium has a terrific group of faculty guiding it this fall term.  It will include 4 smaller seminars of 7-8 students each.  Jeffrey Park, Senior Professor of Geology and Geophysics and former Chair of EVST will teach one team.  Michael Fotos, Lecturer in Political Science and EVST DUS, will lead another section and Michael will be the administrative coordinator of the course.  Robert Klee, Yale PhD and JD, will join in teaching a section. Rob brings special expertise in law and energy policy, and spent a number of years as the Commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.  Kealoha Freidenburg will teach the final section, bringing expertise in ecology and field science.  Alan Burdick, staff editor on the science desk at The New York Times, and a longtime magazine writer and author, will join us in December to provide crucial writing advice by reviewing segments of drafts submitted at the end of the fall term, and continuing writing guidance in the spring.

I am creating a research team to explore significant environmental and health challenges posed by global food production.  If you have an interest in participating this fall I would love to hear from you.

Good luck with your fall term startup, and l look forward to rejoining you in January!