The People of NES
Celebrating it’s 10th year, the Nature Ecology Society is a well-respected, student-led organization. We are hosted by the Environmental Psychology Department at the CUNY Graduate Center. Below you will find a listing of current NES Student volunteers and faculty advisors.
Current Volunteers
Bryce Dubois, Fundraising, email: brycedubois4 [at] gmail [dot] com
Area of Interest: Environmentally Responsible Behavior, Environmental Justice, Motivation to Volunteer, Mindfulness
Background: UMass Dartmouth, MA in Experimental Psychology, 2009; Salve Regina University, BA in Psychology, 2005
Christine Caruso, Food Committee Lead, email: ccaruso1[dot]gc[dot]cuny[dot]edu
Area of Interest: Urban Food Systems, Environmental Sustainability, Built Environment and Health, Gender and Food, Alternative Food Networks, Social Justice
Background: MA Psychology in Education, Columbia University; MPH Social and Behavioral Sciences, Boston University.
Caryn Epstein, Fundraising, email: caryn [dot] epstein [at] gmail [dot] com
Area of Interest: Children’s urban outdoor play environments and influences on public health disparities, participatory design, children’s perceptions of healthy design and play
Background: Columbia University, BA in Psychology and Spanish Language & Literature, 2007
Scott Fisher, Fundraising, email: scottrfisher [at] gmail [dot] com
Area of Interest: Significant life experiences of youth climate activists, role of environmentalism in climate change mitigation and adaptation, and climate change education in general education curriculum
Background: Presbyterian College, BS in Psychology
Hannah Jaicks, Publicity and Graphic Design, email: hjaicks1 [at] gmail [dot].com
Academia Profile: http://gc-cuny.academia.edu/HannahJaicks
Research Interests: Barriers to participation in complementary and alternative medicine/yoga, restorative environments, use of space for holistic healing practices.
Ofelia Mangen, Food Committee, email: mangen[at]nyu[dot]edu
Ofelia Mangen is a Gates Millennium Scholar, a Steinhardt Fellow, and a doctoral candidate in Educational Communication + Technology at New York University. Her research interested include catalysts for positive social action, sustainability, consumer attitude + behavior change, and the use of technology in crisis response. Ofelia has held various positions on projects for organizations such as MediaStorm, TEDxEast, National Geographic, the International Center of Photography, The Raw File, Against All Odds Productions, Backlight Media Group, the Moth, and the UNICEF Innovation Team. She earned a MA in Media Ecology from New York University in 2007 and a BS in Visual Communication from Ohio University in 2004.
Jennifer Pipitone, Blog Editor, email: jennifer [dot] pipitone [at] gmail [dot] com
Area of Interest: Exploring the benefits of ecotherapies, specifically wilderness therapy; incorporating ecotherapy into traditional psychotherapy. Understanding and identifying therapeutic and restorative environments. Promoting sustainable living practices.
Background: B.A. in Psychology, minoring in Environmental Studies from Loyola University New Orleans. Interned with the Gulf Restoration Network, a non-profit who works to preserve, conserve, and protect wetlands along the Gulf Coast.
Antonia Santangelo, Publicity, Blog, Presenter, email: asantangelo [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu
Antonia M. Santangelo is an archaeology doctoral student in the Anthropology Program at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her interests include Zooarchaeology, Human Ecodynamics, Anthropology of Food, Middle East, Eurasia. Her dissertation research is focused on assessing the importance of fishing in the interregional economies surrounding the Black Sea and investigating the impacts of climate change and human fishing over time on the fish stocks and species diversity in the Black sea coastal region of Sinop, Turkey.
Kelly Schroeder, Publicity and Graphic Design, email: kschroeder [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu
Academia Profile: http://gc-cuny.academia.edu/KellySchroeder
Background: Human Development & Psychology
Research Interests: Promoting positive relationships between people and nature through design, restorative environmental design, understanding the value of emotional intelligence as it relates to the patient/healthcare provider relationship and exploring the use of horticultural therapy in healthcare settings
Shawndel N. Fraser, Co-Organizer, email: sfraser [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu;
Shawndel is Co-Organizer of the Annual CUNY Nature, Ecology & Society Colloquium . Under her gentle guidance, the culture and format of the program is currently being expanded and technologically upgraded. Seeking to push beyond the limits of standard research presentations, the new Colloquium format will provide for open-forum interdisciplinary discussion to bridge the scientific, social and pedagogical gaps between Nature, Ecology and Society in academic research.
Research Interests: Production of nature, car culture, environmentalism, visual culture, digital storytelling, advertising, graphic design, new media, visual analysis;
Bijan Kimiagar, Co-Organizer, email: bkimiagar [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu;
www.bijankimiagar.org
Bijan is Co-Organizer for the Annual CUNY Nature Ecology Society Colloquium. He is a graduate student in the Environmental Psychology doctoral program at the City University of New York Graduate Center. His research examines and aims to promote healthy educational environments; interactive and critical pedagogies; children’s conceptions of moral responsibility to a global community; and young people’s solutions to prevent and overcome social and environmental injustices. During his studies at UCLA, his research focused on peer influence, bullying and resiliency in adolescents transitioning from elementary to middle schools. This knowledge continues to inform his current work. He is currently a CUNY Chancellor’s Teaching Fellow and has taught young children marine ecology at Heal the Bay, as well as an undergraduate course on environmental justice topics at UCLA.
Gregory Donovan, Technical Guru, Webmaster email: gdonovan [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu;
www.gregorydonovan.org
Gregory Donovan is a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Psychology and a certificate candidate in Interactive Technology and Pedagogy at The CUNY Graduate Center. He has held fellowships at The Center for Place, Culture, and Politics, the Macaulay Honors College, and The Stanton/Heiskell Center for Telecommunication Policy, and has conducted research at The CUNY New Media Lab, The Center for Human Environments, and with several children’s educational media groups.
Gregory is the founder and current coordinator of the OpenCUNY.org student medium. OpenCUNY was formed in early 2008 to recognize the on-going interest of CUNY Graduate Center students in a free and open source digital environment. OpenCUNY both provides students with access to free and open source digital media, and advocates on behalf of their interests within the CUNY-wide technological environment.
Einat Manoff, email: einatmanoff [at] gmail [dot] com
Einat Manoff is an urban designer and currently a student in the Environmental Psychology Ph.D. program at CUNY Graduate Center. Her research interests include: the politics of space, urbanism within ‘states of emergency’, generative utopias. Her current research focuses on issues of Internal Displacement and refugees in Israel-Palestine through the perspectives offered by geography, psychology, urban planning and visual culture. Until recently, Einat had worked as senior editor for Tel-Aviv based Block Magazine (a journal of contemporary thought on architecture, urbanism, art and media). She curated various exhibitions that incorporate video art and new media and has practiced architecture and urban design in various firms and formats.
Jason Douglas, Former Organizer of the NES Colloquium
email: jdouglas [at] gc [dot] cuny[dot] edu
www.jasondouglas.org
Area of Interest: The political ecology of environmental protection in Jamaica and environmental education in underserved urban communities. Working with underprivileged communities to develop an understanding of environmental issues at the various scales that affect them.
Background: B.A. Psychology, Stony Brook University, SUNY.
M.A. Psychology/Animal Behavior, Hunter College, CUNY.
Tsai-Shiou Hsieh, Founding Member and Former Organizer, thsieh [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu
Research Interests: Urban recycling, psychology of sustainable behavior
Faculty Advisors
Cindi Katz, PhD, ckatz [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot]edu,
Professor: Environmental Psychology, Geography
Cindi Katz is Professor of Geography in Environmental Psychology and Women’s Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her work concerns social reproduction and the production of space, place and nature; children and the environment, and the consequences of global economic restructuring for everyday life.
David Chapin, M. Arch, dchapin [at] gc [dot] cuny [dot] edu, Professor: Environmental Psychology
Research Interests: how people make meaning in places, ethics of social science research, the history of housing design in New York (especially public housing in the 1930s), and feminist and queer theory applied to environmental change issues.
Joan Greenbaum, PhD, jgreenbaum[at]gc[dot]cuny[dot]edu
Joan Greenbaum is professor emerita at City University of New York. Greenbaum is active in her union, the Professional Staff Congress (AFT Local 2334) where she serves as co-coordinator of Environmental Health and Safety. She spearheaded the first-ever PSC Environment Justice Awards to be distributed at the Tenth Annual Nature Ecology Society Colloquium.
Roger Hart, PhD, roghart [at] gmail [dot] com, Professor: Environmental Psychology, Geography
Roger A. Hart is Professor of Environmental Psychology and Earth and Environmental Sciences and directs the Children’s Environments Research Group at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (www.cerg1.org). His research has focused on understanding the everyday lives of children and youth and the application of this to a critical engagement with environmental policy, planning and design. In recent years, Dr. Hart has been more broadly concerned with developing research and programs that recognize children and young people’s rights as citizens.
