FACULTY PROFILES
Laird Christensen, PhD
laird.christensen@prescott.edu
Program Director
Current courses: Ecology, Culture, and Communities (ENV57100); Field Journaling (ENV58350); Cross-Cultural Environmental History and Philosophy (ENV50505)
Drawing on a range of training and professional experience, Laird Christensen directs two of our graduate programs: the MS in Environmental Studies and the MS in Resilient and Sustainable Communities. Born and raised in western Oregon, Laird has spent much of his life working in the woods, from grading timber to working as a ranger, from engaging in forest defense to serving as Writer-in-Residence at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Laird has been writing about the relationships between people and the places they live throughout his career, publishing his work in various anthologies and magazines such as The Utne Reader, Northern Woodlands, Wild Earth, The Northwest Review, and Whole Terrain. He has also edited two collections of essays: Teaching about Place: Learning from the Land (University of Nevada Press, 2008) and Teaching North American Environmental Literature (Modern Language Association, 2008). After teaching for nearly twenty years at Green Mountain College, in 2019 he was honored to come to Prescott, where he also serves as Co-Director of the Green Mountain Center for Sustainability at Prescott College.
Dianna Gielstra, PhD
dianna.gielstra@prescott.edu
Associate Faculty and Core Faculty
Current courses: Geographic Information Systems (ENV54100, ENV24100, ENV 41401); Quantitative Research Methods (GRA58001); Field Botany (ENV57135); Conservation Biology (ENV54400); Ecology (ENV57101); Ecological Restoration (ENV57150)
Dianna Gielstra is a geographer, field-based researcher, spatial storyteller, and Antarctica Service Medal awardee for scientific achievement. With nineteen years of experience in online teaching in environmental studies and geography, they are passionate about physical geography, geomorphology, and geospatial technologies to explore physical environments. Gielstra has field experience from the High Arctic to Antarctica with past work including the development and implementation of a long-term environmental monitoring program at McMurdo Station, Antarctica for the Geochemical and Environmental Research Group (National Science Foundation), and research on plant distribution changes using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) in coastal regions and mountain environments. Their current research includes geoinformatics and applied geospatial and visualization technologies to engage K-12 learners in geoscience education using virtual reality. As a founding team member and content contributor to GeoEPIC, field collections and work showcases iconic virtual learning experiences and field trips. Authored publications are featured in the journals Geocarto International, Polar Geography, Southwestern Geographer, Southeastern Geographer, The Geography Teacher, Journal of Higher Education, Theory, and Practice, and Industry and Higher Education. Featured books include the Antarctic Environmental Monitoring Handbook: Standard techniques for monitoring in Antarctica, and an authored chapter in Experiential Learning in Geography. They are a board member for the Biogeography Specialty Group and serve on the governance section of the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) subcommittee for the American Association of Geographers.
Lori Curtis, MS
lori.curtis@prescott.edu
Instructor and Capstone Coordinator
Current courses: Capstone (COR57700); Communications for Environmental and Sustainability Professionals (ENV56601)
Uniting diverse professional and academic experiences, Lori Curtis is an instructor and Capstone Coordinator for the Environmental Studies and Resilient and Sustainable Communities MS programs at Prescott College. Her career includes conservation and wildlife research, K–college education, and diverse management roles across a variety of disciplines. Lori served for three years as the Montana Governor-appointed Chair of the Upper Columbia Conservation Commission (UC3), seven years as Supervisor on the Flathead Conservation District Board (two years as Vice-Chair), eight years with the Flathead Community of Research Educators (CORE), and four years on the Board of Directors (two years as Chair) for Sinapu (now part of WildEarth Guardians). She also served as a technical facilitator for the City of Whitefish on water quality issues. Lori received the 2011 Outstanding Writer Award from the Montana Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, and the 2010 Partner of the Year award from the Northwest Regional Resource Conservation & Development.
Amanda Sesser, PhD
amanda.sesser@prescott.edu
Instructor
Current Courses: Understanding Climate Change (ENV57876), Energy and the Environment (ENV52225)
Dr. Amanda Sesser has 20 years of experience in climate change research and in building and leading landscape conservation partnerships among diverse state, federal, and NGO partners. Amanda led multi-stakeholder, landscape-scale conservation planning and implementation efforts among over 30 partners from Alaska and Northwest Canada, including federal agencies, four states/provinces, Indigenous communities, research institutions and non-governmental organizations. She also assisted the incorporation of climate change into daily management practices in Alaska. Amanda brings experience from her active technical and collaborative leadership in dozens of states and 19 countries where she has helped organizations, communities, and governments better understand, manage, and adapt to social and ecological changes. Located in New Orleans, Louisiana, she works for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as the Coordinator of the Southeast Conservation Adaptation Strategy (SECAS) partnership. SECAS brings together public and private organizations around a bold vision for the future of our region: connecting the lands and waters of the Southeast and Caribbean to support healthy ecosystems, thriving fish and wildlife populations, and vibrant communities. With a data-driven spatial plan and an ambitious regional goal, SECAS helps accelerate conservation action in the places where it will make the biggest impact. Amanda specializes in convening stakeholders, decision-makers, and scientists in processes to solve large-scale conservation and climate challenges and translating that into local on-the-ground actions. Amanda hosted a climate adaptation podcast called The Climate Hotseat with Professor Sesser.
Amanda Sesser's C.V.
Alisa Andrews, JD
alisa.andrews@prescott.edu
Instructor
Current Courses: Environmental Law and Policy (ENV54500), Land Use Policy and Planning (ENV51250), Sustainability and Resilience: From Theory to Practice (ENV58750), Social Equity and Community Engagement (ENV57700)
Alisa Andrews is an experienced attorney, with both Juris Doctor and Master of Studies in Environmental Law & Policy degrees from Vermont Law School. She has worked in a wide range of legal settings, including at the Vermont Attorney General’s office in the Environmental Protection Unit, and for the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, as an Environmental Enforcement Attorney. She continues to interact with state and federal administrative agencies on a regular basis professionally. Alisa has been instructing graduate level law and policy courses for nearly a decade. In addition to the courses listed above, some of the courses she has taught for Green Mountain College and Prescott College also include: Environmental Administrative Law, and Alternative Dispute Resolution, in addition to supervising independent studies. She enjoys teaching students how to navigate, understand, and use law and policy in practical and accessible ways, and highlights the ethical and justice issues involved in legal and environmental matters. As time allows, she volunteers for organizations with missions such as conservation and earth stewardship, and protecting voter and activists’ rights.
Alisa Andrews' CV
Andrew Fayram, PhD
andrew.fayram@prescott.edu
Instructor
Current Course: Water Resources Management (ENV53100)
Andrew Fayram’s teaching and research interests are fairly diverse but generally fall into the “aquatic” realm. First and foremost, he considers himself a fisheries person. Understanding both what a sustainable fisheries harvest looks like as well as maintaining economic viability of a fishery is a complex but interesting topic, not to mention the social aspects of fisheries (e.g. tribal rights to certain fisheries, economic justice related to fisheries access etc.). Limnology, water resources management, aquatic ecology, and population dynamics are also favorite topics. While he does not consider himself a statistician, his PhD minor was in statistics and he does enjoy the topic and consider himself a successful practitioner of statistical methods. He has worked for a number of different organizations in diverse roles including National Marine Fisheries Service, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Colorado State University, World Wildlife Foundation and Loveland Water and Power. He has also served as an Associate Editor for the North American Journal of Fisheries Management and as a Science Editor for the journal Fisheries. He is a strong proponent of the peer-review process and has published more than 30 manuscripts in the peer-reviewed literature.
Ron Steffens, MFA
ron.steffens@prescott.edu
Instructor
Current Course: Emergency Management and Communication (ENV58800)
Ron Steffens is an educator, writer and wildland fire manager based in Tucson, Arizona and Moose, Wyoming. His work as a wildland fire manager brings applied practice to his teaching and writing, which focuses on building resilience in our relationship with wildland fire and other natural processes affected by climate change. He has written, studied and taught about wildland fire throughout the United States, Africa, Australia and Europe and served as editor of Wildfire Magazine and the Wildfire Today news site for the International Association of Wildland Fire. In summer seasons he works as a fire manager and fire analyst for the National Park Service in Wyoming. He has taught throughout Arizona and Wyoming as a writer-in-the-schools and taught communications-based courses at Green Mountain College (Vermont). At Prescott College he teaches emergency management and communication and serves as adviser on student projects.