Faculty and Staff

Program Chairs

Staff

  • Shannon Foreman, (415) 422-6553

Faculty

Tel:(415) 422-5445
tlbenning@usfca.edu

Tracy Benning

Associate Professor

Dr. Benning's research interests include landscape ecology, biogeochemistry, urban ecology, and resource conservation and management. Her recent research focuses on the application of remote sensing GIS technologies in the study of tropical rainforests in Hawaii and riparian corridors in African savanna.

Tel:(415) 422-5702
callaway@usfca.edu

John Callaway

Professor

Dr. Callaway's research focuses on wetland plant and soil ecology, restoration ecology, exotic species invasions, sediment processes, and potential impacts of sea-level rise. His recent work has focused on wetland restoration in San Francisco Bay and the Tijuana Estuary on the border of Mexico and California.

Tel:(415) 422-2289
medelaure@usfca.edu

Marilyn DeLaure

Associate Professor

Marilyn (Bordwell) DeLaure teaches courses in rhetoric, criticism, and social movements.  Her research investigates how people effect social change, focusing especially on embodied performance.  She has published essays on dance, civil rights rhetoric, and environmental activism.

Tel:(415) 422-5412
hjhoag@usfca.edu

Heather Hoag

Associate Professor

Heather Hoag is an associate professor of History. She received her Ph.D. in History from Boston University in 2003 where she was involved in BU's African Studies Center. Her specialization is in the fields of African environmental history with an emphasis in river history, hydropower development, technology, and development planning. She is one of the founding editors-in-chief for the International Water History Association's journal, Water History.

Tel:(415) 422-6969
gkuperus@usfca.edu

Gerard Kuperus

Assistant Professor and Co-Chair of Environmental Studies

Gerard Kuperus main research interests are philosophy of nature and environmental philosophy as well as the history of philosophy, in particular Kant and Nineteenth Century philosophy. He teaches in the Philosophy Department, Environmental Studies, and the MA program in International Studies.

Tel:(415) 422-5730
lendvay@usfca.edu

John Lendvay

Associate Professor

John M. Lendvay received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Michigan. Dr. Lendvay's research interests focus primarily on community assessment of regional water quality.

Tel:(415) 422-5184
lorentzen@usfca.edu

Lois Lorentzen

Professor

Lois Lorentzen is a Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco. Her areas of specialization include religion and immigration, social ethics, environmental ethics, and gender and violence. Additionally, Lois has published or edited numerous books including, Religion on the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana: Faith, Politics and Identity in New Migrant Communities. She has served as Associate Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, Director of the Center for Latino/a Studies in the Americas, and Chair of the Department of Theology/Religious Studies. Professor Lorentzen received a Ph.D. from the School of Religion at the University of Southern California and came to USF in 1991.

Tel:(415) 422-5837
nagarajan@usfca.edu

Vijaya Nagarajan

Associate Professor

Professor Vijaya Nagarajan teaches courses on Hinduism, Religion and Environment, Spiritual Autobiography, and Community Internships. Her scholarship has centered on the multivalent meanings in the kolam, a women's ritual art in southern India. She is currently working on her book, Feeding a Thousand Souls: Women, Ritual and Art in southern India---The Kolam (Oxford University Press). Her other research projects include: On the Languages of the Commons; Tree Temples, Mangroves and Temple Forests; and Twins and Hinduism in the California Diaspora. She has been active in the American Academy of Religion and in the environmental movement in India and the United States.

Tel:(415) 422-5986
sbohshita@usfca.edu

Stephanie Ohshita

Associate Professor

Professor Ohshita works on energy-based solutions to multiple environmental problems-from local air pollution to global climate change-and combines engineering with tools from political economy and organizational analysis.  With a geographic focus on China, Japan, and the US, her research and teaching examine energy and carbon saving strategies; policy design and implementation; international cooperation; the diffusion of clean and efficient technology; emissions inventories; and risk management.

Tel:(415) 422-2304
dmsilver@usfca.edu

David Silver

Associate Professor

David Silver is an associate professor of media studies and environmental studies at the University of San Francisco where he teaches classes on media history, digital media production, and green media. David co-directs USF's Garden Project, a freshmen-to-senior living learning community built around an organic garden on campus.  On sabbatical fall 2012 through spring 2013.

Tel:(415) 422-5755
stone@usfca.edu

Melinda Stone

Associate Professor

Melinda Stone, Ph.D. is an award winning filmmaker who has produced over twenty films and numerous outdoor cinematic extravaganzas.  Spring 2013 office hours are Fridays, 10:00-11:30 p.m. and by appointment.

Tel:(415) 422-6193
dzartner@usfca.edu

Dana Zartner

Assistant Professor

Tel:(415) 422-5485
smzavestoski@usfca.edu

Stephen Zavestoski

Associate Professor

Stephen Zavestoski teaches courses in the area of Environmental Sociology. Dr. Zavestoski's research areas include environmental sociology, social movements, and sociology of health and illness. His current research focuses on the strategies that disease sufferers take to demonstrate that their conditions are caused by environmental contamination. This work also looks at how citizens engage in the scientific process and policymaking in order to shape research and policy agendas.