The Environment Initiative is excited to announce the second faculty fellow named for AY 21-22.  The Environment Initiative Faculty Fellows program aims to enhance transdisciplinary research and advance the strategic priorities of the initiative. The fellowship is a competitive award funded by the Office of the Provost. EI Faculty Fellows will receive a course buyout to complete a project that advances work on behalf of the Environment Initiative.

Congratulations to Sarah Stapleton, who has been appointed as the EI faculty fellow for spring 2022. “Professor Stapleton’s leadership on climate justice and environmental education makes her as ideal choice for this fellowship,” said Provost and Senior Vice President Patrick Phillips. “Her proposed project for creating an environmental justice curriculum for Oregon K-12 teachers is innovative and bound to be impactful.”  

Stapleton’s research, teaching, and community service working toward climate justice and environment education align with the EI’s mission and exemplify the EI’s Guiding Principles. “Sarah’s instructional and mentoring excellence is widely recognized by students, peers, and teaching colleagues,” said Randy Kamphaus, the dean of the College of Education. 

As the EI Faculty Fellow, Professor Stapleton will move forward an interdisciplinary effort to create, in coordination with teachers, an environmental justice curriculum, engage in curriculum writing, and implement a climate change and climate justice curriculum in K-12 schools. Jenefer Husman, the head of the Education Studies department, commented “As a nationally recognized environmental education scholar Sarah is a fantastic choice for this fellowship.  Her curriculum will reflect the state-of-the-art in environmental education.”

Please watch your email for forthcoming details on how to engage with Professor Stapleton on these projects.