Academic Sustainability

There is increasing demand for students with training and job skills for the green economy, and a widening array of sustainability-related careers to choose from. Sustainability Studies seeks to improve environmental health, social justice, economic development and individual well-being through the integration of disciplinary perspectives from across the university. Nearly 400 faculty members from 55 departments across the university research and teach on sustainability-related topics, ranging from materials science to racial equity.

Auburn University’s Academic Sustainability Program supports and encourages learning, teaching and research that incorporates sustainability principles in all academic units on campus, and works to enhance interaction between campus operations and academic activities in sustainability.

We pursue this mission through four principle activities:

Oversight of the Interdisciplinary Minor in Sustainability Studies.
Support for faculty seeking to incorporate sustainability themes in the classroom and curriculums.
Support for the development of interdisciplinary research programs and collaborations that include ideas and issues in sustainability.
Enhance place-based sustainability teaching and research in the Southeast and coordinate with the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management to enhance the use of campus operations as examples and projects in our courses and research, and to use our research and teaching to inform and support the development of sustainable operations on campus.

Rebecca Retzlaff

Professor
Director of the Academic Sustainability Program

Political Science
Academic Sustainability

Miriam Wyman

Lecturer

Interdisciplinary Programs
Academic Sustainability

Academic Sustainability Program Executive Committee

Mike Kensler, Director, Office of Sustainability (standing member)

Chandana Mitra, Associate Professor, Geosciences (August 2023-August 2026)

Wayde Morse, Professor, Conservation Social Sciences (August 2023-August 2025)

Rebecca Retzlaff, Director, Academic Sustainability Program (standing member)

Natalia Ruiz-Junco, Associate Professor, Sociology (August 2023-August 2026)

Ryan Thompson, Assistant Professor, Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (August 2023-August 2027)

Miriam Wyman, Lecturer, Academic Sustainability Program (standing member)

Alumni

The Sustainability Auburn Alumni Affiliate (S3A) group is an inclusive community of former Auburn students. S3A welcomes anyone interested in sustainability. The vision of the group is to connect and equip members of the Auburn University family and partners in support of their efforts to create a positive impact. This official alumni group hosts a variety of events that educate, connect and engage our community.

The mission of S3A aligns with the sustainability compass (nature, economy, society and individual well-being). The group engages and empowers a community that will catalyze and extend Auburn University’s commitments through all points of this compass. To get in touch with S3A join their Facebook group or email sustainabilityaualum@gmail.com.

Associate Professor, Human Dimensions

Major: College of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences

Education

BS, University of New Mexico, 1991, Economics & Political Science

MS, Colorado State University, 1996, Agricultural and Resource Economics

PhD, University of Idaho, 2007, Conservation Social Sciences (NSF IGERT Fellow)

Research Interests

Linked social and ecological systems
Recreation, environmental services and conservation incentive programs
Landowner decision-making, rural livelihoods and the process of interdisciplinary research
Research interests are for the US and Latin America

Selected Publications

Cox, C., W. Morse, C. Anderson and L. Marzen. 2014. Using public participation geographic information systems to identify places of watershed service provisioning. Journal of the American Water Resources Association DOI:10.1111/jawr.12269.
Cox, C., W. Morse, L. Marzen and C. Anderson. 2014. Applying public participation geographic information systems to wildlife management. Human Dimensions of Wildlife 19:200-214.
Lowery, D., W.C. Morse and T. Steury. 2014. Exploring Saturation of themes and spatial locations in a qualitative PPGIS study. Society and Natural Resources. 0:1-15.
Lupoli, C., W.C. Morse, C. Bailey and J. Schelhas. 2014. Assessing the impacts of international volunteer tourism in host communities: A new approach to organizing and prioritizing indicators. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 22(6):898-921.
Stern, M.J., C.A. Martin, S.A. Predmore and W.C. Morse. 2014. Risk tradeoffs in adaptive ecosystem management: The case of the U.S. Forest Service. Environmental Management, 53(6):1095-1108.
Stern, M., C.A. Marin, S.A. Predmore and W.C. Morse. 2014. Risk tradeoffs in natural resource planning: the case of the U.S. Forest Service. Environmental Management, 53(6):1095-1108.
Stern, M. J., S.A. Predmore, W.C. Morse and D.N. Seeholtz. 2014. Project risk in the US Forest Service: Factors predicting appeals of environmental assessments and their outcomes. Environmental Impact Assessment Review. 42:95-104.
Morse, W. C. 2013. Integration of frameworks, theories and models across disciplines for effective Cross-disciplinary communications. In: Enhancing Interdisciplinary Communication. Eds. Stephen Crowley, Sanford Eigenbrode, Michael O'Rourke, and J. D. Wulfhorst. Sage Publications.
Morse, W. C. 2013. Changing stakeholders and the planning process. In: Urban-Rural Interfaces: Linking People and Nature. Eds. David Laband, Lockaby, B. G., Zipperer, W. C. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
Lowery, D., and W. C. Morse. 2013. A Qualitative method for collecting spatial data on important places for recreation, livelihoods and ecological meanings: integrating focus groups with public participation geographic information systems. Society and Natural Resources. 26:1422-1437.