Gene Myers
Department of Environmental Studies, Huxley College of the Environment at WWU
Gene MyersOffice: AH 22X
Phone: 360-650-4775
Phone: 360-650-7702
Email: Gene.Myers@wwu.edu
Mailing Address:
Dept. of Environmental Studies
WWU MS-9085
516 High Street
Bellingham, WA 98225-9085
Olin E. (Gene) Myers Jr. (Psychology and Comparative Human Development, University of Chicago: MA 1988, Ph.D. 1994; Human Ecology, Huxley College, WWU: BS 1982) researches the psychological dimensions of human-nature relations and their implications for education and conservation. This work place him at the intersection of social science, natural science and humanities perspectives. He is a leader in the field of Conservation Psychology, co-authoring the field's first text (with Susan Clayton, published by Wiley-Blackwell, 2009). Besides his core research programme exploring child-animal interaction and development, other projects have employed theories of emotion, moral psychology, and developmental psychology to understand and improve environmental education and other strategies. Applied works include a variety of evaluations, works on sustainable transportation, and visual communication. His major teaching and administrative responsibilities are in the environmental education undergraduate major and graduate M.Ed. programs at Huxley. He is past president of the Society for Human Ecology and is active in the Social Science Working Group of the Society for Conservation Biology, as well as the NAAEE Research Commission. In addition to current course offerings, he has enjoyed teaching Huxley's core courses including Human Ecology and Sustainability; Environmental History and Ethics; and place and case-based course Explorations in Environmental Studies. lso teach several courses at Huxley College, including the Disaster Risk Reduction Planning Studio, Risk Perception, and Human Ecology and Sustainability. More recently, I have begun advising The Planet Magazine, an award-winning, student-led environmental magazine. For the 2011-2013 academic year, I am also co-teaching a series of courses with Dr. Ruth Sofield on contaminated soils cleanup. Each of the courses I teach is a fascinating journey as students from multiple backgrounds learn to engage with and learn from each other. See my teaching tab for more information on these courses and links to some of the student work.
