Faculty Profiles
Administration | Faculty Bios | Affiliated Faculty Bios
Martin Schoonen
Director, Sustainability Studies Program
Martin Schoonen is a Professor of Geochemistry for Stony Brook's Center for Environmental Molecular Sciences. He received his Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University and joined Stony Brook in 1989. His academic interests include environmental chemistry, groundwater chemistry, geochemistry and astrobiology. Dr. Schoonen's research group is currently working on three major projects: heterogeneous catalysis involving mineral surfaces; surface chemistry of iron sulfides; and the hydrogeochemistry of Long Island. He has also been the lead author of numerous articles in respected academic journals. Along with his studies in the Central Pine Barrens of Eastern Long Island, Schoonen has supervised a number of research projects of the Long Island aquifer system.
Martin.Schoonen@stonybrook.edu
Ginny Clancy
Program Coordinator
Ginny Clancy has 25 years of experience at Stony Brook University, including 10 years of administrative support in the Office of the President before joining the Sustainability Program. She was part of the administrative team which launched the programs at the Southampton campus and was the operations manager for the Center for Wine, Food & Culture at Stony Brook. Ginny received her Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, as well as her Masters degree in Liberal Studies at Stony Brook University.
Katherine Aubrecht
Assistant Professor
Katherine Aubrecht is an organic chemist in the Department of Chemistry. She earned a B.A. in Chemistry from Reed College and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Cornell University. Before coming to Stony Brook, she held faculty positions at Saint Anselm College and the College of the Holy Cross. Her research interests include: biodegradable and biorenewable polymers, environmentally benign synthetic methodology, studies of the effectiveness of "in context" approaches to chemical education, and development of sustainability curricula for chemistry students.
Katherine.Aubrecht@stonybrook.edu
Arlene Kons Cassidy
Lecturer
Arlene Kons Cassidy received her bachelor's degree in Applied and Theoretical Mathematics and a master's degree in Economics from Stony Brook. She completed her Ph.D. in Administration/Management with a concentration in Economics and Mathematics at Walden University. Dr. Cassidy has several years experience teaching a variety of economics, mathematics and business courses for undergraduate as well as graduate students. She has mentored Ph.D. students and has worked as a consultant in varied research design and statistical analysis projects. She has also served on several committees involving academic evaluation and program development, organized and chaired student activities and worked with student advisement. Through her years in education, she has received several awards from students, educational institutions and the community.
Marc Fasanella
Visting Professor
Dr. Marc Fasanella has been a professor and curator of Art and Design for more than two decades. A Visiting Professor of Environmental Art, Architecture, and Design in the Sustainability Studies Program at Stony Brook University his current work focuses on urban horticulture and the advent of an ecological aesthetic. He holds a PhD in Art & Art Education from New York University. His dissertation, The Environmental Design of Jones Beach State Park, focused on the geology, politics, environmental impacts and aesthetics of the park's construction. As a Full professor at Long Island University, he was also a recipient of their Trustees Award for Scholarly Achievement for his writing and design in the spirit of 19th century luminary William Morris. His Masters degree from New York University in Post Secondary Technology and Industrial Education focused on teaching students to use industrial skills to produce socially responsible design. Dr. Fasanella the son of self taught social realist painter Ralph Fasanella, has also been an independent curator for cultural institutions throughout the greater New York Metropolitan area, and has produced widely reviewed exhibits featuring the work of notable artists such as George Rickey, Moses Soyer, Robert Gwathmey, David Burliuk, Jim McMullan, Richard Mayhew and Milton Glaser. His most recent curatorial efforts feature environmental installations made in collaboration with students, academic colleagues and artists, including award-winning work with conceptual artist Hope Sandrow.
Donovan Finn
Visiting Assistant Professor
Donovan Finn teaches courses in urban planning, urban policy and environmental design. He earned his Ph.D. and master’s degrees in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been an adjunct professor at Hunter College (CUNY), Milano: The New School for Management and Urban Policy, and Parsons: The New School for Design. He has been a community planner in East St. Louis, IL; worked extensively on growth management and sustainable development policy in the Chicago region, and is currently engaged in a number of community-based planning projects in Queens, NY. His current research focuses on the intersections of urban sustainability, local environmental policy and community-based planning.
James Hoffmann
Lecturer
Jim Hoffmann teaches Ecology and Systems Modeling, having received a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Wisconsin, and a B.Sc. in Marine Biology from Cornell University. He previously served as Director of the Integrated Biological Sciences Program at the University of Vermont, where he also taught. His research has included evolutionary computation applied to modeling complex biological systems.
Elizabeth Terese Newman
Assistant Professor
Ms. Newman teaches environmental humanities, anthropology and archaeology. Previously, she taught for the University of the Americas in Puebla, Mexico and Connecticut College. She has also worked for the National Park Service and the Boston Museum of Science. She received a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and a PhD in Anthropology from Yale University. Dr. Newman's research interests include Environmental Archaeology with a specialty in Zooarchaeology and Mesoamerican Historical Archaeology. Currently, she is directing an interdisciplinary research project that examines the social and cultural origins of revolution in Puebla, Mexico.
Elizabeth.Newman@stonybrook.edu
H. James Quigley Jr.
Lecturer
Jim Quigley's professional and academic disciplines combine urban and regional planning, environmental policy and energy management. He is the faculty Director for the Environmental Design, Policy and Planning (EDP) major. Before joining Stony Brook, Quigley served as Director of the Center for Sustainable Energy at Bronx Community College, CUNY from 2003 to 2007, and Director of the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability from 1998 to 2002. He also taught environmental studies at Ramapo College of New Jersey and Portland State University in Oregon. From 1987 through 1994 he worked as a researcher at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems headed by the ecologist Barry Commoner at Queens College, CUNY. Quigley earned his BA in social service at Cleveland State University, 1974; an MA in international relations at Ohio University, 1983; an MS in appropriate technology and a Ph.D. in city and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania, 1990 and 1993 respectively. He was a VISTA Volunteer 1974-75 and a volunteer in the Peace Corps in Micronesia 1977-80.
Harold.QuigleyJr@stonybrook.edu
Sharon Pochron
Lecturer
A primatologist, biologist, anthropologist, statistician, and writer, depending on the need. She received her Bachelors from Franklin and Marshall College in both anthropology and biology. She received her Masters from the University of New Mexico in anthropology and biology. She received her Doctorate from University of New Mexico in anthropology. She has an uncanny affection for the magic of statistics and its application to the behavior of living things.
Dr. Pochron worked as a primate behavioral ecologist under Dr. Patricia Wright at Stony Brook University, publishing more than 20 peer-reviewed papers about lemurs, tarsiers and baboons. During that time, she helped 11 students, both graduate and undergraduate, publish papers, too. She worked as a biostatistician for Dr. Jeff Levinton at Stony Brook, helping him publish papers about heavy metal concentrations in local sea life. Dr. Pochron writes for Highlights and Science New for Kids and teaches anthropology at Suffolk Community College.
Michael Sperazza
Assistant Professor
Michael Sperazza is a sedimentary geologist in the Department of Geosciences and the Faculty Director for the Coastal Environmental Studies major. He earned a Ph.D. in Geology and a Master's in Physical Anthropology from the University of Montana. His teaching experience prior to coming to Stony Brook includes the University of Montana and MCC-Maple Woods in Kansas City, where he was the department chair. His current research interests focus on paleoclimatic reconstructions, understanding the driving forces of past climate change, and the analytical evaluation of the methods used to measure these data. Additionally, he is examining the morphologic changes of early hominids in the Turkana Basin, Kenya and role climate has played on these evolutionary adaptations.
Michael.Sperazza@stonybrook.edu
Affiliated Faculty Bios
William P. Bowman
Lecturer
William Bowman is a plant ecologist specializing in the restoration of degraded ecosytems, particularly tidal and freshwater wetlands. Dr. Bowman received his PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Columbia University. He has recently contributed to several large wetland restoration projects within Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge and New York City Parks (including the Elders West, Gerritsen Creek, and Soundview Park wetland restorations). His major current projects include quantifying rates of tidal wetland loss in Nassau and Suffolk Counties since the mid-1970s and evaluating habitat restoration alternatives for the Peconic Estuary Program. Other current projects are related to management of Phragmites and other invasive plants, soft erosion control and shoreline stabilization practices, and alewife and migratory fish passage restoration.
Tara Rider
Lecturer
Ms. Rider is completing her Ph.D. in History at Stony Brook University and is a graduate of Southampton College, where she studied Marine Science. She has taught Long Island History and Maritime History. With a subspecialty in Women and the Seas, she has written about the role of female pirates in history.
Dr. Nicholas Scalzo
Lecturer
Nicholas Scalzo teaches leadership and career skill courses. He received a Ed.D. from George Washington University, Washington, DC, an MBA from New York Institute of Technology, and a BA from St. John's University. He has extensive experience in Training and Organizational Development. He has held a range of positions in the corporate world and currently teaches at NYIT, University of Maryland, George Washington University, and the College of Business at Stony Brook University.
Emily Fogarty
Lecturer
Emily A. Fogarty teaches courses in demography, geospatial analysis, geographical information systems (GIS) and geography. She earned her Ph.D., master’s and BS degrees in Geography (with minors in statistics and urban/regional planning) from the Florida State University.
Dr. Fogarty has several years experience teaching spatial data analysis and world regional geography courses at the undergraduate level. She has been an adjunct professor at Florida State University, Tallahassee Community College, Dowling College and Suffolk County Community College. She has also worked for the Peconic Estuary Program as the Environmental Analyst working on various projects related to climate change, sea level rise, green infrastructure, coastal resiliency, agricultural inputs into drinking water, water quality related to public health, and issues surrounding valuation of ecosystem services. She is particularly interested in investigating how well public institutions that focus on mediating human/environment relationships are communicating. Her past research focused on spatial and temporal variation in tropical cyclone activity related to large scale climate variability, and she published a book chapter entitled “Network analysis of U.S. hurricanes", in Hurricanes and Climate Change.
Maria Brown
Lecturer
Maria Brown received a Master of Science in Environmental Science from Long Island University. She received a BS in Geology and a BA in Biology from CUNY Queens College. She worked as an Environmental Scientist and Certified Professional Wetland Scientist for 10 years in local engineering and consulting firms before becoming a science teacher at Sayville High School in 1999. She is certified in general science, biology and Earth science (7-12), and taught Advanced Placement Environmental Science for 7 years.
She has been the full time Science Research teacher at Sayville for the past 4 years. She engages high school students in an Enrichment course in Costa Rica each February where the main focus of the course is sustainability. Maria has received numerous teaching awards including: Claes Nobel Educator of Distinction (2010), Brookhaven National Laboratory’s Outstanding Teacher Award (OSSP, 2010), Noyce Scholars Teaching Award (2010), Leadership, Research, Service Award (Phi Delta Kappa, 2010), Stewardship & Action Award (South Shore Estuary Reserve, 2008), Fran File Educator Award (Great South Bay Audubon Society, 2007) Environmental Science Teaching Award (US EPA, 2006), News 12/Dowling College Educator of the Month Award (2006), and the High School Science Teacher of the Year Award (Suffolk County Science Teachers Association (2004). Maria is a voting member (Legislative Appointment) on the Suffolk County Wetland Stewardship Committee and the Vice President of the Coastal Research & Education Society of Long Island. She will be completing a 3-year summer fellowship at Brookhaven National Laboratory this summer where she conducts molecular ecology research on dragonflies and southern flying squirrel populations in the Town of Brookhaven.
