CSE Staff:

  • Monica Day

    Executive Director of the Center for Sustainability and the Environment

    Director of the Whitehouse Nature Center

    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 517-629-0582

  • Dr. Thomas Wilch

    CSE Faculty Director

    In addition to serving as the faculty director for CSE, Dr. Wilch teaches courses in Sustainability Projects, Introductory Geology, Geomorphology, Regional Field Geology, Glaciers and Climate Change, Geologic Field Methods, Oceans and Atmospheres, Geological Hazards, and Volcanology.

    Office: Palenske Hall 026
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: (517) 629-0759

  • Ashlynn Reed

    Sustainability Coordinator

    Office: 3rd floor, Kellogg Center
    Email: [email protected]

CSE Internal Advisory Committee:

  • Joseph Lee-Cullin

    Assistant Professor of Earth and Environment

    Dr. Lee-Cullin teaches upper-level courses in Groundwater, Geomorphology, Regional Field Geology, and Field Camp.

    Office: Palenske 122
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: (517) 629-0574

  • Trisha Franzen

    Co-Chair and Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

    Office: Robinson Hall 201A
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: (517) 629-0535

  • Allison Harnish

    Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chair of Anthropology and Sociology

    Alli is a cultural anthropologist specializing in rural livelihoods, international development, and human-environment relations. She earned a Ph.D. in anthropology as well as a graduate certificate in gender and women’s studies from the University of Kentucky after completing a B.A. in anthropology and sociology at Western Kentucky University. Prior to coming to Albion, Alli was a part-time instructor at Transylvania University and co-organizer of the annual Dimensions of Political Ecology (DoPE) Conference on Nature/Society in Lexington, KY. Her teaching integrates economic, ecological, and feminist anthropology. Her research, which has been externally supported by the Fulbright program and the National Science Foundation, explores the gender and age dimensions of development-induced migration, environmental change, and wildlife management in Zambia. Alli teaches Native North America, Africa: Peoples and Cultures, The Global Politics of Nature, Violent Environments, and Theory and Method in Anthropology.

    Email: [email protected]

  • Sheila Lyons-Sobaski

    Professor of Biology, Department Chair

    Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is an molecular ecologist whose research utilizes both field and molecular genetic techniques to investigate the ecology and evolution of plant populations. In particular, she is interested in how gene flow maintains genetic variation within isolated plant populations to better understand the ecological patterns and evolutionary processes which structure them. Her dissertation research was a comprehensive study of gene flow and its influence on the genetic structuring of a regionally-endangered annual plant, Sabatia campestris (Gentianaceae). This research was important because, at the level of an individual, she empirically demonstrated the significance of the soil seed bank in conserving genetic variation of S. campestris (Prairie Rose Gentian) over time. In addition to studies of local gene movement, she has explored regional genetic differences for Prairie Rose Gentian by comparing peripheral populations, those located at the edge of a species range, with centrally located populations where the species is common.

    Her current research includes studying the population genetics of Marsh Pink, Sabatia angularis, which is state-threatened in Michigan. Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is investigating the importance of peripheral populations, populations at the edge of a species range, by comparing the genetic variation of peripheral populations where the species is rare with core populations where it is common. She is working with students to understand the genetics of local population of Wild Rice (Zizania palustris) and ways to control the invasive plant, Mile-A-Minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) in Michigan.

    Office: Putnam 264
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 517-629-0649

  • Nels Christensen

    Associate Professor of English

    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: (517) 629-0349

Sustainability Council:

The Sustainability Council is a college-wide committee representing a wide range of interest groups.  The council promotes sustainability, resiliency, and environmental justice within the College and in relation to the broader Albion community.

  • Thomas I. Wilch

    Faculty Director for the Center for Sustainability and the Environment, Professor of Earth & Environment

    Dr. Thom Wilch is a Quaternary geologist who specializes in glacial geology, physical volcanology, and paleoclimate history.  Two current research projects focus on using volcanic records to reconstruct the history of the Antarctic Ice Sheet. He is on the ANDRILL project research team and is a PI on research funded by the NSF.  Paul Roberts ’07 and Meagan Bosket ’09 accompanied Thom as student researchers on recent research expeditions to Minna Bluff, Antarctica. In addition to his Antarctic research, Thom has an ongoing field-based fluvial geomorphology in in south-central Michigan.

    Dr. Wilch teaches upper-level courses in Glaciers and Climate ChangeGeomorphology, Volcanology, Regional Field Geology, and Field Camp.

    Office: Palenske Hall 026
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: (517) 629-0759

  • Amanda Ewers

    Director of Finance

    Office: Ferguson 225
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 517-629-0302
    Fax: 517-629-0661

  • Allison Harnish

    Associate Professor of Anthropology, Chair of Anthropology and Sociology

    Alli is a cultural anthropologist specializing in rural livelihoods, international development, and human-environment relations. She earned a Ph.D. in anthropology as well as a graduate certificate in gender and women’s studies from the University of Kentucky after completing a B.A. in anthropology and sociology at Western Kentucky University. Prior to coming to Albion, Alli was a part-time instructor at Transylvania University and co-organizer of the annual Dimensions of Political Ecology (DoPE) Conference on Nature/Society in Lexington, KY. Her teaching integrates economic, ecological, and feminist anthropology. Her research, which has been externally supported by the Fulbright program and the National Science Foundation, explores the gender and age dimensions of development-induced migration, environmental change, and wildlife management in Zambia. Alli teaches Native North America, Africa: Peoples and Cultures, The Global Politics of Nature, Violent Environments, and Theory and Method in Anthropology.

    Email: [email protected]

  • Sheila Lyons-Sobaski

    Professor of Biology, Department Chair

    Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is an molecular ecologist whose research utilizes both field and molecular genetic techniques to investigate the ecology and evolution of plant populations. In particular, she is interested in how gene flow maintains genetic variation within isolated plant populations to better understand the ecological patterns and evolutionary processes which structure them. Her dissertation research was a comprehensive study of gene flow and its influence on the genetic structuring of a regionally-endangered annual plant, Sabatia campestris (Gentianaceae). This research was important because, at the level of an individual, she empirically demonstrated the significance of the soil seed bank in conserving genetic variation of S. campestris (Prairie Rose Gentian) over time. In addition to studies of local gene movement, she has explored regional genetic differences for Prairie Rose Gentian by comparing peripheral populations, those located at the edge of a species range, with centrally located populations where the species is common.

    Her current research includes studying the population genetics of Marsh Pink, Sabatia angularis, which is state-threatened in Michigan. Dr. Lyons-Sobaski is investigating the importance of peripheral populations, populations at the edge of a species range, by comparing the genetic variation of peripheral populations where the species is rare with core populations where it is common. She is working with students to understand the genetics of local population of Wild Rice (Zizania palustris) and ways to control the invasive plant, Mile-A-Minute Weed (Persicaria perfoliata) in Michigan.

    Office: Putnam 264
    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 517-629-0649

  • Nate Salazar

    Director of Facilities Operation

    Email: [email protected]
    Phone: 517/629-0230