With the future of the Urban Environmental Lab in jeopardy as the University moves forward with its physical expansion plans, the Center for Environmental Studies that has been housed in the UEL since 1981 is searching for a new director.
Professor of Biology Osvaldo Sala announced he is leaving the post that he has held since 2005 . Sala said he plans to step down in July 2008, by which time the position should be filled.
The CES includes Brown's environmental studies program and community environmental initiatives, such as its community garden. The center is looking for "a distinguished scholar with broad interdisciplinary interests in environmental issues" to coordinate the center's education and research programs and better integrate the CES into the broader Brown community, among other things, according to the CES Web site.
"We are looking for someone to work with the legacy of the CES and carry it forward in these exciting times," wrote Professor of Geological Sciences Jack Mustard in an e-mail to The Herald. The search committee, he added, is "looking for someone with a strong environmental ethic, a record of scholarly achievement in the broad field of the environment and with experience in leading organizations."
Sala is leaving the post to focus on his position as director of Brown's Environmental Change Initiative, which he described as "an interdisciplinary program designed to articulate the research and education at Brown in the area of the environment."
"Brown is putting a lot of effort into the Environmental Change Initiative and it requires all of my attention," Sala said. "It is a very exciting project."
Though a new director will bring some changes to the CES, Sala said the center's faculty - which includes ecologists, geologists and biologists as well as Manager of Environmental Stewardship Initiatives Kurt Teichert, who advises the University on energy use, and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Steven Hamburg, who consults corporations such as Wal-Mart on energy efficiency issues - will remain the same. Thanks to the faculty, Sala said, "there is some continuity."
