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Note from the Chair
Dear ESS Friends,
We know that you’ve been waiting for this announcement since the last issue of EnviroNews in the Spring of 2020, and finally, here it is: We’re back in action. In many ways, this has been a year of transitions, celebrations, and rebuilding. Overall, I would say a pretty good year, even as we continued learning how to support each other and stay cool in overheated times.
The first transition that I would like to recognize is the service of outgoing ESS Departmental Chair Virginia Matzek. Virginia, served as ESS Chair for 3.5 years, and helped us navigate the depths of COVID impacts, moving into the Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation (aka SCDI), and did all of this for the first 1.5 years BC (Before Cory: the amazing ESS Academic Department Manager).
I gratefully accepted the invitation to become the next ESS Chair, and have been in his role since February of 2023. I aim to be a servant leader, supporting your academic success and well-being. To do this, I will be guided by several key principles, such as honesty and self-reflection, doing my best, kindness, building a more diverse and inclusive community, maintaining our high standards, and academic integrity. I also ask for your support, patience, forgiveness, and communication, and that you will continue to bring your best selves to this work.
As we wrap up the 2023/24 academic year there is much to celebrate including all of those that will be graduating as class of 2024. As you will see in the stories below, ESS students, faculty, and alumni continue to do amazing work. Our senior send-off on May 16 was another wonderful day in the Forge Garden. We celebrated by sharing a falafel and hummus meal and the excitement that erupted during the first-ever ESS Trivia game (that will be back). We announced awards for Jules Holland, Paulina Ursua Garcia (2x), Donald "Trey" Grimsley, and Sarah Young. ESS students also won recognition across Santa Clara University (congrats Jules for winning the University’s prestigious Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J., Award). Now, it’s time for their next steps in their environmental careers, but there’s no rush, as ESS majors, sometimes discerning meaningful career pathways takes thoughtful reflection and time.
In other transitions, we recognize Lisa Kealhofer, a professor in both the Department of Environmental Studies and Sciences and the Department of Anthropology. Lisa is a founding member of what ESS is today. Her long-term, often under-appreciated scholarship, teaching, and especially thoughtful service as a mentor and change maker supporting the development of ESS and broader policies to ensure ethics, justice, and integrity across Santa Clara University, will be missed as she begins her well-earned retirement and continues as an Emeritus Professor.
Importantly, we also mourn the passing of Michelle Bezanson, whose teaching and scholarship inspired so many of us at SCU and beyond, and who personally, taught so many ESS alumni.
In the context of rebuilding, we are delighted to welcome our newest faculty member, Will Rush. Will is an Assistant Professor of Climate Change and Environmental Geology in ESS and is already wrapping up a productive first year that included teaching ENVS 23 and ENVS 166 and continuing his active research agenda focused on the interface of climate model analysis and paleoclimate proxy interpretation.
Finally, 2023 was a hot one - globally it was the warmest year on record by far, as the climate crisis continues and the impacts are exacerbated by conflict, poverty, politics, and so on. Although many of us are responding, I recognize the work of ESS allies in the Center for Sustainability and the Environmental Justice and Common Good Initiative, for their continuing contributions towards SCU’s strategic plan for sustainability and justice. Thus far, our collective research and relationships are not commensurate with the scale of the local or global problems. So, to the graduates of the class of 2024, those who came before you, and those who will follow, we are investing in your leadership, solidarity, capacities, and creativity. As faculty, we are also committing ourselves to work collaboratively alongside you to construct a more hope-filled future.
Below are more highlights from the fabulous work of our students, alumni, and faculty. Check them out and stay in touch!
Blessings and my best wishes for the summer.
Adios y Adelante,
Chris Bacon
ESS Department Chair
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