Tania Schusler, PhD

Core Faculty

Department of Environmental Studies

AUNE Contact Information

603.283.2353
tschusler@antioch.edu

Highest Degree

PhD Natural Resource Policy and Managment, Cornell University

Other Degrees & Credentials

MS Natural Resource Policy and Management, Cornell University
BS Forestry, University of Illinois

Overview

Throughout my career I have worked at the interface of people and environment. I conceive of ‘environment’ broadly to include natural and built environments, and their bio-physical and social dimensions. Habitat destruction and climate change are obvious environmental issues, and in my view, so are racism and poverty. I am especially interested in how community development can simultaneously foster community well-being, social justice, economic vitality, and environmental protection. Before joining the Antioch community, I worked as an educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, where I partnered with grassroots groups, local government, and others toward transformation of the local economy through consumer education and sustainable enterprise development in areas like green building and re-use.

The continuing thread throughout my work is community participation. The messy, complex arenas of participation and democracy fascinate me and provide the focus of my research around one core question: How can participation contribute to environmentally sustainable and socially just communities? Inquiry about participation in environmental decision-making raises a host of intriguing issues related to social learning, capacity, collaboration, policy, institutional structures, knowledge construction, and power. I am especially interested in how these dimensions interplay in practice. And how – as environmental scientists, managers, policy-makers, activists, and educators – we can improve participatory processes.

These interests carry over into the classroom, where I aim to facilitate a participatory learning community in which students develop critical, interdisciplinary understanding of environmental issues within the context of their personal lives, local communities, and global society. I view my role as providing the structure for students’ active participation in a collaborative learning process integrating academic rigor, real world experience, and personal reflection.

Last Updated: 3/3/10