Who teaches Master's of Energy & Environmental Management Online Courses?
Dr. Chadwick Rittenhouse, Director of MEEM Program, Coordinator of the SEPM Program, and Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
chadwick.rittenhouse@uconn.edu
Dr. Chadwick Rittenhouse is an Associate Professor in Residence in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR), Director of the MEEM program, and Coordinator of the SEPM certificate program. He is also a Faculty Affiliate of the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering at UConn. Dr. Rittenhouse is a Leadership Institute Fellow of The Wildlife Society and recipient of teaching and service awards. Dr. Rittenhouse earned a PhD and an MS in Wildlife Science at the University of Missouri, and a BS in Wildlife Ecology and a Degree Certificate in Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin. His research team, the PLaN Lab, works to understand the relationships between People, Land, and Nature, with a goal to enhance decision-making for and stewardship of private and public lands.
Courses taught: NRE 5200 Sustainable Natural Resources Management, NRE 5220 Environmental Planning for Sustainable Communities and Regions, NRE 5830 Internship in Energy and Environmental Management, NRE 5850 Practicum in Energy and Environmental Management.
Dr. Amy Cabaniss, Adjunct Faculty, University of Connecticut, Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
amy.cabaniss@uconn.edu
Dr. Amy Cabaniss is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment. She also teaches fundamentals of communication and persuasion in the Department of Communications at the University of Rhode Island. For over six years, Dr. Cabaniss taught Business Ecology and Sustainability in the School of Business MBA Program at Southern Connecticut State University. She has a PhD in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England, MBA in Management and Organization from the University of New Haven, and a BS in Environmental Conservation from the University of New Hampshire.
Dr. Cabaniss has an established career in environmental education and communication with applied research in conservation psychology to foster individual and collective environmentally responsible behavior. Since 1990, her work has emphasized solid waste management issues, and she is a former muti-term board member of the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association and past-president of NAHMMA-Northeast. She is editor of the Handbook on Household Hazardous Waste (Government Institutes Press, 2008; 2nd editions, Bernan Press, 2018); Perspectives on Product Stewardship by Scott Cassel (Bernan Press, 2023); and Producer Responsibility in Practice: A Decision Maker's Guide (Bernan Press, forthcoming in 2024).
Courses Taught: NRE 5210 Communications for Environmental Decision Makers, NRE 5225 Sustainable Use of Ocean Resources, NRE 5230 Sustainability Leadership in Organizations.
Dr. Thomas H. Meyer, Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
thomas.meyer@uconn.edu
Dr. Thomas H. Meyer is a Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at UConn’s College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR). Dr. Meyer is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Association for Geodetic Surveying (Fellow and Director). He is a past president (2006-2007) of the Geomatics Society of New England (was the New England Section ACSM) and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Surveying Engineering and for Surveying and Land Information Science. Dr. Meyer earned his PhD from Texas A&M University (College Station, 1998) where he was a research associate in the Mapping Sciences Laboratory. During his tenure at UConn, he has taught geomatics courses in geographic information science, geodesy, digital terrain modeling, global navigation satellite system surveying at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Dr. Meyer has authored an undergraduate-level geodesy textbook, numerous peer-reviewed papers about surveying and mapping, and teaches professional education seminars for surveyors throughout New England and the United States.
Courses taught: NRE 5585 Geospatial Data Processing Techniques, and NRE 5215 Introduction to Geospatial Analysis with Remote Sensing.
Dr. Piyumi Obeysekara, Adjunct Faculty and Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment
Dr. Piyumi Obeysekara, Adjunct Faculty and Assistant Research Professor at UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, is an Agricultural Entomologist specializing in sustainable agriculture and ecosystem services. Her research is centered on biological control, integrated pest management, and plant-insect interactions, contributing significantly to both pest management and biodiversity conservation. With a PhD in Plant Science and an MS in Geoscience, Dr. Obeysekara combines her knowledge of entomology with a broader understanding of environmental dynamics. Her previous work as a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Texas A&M University and the University of Connecticut, along with her membeship in the Entomological Society of America, reflect her involvement in agroecology through research and educational outreach.
Courses taught: NRE 5200 Sustainable Natural Resources Management, NRE 5205 Decision Methods in Natural Resources and the Environment
Environmental Law Faculty
Peter Lindseth, J.D.
Peter Lindseth is a legal scholar and historian with strong interests in the comparative origins and evolution of governance structures and public law. His books include a reinterpretation of the history of European integration, Power and Legitimacy: Reconciling Europe and the Nation-State (OUP), as well as three co-edited volumes on comparative administrative law (from Elgar and OUP), which have redefined that field. His research develops new insights into the boundary between administrative and constitutional law, historical institutionalism, principal-agent theory, as well as supranational organizations in Europe and beyond. His teaching interests focus on corporate and regulatory compliance, and legislation and regulation.
Courses taught: LAW 7554 Compliance Law.
Joseph MacDougald, J.D.
Joseph A. MacDougald, professor-in-residence, Strasser fellow in environmental law, is the executive director of UConn Law’s Center for Energy & Environmental Law (CEEL), the director of the LLM in Energy & Environmental Law, and the faculty advisor to the Energy & Environmental Law Society. Professor MacDougald teaches and researches many aspects of environmental and energy law with a primary emphasis on climate change and its interaction with different levels of government. As an Executive Board member and director of applied research at the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation, he has helped guide research projects exploring policy responses to sea level rise at a state and municipal level. He has published works and given presentations on topics ranging from resilience policy and national security, sea level rise, climate change and insurance, the Clean Air Act and automobile emissions, and President Theodore Roosevelt’s environmental legacy.
Courses taught: LAW 7568 Climate Law, LAW 7650 Environmental Law.
Kirt Mayland, J.D.
Kirt Mayland is an Energy Legal Fellow at CIRCA and teaches renewable energy law, land-use law and environmental law at UConn. He is also the president of Taconic Range Energy & Environment, a renewable energy development and environmental advocacy firm. He was formerly in-house counsel at Barron Partners, Soltas Energy, and Penn Energy Renewables. Prioir to his time at Penn, Mayland was an environmental attorney at Trout Unlimited. He has also worked at Sidley, Austin Brown & Wood and Morgan, Lewis & Bockus. He graduated from Dartmouth College and was a Fulbright Scholar in Monterrey, Mexico, where he received a Masters in Finance from the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores. He received a JD from the University of Connecticut, where he was a member of the Connecticut Law Review, and an LLM in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School.
Courses taught: LAW 7806 Renewable Energy Law.
Paschaline Nsiah-Asare, LL.B, LL.M
Paschaline Nsiah-Asare is an Environmental law teaching fellow. Paschaline currently teaches the online Environmental Law and Climate Law class for the MEEM Program, and serves as the instructor for the International Environmental Law at the law school campus. Paschaline Nsiah-Asare is an attorney with a special interest in comparative energy and environmental policy. She received her LL.M in Energy and Environmental law from the University of Connecticut School of Law where she is currently a SJD Candidate. Her research and academic interests focus on environmental and energy reform methodologies structured through comparative regionalism methods, equitable applications of international law principles within underserved communities and analyzing just transition approaches within the global North and global South dynamic. Prior to academia and her graduate studies, Paschaline started her career working in legal practice and non-profit organizations, assisting on energy restructuring projects and climate legislative initiatives.
Courses taught: LAW 7650 Environmental Law, LAW 7568 Climate Law.
Vincent Pace, J.D., LL.M, S.J.D.
Vincent Pace is an assistant general counsel for Eversource Energy. He has been with Eversource, formerly known as Northeast Utilities, since 2003, and previously worked in the utility practice group at Day, Berry & Howard LLP (now DayPitney LLP). He received a BA, summa cum laude, from Fairfield University, and a JD, with high honors, LLM and SJD from UConn School of Law. He was a president of the UConn Law School Alumni Association from 2015 to 2016 and serves as a director on the association’s board. He was treasurer of the Connecticut Bar Association (CBA) and is currently a member of the CBA's board of governors. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Connecticut Bar Foundation.
Courses taught: LAW 7812 Energy Regulation and Policy.
Amber Martin Stone, J.D.
Amber Martin Stone counsels state agencies, municipal governments and other consumer-oriented clients to further their goal of ensuring the affordability and reliability of electric service. She has represented clients in nearly every Independent System Operator and Regional Transmission Organization footprint, including ISO New England, New York Independent System Operator, PJM Interconnection, L.L.C., California Independent System Operator and Midcontinent Independent System Operator. Her practice principally includes advocating on behalf of clients in electric, gas and ratemaking proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) involving wholesale electricity market design, resource adequacy, cost-of-service agreements, pipeline certification and electric transmission and gas transportation rate cases. She worked previously as a Staff Attorney II at the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA or the Authority), where she advised the Chair and Commissioners of PURA on federal, regional and state energy policy issues.
Courses taught: LAW 7356 Energy Law and the Courts: the Grid, Renewables and FERC.
Geographic Information Systems Faculty
Richard Mrozinski, GIS Certificate Program Coordinator
mrozinski@uconn.edu
Rich Mrozinski has been teaching GIS courses at the University of Connecticut since Fall 1998. Rich undertook his graduate studies at the University of Connecticut, where he actually earned the GIS Certificate in 1997. At UConn, Rich currently teaches GEOG 2500 – Introduction to GIS and GEOG 2505/5510 – Applications of GIS. He also manages the three GIS computer labs and various computer resources in the Geography Department, along with serving as the ESRI site license administrator for UConn.
Courses taught: GEOG 5510 Applications of GIS.
Dr. Peter Chen, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography
peter.chen@uconn.edu
Peter Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Connecticut. He earned his PhD in Geography from The Ohio State University. As a GIScientist, he employs both data-driven and mixed-method approaches to understand critical health issues in urban communities.
Courses taught: GEOG 5516 Fundamentals of Spatial Data Systems, GEOG 5518 Mobile GIS.
Dr. Debarchana (Debs) Ghosh, Associate Professor in the Department of Geography
debarchana.ghosh@uconn.edu
Debs Ghosh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Connecticut. She earned her PhD in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Ghosh's research centers on global health, including health disparity, structural and social determinants of health, and social justice.
Courses taught: GEOG 5530 GIS for Health and Environment.
Dr. Weidong Li, Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Geography
weidong.li@uconn.edu
Weidong Li is an Adjunct Faculty and Research Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Connecticut. He earned his PhD in Soil and Water Science from China Agricultural University. Dr. Lee has >140 peer-reviewed journal articles on geospatial statistics and geocomputation, resource and environmental informatics, and internet GIS.
Courses taught: GEOG 5515 Web GIS.
Aaron Nash, GIS Project Manager for the Connecticut Transportation Research Safety Center
aaron.nash@uconn.edu
Mr. Nash is the GIS Project Manager for the Connecticut Transportation Research Safety Center (CTSRC). Prior to working at CTSRC, he served the public sector for over 12 years working as the GIS Project Leader for the Department of Public Works in the City of Hartford, and as the GIS Coordinator for the Town of Vernon. Mr. Nash has earned his master's degree in Geography from Central Connecticut State University focusing on GIS and Urban Planning, his bachelor's from the University of Connecticut in Political Science, and was GISP certified in 2010.
Courses taught: GEOG 5620 Computer Applications in Spatial Analysis
Dr. Dan Wanyama, Assistant Professor in Residence
wanyama@uconn.edu
Dr. Dan Wanyama is an Assistant Professor-in-Residence in the Department of Geography in UConn's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS). Dr. Wanyama earned his PhD in Geography and Geospatial Science from Michigan State University in 2021, an MS in Geospatial Science from University of North Alabama in 2017, and a BS in Environmental Studies and Community Development from Kenyatta University in 2013. His research focuses on the application of geospatial technologies and data to study the shifting human-environment interactions associated with climate change, especially in agricultural lands and forests both in Eastern Africa and the United States. Before joining UConn, Dr. Wanyama was a Post-doctoral Research Associate at the University of Oklahoma, mainly working to integrate data from multiple satellites to study human-associated and nature-driven disturbance and recovery regimes in tropical forests of Africa.
Courses taught: GEOG 5500 Fundamentals of GIS.