The Ecosystem Science and Policy program takes a hands-on approach to undergraduate teaching and advising. We have an open-door policy and welcome students to our second-floor Ungar space for study, environmentally related extracurricular activities, career counseling, and conversation.
Dr. Julia Wester is associate director of the undergraduate program in Ecosystem Science and Policy and a lecturer in Anthropology and Ecosystem Science and Policy. In addition, Dr. Wester is scientific programming director at Field School and executive director of the Field School Foundation. She received a B.A. from the University of Miami, a Master's from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Policy from the University of Miami. Dr. Wester teaches various interdicsiplinary environmental science and policy courses.
Dr. Terri Hood is the assistant director of the Ecosystem Science and Policy undergraduate program and senior lecturer in the Department of Geological Sciences. She teaches quantitative methods courses and leads fieldwork courses for the program. Her research interests include chemical processes occurring in coastal sediments (kinetics of pyrite oxidation in marine systems) and development of new methods in electron microscopy. Her research in the last decade has focused on deciphering human impacts in coastal environments using sediment records. Dr. Hood's particular areas of study have included the Everglades/Florida Bay ecosystem and the Mississippi River outflow region in the northern Gulf of Mexico.
