Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 65.39
Liaison Patrice Langevin
Submission Date March 3, 2023

STARS v2.2

Pitzer College
AC-9: Research and Scholarship

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 8.75 / 12.00 Susan Phillips
Director
Robert Redford Conservancy
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Sustainability research

Total number of employees that conduct research:
149

Number of employees engaged in sustainability research:
27

Percentage of employees that conduct research that are engaged in sustainability research:
18.12

Part 2. Sustainability research by department

Total number of academic departments that include at least one employee who conducts research:
32

Number of academic departments that include at least one employee who conducts sustainability research:
11

Percentage of departments that conduct research that are engaged in sustainability research:
34.38

Research Inventory 

A copy of the inventory of the institution’s sustainability research (upload):
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Inventory of the institution’s sustainability research:
Tim Berg, Professor of Art - using sustainable methods/materials to create art and recyclable goods
Bill Anthes, Art, study of animals, urban ecology
Melinda Herrold Menzies, Professor of Environmental Analysis - climate change
Lance Neckar, Professor of Environmental Analysis - sustainable cities, gardens, landscape
Susan Phillips, Professor of Environmental Analysis/American Studies - environmental justice, climate change
Muriel Poston, Professor of Environmental Analysis - botanical systems
Colin Robins, Professor of Environmental Science - soil science, soil health, Reforestation efforts and global implications of deforestation
Branwen Williams, Professor of Environmental Science - climate vulnerability, marine systems and climate
Katie Purvis Roberts, Professor of Environmental Science - sustainable farming and pollution
Sarah Budischak, Biology, immunology, community ecology
Lynn Fang-Environmental Analysis, Soil, Compost, Agriculture
Mike McCarthy-Environmental Analysis, Env Data Science, Environmental Justice Air Quality
Kevin Grell-Economics/Environmental Analysis, Environmental Economics, Agriculture
Juan Felipe Moreno, Environmental Analysis, Environmental Justice
Victor Polanco, Environmental Analysis, Environmental Justice, community work
Suyapa Portillo, Chicano Latino Studies, Women water justice in Central America
Dan Segal, Anthropology/History, Energy and climate change
Brent Armendinger, English, Ecopoetry
Ann Kaneko, Media Studies, Ecomedia, ecodocumentary
Urmi Willoughby, History, Agriculture in North America
Will Barnt, Political Studies, agrairian revolution, land loss, land sovereignty
Adriana Pantoja, Political Studies, environmental justice Latino communities
Monica Mahoney, Environmental Analysis, Environmental Design, landscape, indigeniety
George Ygarza, Critical Global Studies, Indigenous environmental justice
Jordan Daniels, Philosophy/EA, Nature human relationships
Kevin Grell, Economics/EA
Mia Maltz, Biology, fungal lifeforms, mycology

A brief description of the methodology the institution followed to complete the research inventory:
Pitzer College describes sustainability research as scholarship, practice, and pedagogy that engages with social, ecological and economic sustainability. In sum, we see scholarship that addresses social inequality and environmental challenges as both linked to sustainability research; we also define forms of practice within art, media studies, and writing as research for promotion and tenure. In order to complete this section, we looked at each faculty member's profile at the college and determined whether their work fell into the broad category of social, ecological, or economic sustainability.

Pitzer College is a liberal arts institution, which prioritizes values of environmental sustainability and community engagement. Many of our faculty thus implicitly or explicitly address questions, teaching and research around sustainability, environment, climate justice, and ecology.

Susan Phillips went through the website of faculty members and flagged the ones who are doing environmental, sustainability, and ecology based work as either a portion of their portfolio or as their entire porfolio. She counted faculty members whose research or artistic practice, which counts as research at Pitzer for the purposes of promotion and tenure. We counted faculty in the sciences--in Chemistry and Biology--due to their focus on interconnected ecological systems. We counted adjuncts in our final total of all faculty as well as our final total of professors who conduct research on sustainability.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability research is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.