Class Notes
Colton Babladelis (MBA/MS ’22) graduated from SEAS in April 2022 and published his second book of poetry, “Gifts and Other Small Things" (Winter Goose Publishing, 2022).
Dominic Bednar (MS ’16, PhD, ’21) is a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. His research examines the institutional barriers of energy poverty recognition and response in the United States, which includes exploring the spatial, racial/ethnic, and socioeconomic patterns of residential energy affordability, consumption, and efficiency.
Michael K. Dorsey (PhD ’05), was named to the inaugural For(bes) The Culture 50 list. The listing honors 50 champions who are Black and Brown leaders “making the most impact through their capital, creativity, and connections.”
Robert (Bob) Gibbs (MLA ’84) has written a new book, “Town Centers,” which introduces Japanese developers and public policymakers to U.S. best practices for designing and building mixed-use town centers as an alternative to suburban shopping malls. “American developers have pioneered building-dense, walkable mixed-use centers, and they’ve become a global model as a sustainable alternative to sprawl,” Gibbs says. “Additionally, recent revitalization of American cities has become a model for regions where their cities have suffered from suburban malls. ‘Town Centers’ is a bestseller in Japan, and it features American cities and town centers as best-practices case studies. Detroit, Warren, and Westland, Michigan, are local city examples, and several of the town centers I’ve planned—including the Village of Rochester, Eton Station, Howell Town Commons, Cherry Hill Village (Canton, Michigan) and Easton Town Center (Ohio)—have been illustrated.” Gibbs is President of Gibbs Planning Group Inc. in Birmingham, Michigan.
Amy Stahler Henry (BS ’83) retired in 2021 after spending more than 30 years as an environmental educator with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.
Ryan Horwitz (BS ’19, MS ’21) is the co-author of “Elephant genotypes reveal the size and connectivity of transnational ivory traffickers,” which was published in Nature Human Behaviour in February 2022. He works at the newly formed Center for Environmental Forensic Science at the University of Washington.
Dr. Carl F. Jordan (BS ’58) is a professor emeritus at the Odum School of Ecology at the University of Georgia. “For over 50 years, I have been teaching and researching structure and function of ecosystems and sustainable management of natural resource systems,” he writes. “In recent years, biophysicists and ecosystem modelers have made important gains in understanding the evolution of ecosystems, and applying this understanding to ecosystem management, but most of these publications are highly academic. My recent book, “Evolution from a Thermodynamic Perspective: Implications for Species Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture” (Springer, 2022), presents the ideas in a way that is comprehensible to a wider audience. The book should be of interest to SEAS faculty, students, and alumni, especially since it has roots in the old Camp Filibert Roth in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
Nat Lichten (MS ’15) was named associate program officer for Great Lakes and Environment at the Erb Family Foundation. He works with current grantees, future applicants, and partners to help the Erb Family Foundation increase stewardship in the Great Lakes and the Clinton, Detroit, Huron, Rouge, and River Raisin watersheds in the Detroit area and the Bayfield watershed in Ontario. He joins the Erb Family Foundation from the District of Columbia Department of Energy and Environment, where he worked on green stormwater infrastructure implementation throughout Washington, D.C.
Sara Maples (MS ’11) is the sustainability and research support manager and an adjunct lecturer of marketing at the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business. She teaches undergraduate marketing courses and is the program manager for the college’s Social Impact Community, a research and engagement center.
Katy Newhouse (MS/MBA ’15) was named director for sustainable operations–supply chain for the Council on Environmental Quality in the Office of the Federal Chief Sustainability Officer. She will collaborate with federal agencies to develop long-term decarbonization strategies, programs, and partnerships. Newhouse previously spent three years on the Amazon Transportation Services sustainability team.
Ken Peregon (BS ’77, MLA ’83) retired in 2021 after more than 30 years at OCBA Landscape Architects in Kalamazoo, Michigan. For the last eight years at OCBA, he served as president and majority owner. He continues his involvement in the environmental community by serving as chair of the Kalamazoo County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and volunteering with the Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy. He keeps active by hiking, kayaking, and traveling.
Dr. Ivette Perfecto (MS ’82, PhD ’89), the James E. Crowfoot Collegiate Professor of Environmental Justice at SEAS, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest distinctions for a scientist or engineer in the United States. Her research focuses on the impacts of agriculture on biodiversity and the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem function, and ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes.
Kat Shiffler (MLA ’21) is a landscape architect for the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program. She supports community-led natural resource conservation and outdoor recreation projects in the Midwest.
Dr. Steven Steinberg (MS ’94) recently presented at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Alumni Thematic International Seminar on “Environmental Diplomacy and its Impact on American Society.” It focused on the use of GIS and participatory mapping with local and Indigenous communities. Steinberg was a Fulbright Distinguished Chair (Canada, 2005) and Fulbright Senior Scholar (Finland, 2007). He recently co-edited a book on the applications of geospatial methods titled “Resilient Communities across Geographies” (Esri Press, 2021).
Ryan Stock (MS ’13), an assistant professor in the Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department at Northern Michigan University, is the 2021-2022 recipient of the Faculty Emerging Leadership Award. He is a political ecologist whose work utilizes an intersectional perspective to examine the environmental injustices of climate change interventions and energy transitions.
Brittany Turner (MS ’15) is an energy analyst at EcoWorks in Detroit. She also is the founder of Cheyanne Symone, a jewelry company for which she designs and handcrafts Indigenous-style beaded earrings.
Tom Wagner (BS ’67, MS ’71) is a retired research scientist who worked for the nonprofit Environmental Research Institute of Michigan (ERIM) for 30 years. He managed USG remote sensing application projects, which took him to Malaysia, Nepal, and Bangladesh. He also was a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University for 14 years, where he taught urban, European, American, and world geography and conducted research on risk analysis and sustainability.
Arlin Wasserman (MS ’90, MPH ’91), founder and managing director of Changing Tastes, is leading a new venture: Sea & Flour, a food company with a line of first-ever carb-positive, carbon-negative products. “We help address climate change and expand regenerative coastal agriculture and the blue economy, while also improving the nutritional value of bread, one of America’s most commonly eaten foods,” Wasserman says. “We found that by making incremental changes to one of the world’s best-loved and most frequently eaten foods, we could turn bread into a solution to some of our most pressing health and environmental problems. With over two years of research and development, we created a way to process sea plants so they can be blended with common grains and flours in the commercial baking process. Sea & Flour products support healthy bone development and maintenance by making calcium more bioavailable by pairing it with Vitamins K and D. They also feature a clean ingredient label and contain less sodium and fewer calories than some other bread products.” Learn more about Sea & Flour and about Wasserman’s work with Changing Tastes.