Faculty and Staff

Faculty 

Bill Hamilton

Bill Hamilton

Biology Department Head and Professor of Biology, Interim Director for Environmental Studies

Hamilton teaches courses in biology and environmental studies, such as Yellowstone Ecology and Experimental Botany. His research pertains to ecosystem dynamics with a focus on animal-plant-soil interactions in Yellowstone National Park.

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Robert Humston

Robert Humston

John Kyle Spencer Director for Environmental Studies and Professor of Biology

On Sabbatical AY 2024-2025

Humston teaches Introduction to Environmental Studies, Aquatic Ecology and Ecological Modeling, among other courses. He has researched fisheries management, fish ecology and dispersal/movement behavior of animals and plants.

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Mauricio Betancourt

Mauricio Betancourt

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Betancourt teaches Intro to Environmental Studies, Environmental Sociology, and the Commodification of Nature. His research has focused on agroecology, nature-society interactions, imperialism, and unequal ecological exchange.

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Jamie Casey

Jamie Casey

Professor of Economics

Casey is a 1991 W&L graduate who teaches courses that focus on the relation between the economy and the environment. His research centers on environmental funding and the economics of agriculture.

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Lisa Greer

Lisa Greer

Department Head, Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience

On Sabbatical for 2024-2025

Professor Greer teaches general geology, global climate change, oceanography, history and evolution of the earth, and sedimentation and stratigraphy. She is a core member of the environmental studies faculty. She has spent years researching the health, abundance and history of the endangered Staghorn coral in the Caribbean.

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Andrew Hess

Ehrick Kilner Haight Sr. Term Professor of Business Administration and Associate Department Head of Business Administration

Hess is a 1997 alum who researches and teaches in areas of social innovation, strategy and international business. Before returning to W&L, he worked for Fleet National Bank and Silicon Valley Bank in Boston.

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Megan F. Hess

Megan F. Hess

Associate Professor of Accounting

Hess is a 1997 alumna who teaches courses in auditing, accounting ethics and corporate sustainability. Before becoming a professor, she spent 12 years working in the industry with a focus on investigating financial statement fraud.

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Lawrence E. Hurd

Lawrence E. Hurd

Herwick Professor of Biology

Hurd teaches zoology, ecology and biodiversity conservation. His research is on tropical biodiversity and entomology.

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Ryan McCoy

Ryan McCoy

Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Prof. McCoy is a philosopher whose research focuses on social and ethical problems in climate change research and policy, as well as community-based approaches to address these challenges. He teaches Food Ethics, Environmental Humanities, Environmental Justice, and Introduction to Environmental Studies.

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Catarina Passidomo

Catarina Passidomo

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Passidomo is a human geographer whose research focuses on food systems and the relationships among food, place, nature, society, and power. She teaches Food, Place, and Power; Introduction to Environmental Studies; the Capstone seminar; and other courses in Environmental Studies.

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Affiliated  Faculty

Brian Alexander

Brian Alexander

Associate Professor of Politics

Alexander teaches courses primarily in U.S. government and international relations. He has nearly 20 years of professional experience and previously worked in the
office of Senator Jack Reed (D-RI).

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Paul Cabe

Paul Cabe

Professor of Biology

Professor Cabe teaches a number of genetics courses, as well as ornithology. His research interests focus on using modern molecular methods to collect data useful in answering questions in the areas of population genetics and evolutionary biology. He is also interested in ornithology, ecology and conservation biology.

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Madhumita Chakraborty

Madhumita Chakraborty

Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience

Professor Chakraborty teaches general geology and courses on water resources and hydrology. Her research focuses on understanding water contamination dynamics and identifying safe water resources.

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Leah Naomi Green

Leah Naomi Green

Visiting Assistant Professor of Writing and Environmental Studies

Green’s courses include Eco-Writing, “Wilderness, Wildness, & Cultivation,” and topics for first-year writing seminars. She has researched creative writing (poetry), environmental literature, Buddhist practice, and food justice.

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Joseph Guse

Joseph Guse

Professor of Economics

Joseph Guse teaches Microeconomic Theory, Game Theory, and Statistics and Environmental Economics. He co-teaches Spring Term courses on the Lakota and Tohono O’odham tribes. His research focuses on credit in American Indian communities.

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Rebecca C. Harris

Rebecca C. Harris

Professor of Politics

Harris teaches applied American Politics courses in government, public policy and environmental policy. Her interdisciplinary work focuses on genetic science and partisanship in food politics.

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Margaret Anne Hinkle

Margaret Anne Hinkle

Assistant Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience

Professor Hinkle teaches general geology, water resources, environmental field methods, hydrology, and earth and environmental geochemistry. She is an affiliate member of the environmental studies faculty. Her research is aimed at understanding how biogeochemical processes at the mineral-water interface affect water composition.

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Elizabeth Knapp

Elizabeth Knapp

Director of the Johnson Program in Leadership and Integrity; Professor of Earth and Environmental Geoscience

Professor Knapp teaches general geology and introduction to the geology of Hawaii. She is an affiliate member of the environmental studies faculty. She has researched low-temperature aqueous geochemistry and water quality/contaminant transport.

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David Marsh

David Marsh

Professor of Biology

Marsh teaches Intro to Behavioral Ecology, Microbiome, Field Herpetology, Animal Behavior and Statistics for Biology and Medicine. His research includes effects of climate change on endemic mountaintop salamanders, effects of roads and land use on frog and toad populations across the Eastern and central U.S., and population dynamics of terrestrial salamanders.

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Kary Smout

Kary Smout

Associate Professor of English

Smout teaches courses on the literature of the American South, American West and business in American literature. His research interests include language and culture, writing instruction and the politics of higher education.

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Emeritus  Faculty

Greg Cooper

Greg Cooper

Professor Emeritus of Philosophy

Cooper’s teaching and research interests are wide ranging but often meet at the intersection of philosophy and ecology. He has researched and published on the philosophy of biology and general environmental philosophy.

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James Kahn

James Kahn

Emeritus Faculty, John F. Hendon Professor of Economics and Professor of Environmental Studies

Kahn is a 1975 alumnus who teaches courses on the economics of the environment and development. He also teaches a Spring Term study abroad course in the Amazonas and researches environmental policy and resource economics.

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Staff 

Debra Frein

Debra Frein

Environmental Studies Program Coordinator

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Program Info

  • Environmental Studies Program
    Tucker Hall 015
    Washington and Lee University
    Lexington, Virginia 24450

Bill Hamilton

Interim Program Head

Debra Frein

Program Coordinator