Teaching

I teach courses on global climate change and international environmental politics. Most of my courses are cross-listed between the Departments of Environmental Studies and Politics at UC Santa Cruz. I previously taught within the Global Environmental Politics Program at American University's School of International Service. I was the 2014 recipient of the American University School of International Service William Cromwell Award for Outstanding Teaching, and was also appointed to the core faculty of American University's campus-wide honors program, where I co-taught interdisciplinary courses on environmental topics.

I am interested in inquiries from prospective PhD students, especially from those interested in working at the intersection of emerging technologies and environmental justice. Please email me a resume and description of your proposed research if you are interested in joining my research group. Please also let me know if you are eligible to be nominated for the Cota Robles fellowship.  ​

COURSES

ENVS 144/Politics 179: Global Climate Change Politics

This upper division course explores the political debates surrounding global climate change in the context of the  United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This course will explore some of the tough questions that governments are currently debating on the global stage, including: should developing countries be required to reduce their GHG emissions; if so, what mechanisms are available for doing so, who should pay for it, and should all developing countries be treated equally; and if not, what are the alternative problem solving tools and what would those entail from the developed world? 

ENVS 152/ Politics 170: Global Environmental Politics

This course is an introduction to international environmental politics from the
perspective of: (1) the causes of global environmental problems; (2) the institutional frameworks available to solve them, and (3) how people fit into this picture as winners, losers, and participants (or not) in shaping our responses to global environmental change.

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ENVS 153 / Politics 162: Globalization and the Environment

​ENVS 80C Climate Science and Policy

















​ENVS 25 Environmental Policy, Economics, and Justice

This course will explore the relationship between international trade and environmental protection. Centrally, we will consider the question of whether trade liberalization and environment protection are antithetical or conducive?  We will use the theoretical literature on regime overlap to help us better consider this question. Regime overlap occurs when two or more international institutions attempt to govern a single policy space (e.g. the environment). Using regime overlap as a conceptual tool to examine this issue allows us to unpack the nuance of our core question by asking not just if these areas are compatible, but allows us to consider the conditions under which they might be so. 

This interdisciplinary co-taught (with Michael Loik) course explores the complex relationship between science and politics in addressing climate change. Whereas the science behind climate change provides increasingly clear directives for political action, policy is consistently unable to follow suit. Why is this? What can be done about it? In order to begin unpacking these complex questions, students must understand both the underlying science and politics behind climate change. This course is a broad overview of the impacts of human activities on the global climate system, and policy responses to address these impacts from the local to the global levels.  Topics include how the atmosphere and weather operate, how changing conditions affect ecosystems and biodiversity, how human activities (e.g. agriculture, industry, transportation) contribute to climate change, the policy and politics of local, state, federal, and international climate change action, including future possible scenarios for climate response.



This course introduces students to the policy and economic dimensions of some of the most pressing environmental challenges facing us today. The course will progress through 4 Modules. Module 1 will lay the theoretical foundations of environmental policy and economics. We will explore drivers of environmental problems, how different worldviews approach solving them, and the foundational concepts of environmental economics.