Profile picture for user tsisk

Title

Dr.

Pronouns

he, him, his

Undergraduate Institution

Colorado College

Graduate Institution

Stanford University

Organization

Northern Arizona University

Position

Olajos-Goslow Chair of Environmental Science and Policy

Current Location

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Hometown

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Personal Interests

  • nature and biodiversity
  • community
  • wildlands protection
  • backcountry sports of all kinds
  • brewing and baking
  • backyard gardening and beekeeping

Professional Interests

  • Conservation
  • Education (Higher Ed)
  • Energy and Climate
  • Forestry
  • Land Stewardship
  • Landscape Architecture and Design
  • Natural Resource Management
  • Social/Environmental Justice and Equity
  • Sustainability
  • Urban and Regional Planning
  • Wildlife, Ornithology, Endangered or Threatened Species

Strengths

  • Activator
  • Analytical
  • Communication
  • Connectedness
  • Empathy
  • Restorative
  • Strategic

While the DDCSP program at Northern Arizona University has ended, I remain actively engaged with some program alumni and I am happy to connect with any Scholar from any program if I can be of help in your efforts to find and pursue your path in conservation. I remain on the  faculty at NAU, on the board of Conservation Science Partners, and deeply engaged in conservation issues in the Grand Canyon Region and in the US-Mexico Borderlands. But now spend most of my time in Salmon Nation, in coastal British Columbia, with my partner Wendy, an aquatic ecologist and conservation biologist at Simon Fraser University. After 25 years in academia, I can say that teaching and helping to lead Doris Duke programs for many years, at the undergraduate and masters level, has been one of the biggest learning experiences and most rewarding mentoring efforts of my career. I am committed to the ideas embodied by these programs, and through planning the curricula, developing partnerships, and teaching I have been able to appreciate the challenges of broadening the definition and practice of conservation. The Scholars taught me a lot by sharing their perspectives, opening up to our shared experiences during and after the program, and by believing that we can transform conservation into an inclusive practice that becomes a meaningful personal journey for everyone, everywhere. To that end, I welcome your follow-up message, 'cold calls', and out-of-the-blue emails. If I can help you or any Scholar or program leader make the DDCSP experience richer, truer, or more transformative, please don't hesitate to reach out.