Online Bachelor of Arts Sustainability and the Environment

Dr. Mahadev G. Bhat

Dr. Bhat's current research focuses on issues related to economics of coastal resource management, agroecology, human dimension issues of the South Florida environment, payment for environmental services, and spatial economics of natural resources. The common theme that spans his research works is the application of ecological-economics approach to environmental problem solving. This approach drastically departs from the conventional economic approach and attempts to integrate ecological and economic principles into a holistic decision-making framework, in order to promote a more sustainable resource management. He uses quantitative modeling tools such as spatial-temporal optimal control models, game-theoretic models, and econometric tools to simulate the dynamic interactions between different ecological and economic sub-systems of a resource or problem under investigation. Such a modeling approach provides policy makers with more objective insights into the policy making process.

Dr. David Bray

Dr. Bray is currently a Professor in the Earth and Environment Department and Director of the Institute for Sustainability Science in the Latin American and Caribbean Center at FIU. He carries out research on community forest management in Mexico and Central America and pursues interests in natural resource and ecosystem management in Latin America and globally. He was Chair and Associate Professor in the Environmental Studies Department at FIU from 1997-2002.

Dr. Assefa Melesse

Dr. Assefa's areas of research include spatially distributed hydrologic modeling, ecohydrology, surface and groundwater interaction modeling, climate change impact studies, water-energy-carbon fluxes coupling and modeling, remote sensing hydrology, land cover change detection and scaling. Dr. Melesse was recognized by the university and awarded for excellence in mentorship.

Dr. Pallab Mozumder

Dr. Pallab is interested in a diverse set of environmental and natural resource management issues (e.g. valuation of environmental goods and services, sustainable development, managing ecological vulnerability, water and coastal resources management).  His current research focuses on understanding human dimensions of environmental changes and mitigation of natural hazards. He is also affiliated with International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC) and Latin American & Caribbean Center (LACC) at FIU. He received his PhD in Environmental and Natural Resources Economics from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Before joining at FIU, he spent two years as a Post Doctoral Fellow at The Environmental Institute (TEI), University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA.

Mr. Rodolfo Rego

Dr. Bray is a visiting instructor in the Department of Earth an Environment and is the coordinator of the Learning Assistant (LA) program. He is a geologist and an environmental scientist who specializes in the geology of South Florida and groundwater issues associated with petroleum contamination. He received his B.S. in Geology in 1997 from FIU and his M.S. in Geology in 2002 from FIU.

Dr. James Riach

Dr. Riach's research and teaching interests include the interconnections between ecosystem health and human well-being, with a focus on the Amazon and South Florida regions. His work combines multiple theories and methodologies from anthropology, epidemiology, medicine, ecology, and geography. He also specializes in traditional health knowledge and ethnobotany of native people in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon. He has worked on health and environmental projects among indigenous rainforest cultures including the Cayapas and the Siona-Secoya of Ecuador and the Aguaruna and Yagua of Peru. As a member of Project Amazonas, Inc., a humanitarian and environmental research and education non-profit organization, he has helped develop integrated strategies to address health, conservation, and development needs in the Peruvian Amazon.

Dr. Jennifer Gebelein

Dr. Gebelein's work focuses on land cover/land use mapping in the Caribbean, and change in the Caribbean landscape due to anthropogenic influences. Her research has involved utilizing satellite image analysis and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) spatial data to assess the land use and natural land cover history of Cuba. Dr. Gebelein has made several field trips to Cuba to acquire field data for accuracy assessment analysis in her land cover maps of the island's vegetation, coastal, agricultural, and urban features. She is a member of the South Florida Geographers Association, American Association of Geographers, and the Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) Faculty Advisory Board.