Montclair State University

Catherine Alexander is a third generation New Jerseyan who you may know from her undergraduate or graduate education days at Stevens Institute of Technology. You may also know her from her jaunts in New Jersey’s open spaces where she has professionally engaged in ecological restoration projects or you may have volunteered with her during invasive species eradication or trail improvement efforts. You may even know her from local Bible study groups, which she frequently attends in her travels through NJ. It is even possible that you have seen her wave hello from the back of her adopted Saddlebred, who trots out at the speed of most horses’ fast canter, across many of NJ’s landscapes! Catherine has switched gears a bit from environmental engineering, using all of her previous education, successes, and failures to complete required coursework for the Ph.D. in Environmental Management at Montclair State University. Catherine has written a well-received dissertation proposal that focuses on urban agriculture and its potential for contributing to local and global food security. She is diligently preparing for her rapidly approaching written and oral qualification exams. She teaches a combined four-credit Marine Sciences lecture and laboratory class to undergraduate science and non-science majors here at MSU, which she loves. Finally, she serves on the Board of the Montclair State University Trans-Disciplinary Sustainability Initiative (MSUTDSI), which is currently recruiting students, staff, and faculty of all disciplines and interests to serve on campus (website forthcoming!). Her husband and best friend, Daniel, keeps her well-grounded and many of their long-suffering friends try to help him! Feel free to reach out by email, or stop by her campus office to say hello!

Marcia is a true "Jersey Girl" who earned her BS in Biology with honors from Monmouth University, another BS with high honors in Environmental Planning and Design / Landscape Architecture from Rutgers Univ. Her George H. Cook Scholar thesis: ‘Zoo 2000 – Trends in Zoo Design; took 1st place at the ASLA National Design Competition. She earned her MA in Instruction and Curriculum in Earth Science Suma cum Laude from Kean University and she has been an NJDEP Certified Tree Expert for 12 years. Marcia is a PhD Candidate in Environmental Management. at Montclair State University and anticipates the degree in 2012. Marcia’s PhD dissertation is: "Measuring the Effectiveness of Integrated Pest Management Communications in three different settings: A study in effective message delivery."

Marcia works as an Environmental Scientist for the US Environmental Protection Agency. She is an EPA FIFRA Inspector and is the lead presenter of the monthly EPA National Pesticide Inspector Training Webinar Series. She is also both the US EPA R2 Vector Management and Bed Bug Specialist and has authored a comprehensive set of associated lectures, and national outreach materials. She also authored the US EPA; Long Term Mosquito Sustainable Vector Mgmt Plan for Haiti; and the US EPA; Staten Island Child Care Center and Pesticide Use Initiative. Her "Pesticide and Toxic Substance Exposure Awareness Project;" is a National Environmental Educational program based on inquiry based curriculum enhancements, for grades 11-12 and beyond. This project is designed to heightening the awareness of the student to the ubiquitous nature of pesticides and toxic substances in the environment.

Alejandra M. Bozzolasco earned a B.A. in Environmental Studies and an M.A. in Liberal Studies from Ramapo College of New Jersey and an M.A. in Environmental Management from Montclair State University. She has a background in both the social and biological sciences, but her research interests lie in Environmental Justice, Child and Nature Study, Urban Planning, and Animal and Gender Rights and Studies. Ali, as she is affectionately known by her friends and family, is a life-long student who has a thirst for knowledge and a fascination with learning. Ali is a vegan animal rightist and a certified Yoga Instructor and Fitness Professional who loves to help others. She is a published poet, loves to read the classics, and enjoys spending time outdoors whether in the woods or down-the-shore. She looks forward to becoming a Professor and Environmental Justice activist when she completes her Ph.D. at Montclair State University.

Padmini Das is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies where she is pursuing her doctoral studies in Environmental Management under the supervision of Dr. Dibs Sarkar. She completed her Bachelor of Science with a major in Microbiology from the University of Pune, India in 2003. She has two Masters Degrees in Environmental Science, one from the University of Pune and the other from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She joined Montclair State University in the Fall 2008 semester and became a Ph.D. candidate in the Fall 2010 semester. Padmini received a Graduate Student Research grant from the Geological Society of America (GSA) in 2009 for her proposal titled “Development of a Urea-catalyzed Phytoremediation System using Vetiver Grass to Detoxify 2, 4, 6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) Contaminated Soil,” which is also her Ph.D. dissertation research. She has authored/co-authored 3 peer-reviewed journal articles and 15 technical abstracts. She has represented MSU at both regional and national conferences and has won several student awards. Her poster titled “Chemically Enhanced Phytoextraction of 2, 4, 6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) by Vetiver Grass from a Low Organic Matter Containing Soil” was awarded first prize in the annual meeting of SETAC-HDC (Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry – Hudson-Delaware chapter), Highland Park, Bear Mountain, NY 2009. She won first prize in the graduate student poster competition for her poster titled “Urea Catalyzed Phytoremediation of 2, 4, 6 Trinitrotoluene (TNT) Contaminated Water by Vetiver grass (Vetiveria zizanioides L.) and Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)” in the annual meeting of NJWEA (New Jersey Water Environment Association), Atlantic City, NJ 2009. She was also awarded the first prize in the graduate student poster competition at the annual meeting of SETAC-HDC, Stockton, NJ 2010, for her poster titled “Phytoextraction of Monensin from Hydroponic Systems by Vetiver Grass.” She was inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Lambda (AEL) Honor Society on March 26th, 2011, and into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society on April 25th, 2011 in recognition of her academic excellence. Currently, she is serving as the Student Representative in the Ph.D. program Executive Committee and is also representing the student body of the College of Science and Mathematics in the Graduate Council at MSU.

Joseph DiGianni has a B.A. in Geography from Montclair State University and an M.S. in Transportation Planning from New Jersey Institute of Technology. His Ph.D. dissertation deals with the link between transportation, land use, and the environment in the inner-ring metropolitan suburbs during the post-twentieth century period of American urban history. The twentieth century was a formative period in the history of the American suburb and its legacy of sprawl, fragmented municipal government, and automobile dependence presents challenges from an environmental management perspective. His research focuses on retrofitting transportation systems in the communities in order to achieve compatibility with the physical environment. Retrofitting includes reconfiguration of the present transportation system away from automobile dependence by transforming the public transportation network from its current commuter-dominated pattern to one that is a full service system connecting employment centers within the suburbs. He has been working on his doctoral research for five years with his advisor, Dr. Rolf Sternberg, whose expertise as an urban geographer has been instrumental in giving him the theoretical and practical background to accomplish this task. His committee includes Dr. Greg Pope of CSAM, Dr. Peter Freund of CHSS, and Mr. Joseph Mirabella of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

During work on his dissertation he has written papers on topics concerning transportation and land use and has presented them at meetings of the Association of American Geographers. He has also presented posters on related topics at graduate symposia within the university. He is presently working on submitting papers for publication in discipline-related academic journals.

Outside of his dissertation work he is an employee of the Department of Commerce where he is a Field Representative for the Census Bureau, collecting survey-based data and updating maps. He also teaches undergraduate courses in World Geography and American Urban Studies as an adjunct at Montclair State University. In his leisure time he enjoys traveling to places that he finds suitable for geographic field work in order to combine the experience with his dissertation research.

Paola Dolcemascolo earned her B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University and her M.S. in Biology from New York University, where she specialized in Evolutionary Genetics. Her interests lie in merging ecology and genetics to enhance existing and future wildlife management plans, including monitoring the illegal trade of wildlife. She is particularly dedicated to the conservation of reptiles and amphibians. She is collaborating with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection on a state-wide survey for the amphibian disease organisms, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and Ranavirus, as well as on a project dealing with the conservation genetics of the American Green Treefrog. Other projects on which she is working include an assessment of the turtles of Lake Wapalanne, at Montclair University's field campus (the New Jersey School of Conservation), landscape genetics of the Hognose snake on Cape Cod, as well as an assessment of snake abundance and habitat use at the New Jersey School of Conservation. Officially a Ph.D. candidate, her dissertation involves understanding the consequences of anthropogenic influences on the population structure of emblematic herpetofauna, including the Diamondback Terrapin, a turtle inhabiting Jamaica Bay and the New Jersey Meadowlands, two incredibly urbanized areas. She has received a grant from the National Park Service to work on Diamondback Terrapins in Gateway National Recreation Area, as well as a grant from the New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute to work on amphibian diseases in the state of New Jersey. You can find her either in the lab or traipsing around the great outdoors catching turtles, snakes and frogs.

Amy V. Ferdinand earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University and a Master’s degree from Central Michigan University. She is the Director of Environmental, Health & Safety at Montclair State University (MSU). In addition, as Sustainable Development Coordinator for MSU she is active in several sustainable campus development and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects. She has an extensive record of achievement in the administration of occupational health and safety programs and has successfully managed environmental projects, including years of direct experience in EH&S in corporate, government and higher education.

Amy’s area of interest is the environmental, health, safety, and socio-economic impacts of Brownfields on sustainable urban redevelopment. The focus of her Ph.D. research is Brownfields redevelopment assessment via multiple rating systems, simulation, and spatial analysis. Amy is past president of the New Jersey College Health and Environmental Safety Society (NJCHESS), a member of the Passaic County Brownfields Commission, the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (Critical Infrastructure Protection Bureau) Colleges and Universities CFATS Working Group, the New Jersey State Industrial Safety Committee, and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), New Jersey Chapter.

Shevon Letang earned a B.H.Sc in Environmental Management from the University of Technology in Kingston Jamaica, WI. A Scholarship Award from the Organization of American States enabled her to complete her M.A. in Environmental Management at Montclair State University in 2006. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Management at MSU. Her research is based on assessing, from the communities’ perspectives, the impact of brownfields redevelopment projects in three municipalities in Passaic County NJ. Brownfields redevelopment offers rich insight into the interdisciplinary field of the interaction of the physical and social sciences in practical settings; she considers this area a complement to her extensive experience working in the field of environmental health and problem-solving. Her research interests include community development, community participation in community environmental projects and sustainability management.

Schenine Mitchell came to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) professionally in 2000 after eighteen months of service to the Environmental Careers Organization as an EPA Intern. At the EPA, she serves as Brownfields Project Officer for several Brownfields Assessment and Environmental Workforce and Job Development Training grants; she currently serves as the Secondary Co-Chair of the Regional Environmental Justice Work Group. Her work was recognized by the EPA in 2001 when she became the recipient of the Region 2 Regional Administrator’s Award for Excellence Bronze Medal for her work with the former EPA USTfields program. She has been a two-time recipient of the Federal Employee Education and Assistance Fund which offers the only merit-based scholarship competition program open exclusively to federal employees. In addition, she is also a 2007 graduate of the Darlene Young Leadership Academy which is offered through the United States Department of Agriculture Graduate School. Her educational achievements include a B.S. in International Environmental Studies with a Minor in Political Science from Rutgers University (Cook College) and an M.A. in Environmental Management from Montclair State University. She is currently pursuing a PhD. in Environmental Management at Montclair State University with an interest in dissertation research on Brownfields Gentrification and Environmental Justice.

She is active in a variety of civic and cultural organizations including Blacks in Government, the National Society of Black Engineers, the National Black MBA Association, the New Jersey African American Chamber of Commerce, and the National Society of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences.

Kevin Olsen received a B.A. in Chemistry from Plymouth State College of the University System of New Hampshire and a Master's degree in Chemistry from Montclair State University. He worked in the environmental, pharmaceutical, and instrumentation industries before coming to Montclair State to work full-time as the Instrumentation Specialist for the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Kevin advanced to candidacy in the Fall of 2011 and his dissertation research focuses on the organic chemistry of contaminated estuary sediments. Kevin is also a member of the University's Passaic River Institute and is active in the Institute's research and outreach efforts.

Kevin's other research interests include the history of science. His papers on chemical history have appeared in the Bulletin for the History of Chemistry and he writes an irregular column about the history of chemistry for THE INDICATOR, the news magazine of the North Jersey Section of the American Chemical Society. Kevin is active in the Laboratory Robotics Interest Group, the North Jersey Highlands Historical Society, and the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archaeology. His publications on historical topics have appeared in The American Neptune and The Highlander. He is the author of A Great Conveniency, a Maritime History of the Passaic River, Hackensack River, and Newark Bay.

Sydney Oluouch has two Master’s degrees, one in Biochemistry from Egerton University and another in Molecular Biology from Montclair State University. He worked for several years as a Teacher and Research Assistant in Tertiary institutions. When choosing a graduate program, he weighed the exceptional quality of faculty, collaborative environment, and research. Since the moment he arrived on campus he has been part of a large, extended family – the Environmental Management Department. His research interest is investigating molecular mechanisms in phytoremediative plants, to see how this can be exploited in genetic engineering. Academically, he couldn’t be happier. In his first year as a PhD student he has been challenged to go further and reach higher, but every person in the department makes sure that he has the support he needs in order to succeed.

Naz Onel entered the Environmental Management Ph.D. program after earning an MBA degree from MSU in 2010. Naz has received the Outstanding Graduate Research Poster Award, certificates of recognition from the School of Business as well as the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society at the Fifth Annual Montclair State University Student Research Symposium. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Alpha Epsilon Lambda Graduate Honor Society, and Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Naz is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Avinandan Mukherjee on research addressing risk perceptions of individuals towards environmental quality, cross-cultural differences in environmental knowledge and attitudes, and environmental social marketing issues. Her research exemplifies the role of interdisciplinary collaboration in order to promote sustainability. Naz is also the Doctoral Research Assistant in the School of Business as well as the Editorial Doctoral Assistant of the IJPHM published by Emerald Publishers - one of the world’s leading scholarly publishers of journals based in the U.K.

Michael Pawlish grew up in a beach town in New Jersey, and after completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island, he headed west. He began his career working for the United State Forest Service as a Wildland Ranger in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. When he was not on patrol or fighting forest fires, Michael assisted on various Ph.D. projects, including stream restoration and the sustainable harvesting of timber. This exposure to research and academia fueled his desire to pursue an advanced degree.

Michael completed an MBA at San Francisco State University and went on to work in the dot-com boom. Recognizing that he wanted to have a more environmentally-focused career with an international perspective, he decided to move to Sweden to pursue a Master’s degree at Lund University in Environmental Science.

Upon completing his second Master’s, Michael moved to New York City and completed a project at Columbia Business School where his research focused on the financial performance of sustainable corporations. Michael went on to work as an Environmental Consultant for corporations, government agencies and non-profits. Upon hearing about Montclair State University’s new Ph.D. program in Environmental Management, Michael quickly applied and started coursework in 2009. Currently, Michael is in his third year with a research focus on energy efficiency. Most recently, Michael was part of a research team that was awarded a $218,000 grant to study data centers which are highly energy intensive.

Pravin Punamiya has a B.S. in Microbiology from Pune University, India, an M.S. in Environmental Science also from Pune University, and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research interest is in the field of environmental quality and remediation. His current research focuses on geochemical fate and remediation of emerging contaminants; mainly antibiotics in the environment. His dissertation research titled “Green Remediation of Veterinary Antibiotics in Soil-Water System” focuses on developing green technologies to remediate tetracyclines in the soil-water system using a waste by-product from the drinking water treatment process. Pravin is in his 4th year in the Environmental Management Ph.D. program. In 2011, he received the “Doctoral Student Research Award” from the College of Mathematics and Sciences, for his academic excellence and dissertation research. He also received student research grants from the Geological Society of America (GSA) in 2009 and New Jersey Water Resources Research Institute (NJWRRI) in 2010, respectively. He has advanced to candidacy and has successfully defended his Ph.D. proposal.

Aimann Sadik earned a BSc. Geology and an MSc. in Environmental and Resource Management from the University of Ghana, Ghana and Brandenburgische Technische Universitat, Germany respectively. His research interest is in policy issues related to the contributions of the extractive sector to sustainability with a focus on the Corporate Social Responsibility issues in the gold-mining industry. Presently, he is “rounding-up” his Ph.D. research entitled Corporate Social Responsibility in the Gold Mining Industry: The Ghana Experience.

Prior to Montclair State University, he worked as an Environmental Geologist for a natural resource development consultancy firm in Ghana. In addition, he served as an Environmental Research Intern for the European Union Office of the City of Cologne in Germany and as an Environmental Business Advisor with the Wirral branch of Groundwork, a non-profit organization in Merseyside, United Kingdom.

Gin Dean Sanchez is a Dominican by birth; however, he immigrated to the United States in 1997. He completed his first B.Sc. degree in Physics from the University Autonoma of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He also completed a second B.Sc. degree in Physics from Benedictine College, in Atchison, Kansas. In 1997, he joined the U.S Army, where, after graduating from the Science Academy of Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he worked for six years as a Veterinary Food Inspector. He became a licensed High school Teacher in 2003, and currently teaches Physics and Engineering Design at the Academy of Architectural and Construction trades in the Paterson School District. He also holds a position as Adjunct Faculty at Passaic County Community College (PCCC). In 2009, he earned an M.Sc. degree in Environmental Sciences at Montclair State University, where, that very same year he joined the Ph.D. program in Environmental Management. His research seeks an application of Newtonian and Non-Newtonian Fluid Dynamics to the transport of rod-like granular materials which, has a direct application to the transport of biomass.

Rebecca Shell earned her Master’s degree in Tropical Fisheries Ecology and Marine Biology from James Cook University (thesis title: “Indirect effects of predation on Cryptocentrus singapurensis communities on the Great Barrier Reef: the effect of biotic physical disturbance on spatial arrangement”) and a B.A. in Environmental Biology from Barnard College (Factors influencing PCB body burdens in Hudson River striped bass, Morone saxatilis”). She been employed as a Research Technician in the Marine Biology lab at Montclair State University since 2006, and began her doctoral studies part-time in 2008. Her dissertation will investigate effects to benthic and infaunal communities from small-scale hard clam aquaculture operations in Barnegat Bay, sampling to start in fall 2012.

Other projects she has worked on at Montclair State University include benthic invertebrate biodiversity of the Gowanus Canal, biodiversity of fouling invertebrates in the Hudson estuary, and effects to freshwater invertebrates from hydroraking operations. She has previously served as an Adjunct Professor of Ecology at Seton Hall University, as a Research Assistant at the American Museum of Natural History in invertebrate zoology, and has mentored high school scholars through the Weston Science Scholars Program since 2007.

Her outside interests include hiking, scuba diving, yoga, photography and music. She sings with Cantori New York, only when her two-year old permits, of course.

Natalie Sherwood attended Rutgers University where she earned a B.S. in Zoology. She earned her Master’s degree from Montclair State University in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution. Her Master’s thesis focused on habitat selection of the threatened wood turtle.

She is currently a first year Ph.D. student in the Environmental Management program at Montclair State University. Her research focuses on the turtle harvest and its effects on wild populations, heavy metal contamination in harvested species and the economics of the harvest.

Her research interests also include wildlife protection and conservation. Additionally, she focuses on studying human impacts on wildlife and their habitats, with the goal of finding ways to alleviate human pressures on wildlife. Other research areas of interest include conservation of wetland and aquatic habitats.

Virinder Sidhu earned a B.S. in Agriculture (Honors) and an M.S. in Soil Science from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, Punjab, India. His M.S. thesis titled, “Phytoremediation behavior of different vegetables for cadmium contaminated soils” focused on phytoextraction capabilities of vegetable crops like Indian mustard, broccoli, spinach and fenugreek. He worked as a Research Fellow for four years in various projects at PAU that were funded by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Central Institute for Cotton Research, Sir Ratan Tata Trust and University of Florida, before coming to the U.S.A. His research interests include phytoremediation of soils/sediments contaminated with heavy metals/organic compounds. He is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Department of Earth and Environmental Studies and presently in his second year of the Ph.D. program.

Sushant Singh has a B.S. in Botany from BNMU, India and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from Magadh University, India. He worked for 6 years as an Ad-hoc Lecturer in an undergraduate and post graduate department of Environment and Water Management and Master of Computer Application at A.N. College, Patna, India. He has worked with UNICEF as a Project Group Leader and Coordinator and with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as an Assistant Pollution Control Expert. He represented India in the Asian Forum for Cross-Cultural Dialogue in 2009, held in China. He has been working in the area of arsenic contamination in water, soil, and the food-chain for several years. Mr. Singh is a second year Ph.D. student and is working to develop a sustainable socioeconomic model of arsenic mitigation in Bihar, India. His areas of interest are deriving social vulnerability scales and vulnerability mapping in arsenic affected areas, establishing sustainable practices and management of mitigation technologies, and developing socioeconomic models in contaminated areas.