Matt Mariola
Matt Mariola is a professor and chair of the environmental studies program.
Professor Mariola began his teaching career at The College of Wooster in 2008. He earned a Ph.D. in rural sociology from The Ohio State University, an M.S. in environmental studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from The College of Wooster.
Professor teaches a variety of courses covering topics in environmental science and sustainability, including:
Environment & Society
Sustainable Agriculture
From Farm to Table
Waste & the Environment
Experiments in Everyday Life
His research interests explore the worldwide movement by small family farmers and peasant farming communities to transition away from industrialized, input-intensive, export-oriented agricultural practices and (back) towards more ecological, low-input, and locally-oriented farm systems. This work has connected him to Amish farmers in Ohio, as well as farmers in Thailand and southern Chile, as he seeks to understand the social forces that propel and impede these changes.
Other research topics of interest include local food cooperatives, biological pesticides, and campus gardens as learning sites.
At Wooster, he supervises the campus learning garden behind Ruth Williams Hall of Science.
