Brian Webb
Brian Webb serves as the Director of Campus Sustainability, with his primary responsibility being to lead the college’s efforts to promote environmental stewardship at an institutional level. This includes planning sustainability events and programs, working with faculty to incorporate sustainability into the curriculum, partnering with facilities to reduce energy usage, and coordinating with the administration to implement policies and procedures that help elevate Wooster’s position as a leader in environmental sustainability.
Before coming to Wooster in August 2023, Brian worked at Houghton University as the Director of Sustainability and as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies. Under Brian’s leadership, the college achieved a 46% carbon footprint reduction in just ten years. In 2020 Brian helped create a new Environmental Studies academic program, where he taught such creative courses as Global Climate Leadership, Environmental Communication, Environmental Public Policy, and God, Country, and Climate Change.
Brian brings a diverse academic background to Wooster, with an undergraduate degree in French, a master’s degree in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University, and a second master’s degree in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard Extension School. Brian also serves as an active leader in the faith-based environmental movement and co-directs the Christian Climate Observers Program, which mentors emerging faith leaders by bringing them to the annual UN climate conference. His research area of interest centers around the intersection between climate change policy, environmental communication, and faith communities in the United States and elsewhere.
Brian enthusiastically enjoys many outdoor activities, especially mountaineering, hiking, camping, birding, and ultimate frisbee. He loves to travel with his family, and has a life goal of climbing the highest peak in all 50 U.S. states. Brian comes to Wooster with his wife, Becky, and their three children—Cadie (14), Lilee (12), and Ian (10).
Becky Webb
As the Pathways Program Coordinator, I get the privilege of meeting with students who are interested in exploring different ideas they have for their […]
Matthew Mariola
A Wooster alumnus, Mariola’s research covers the commodification of ecosystem services and movement of small farming communities away from industrialization.
Gregory C. Wiles
Wiles’ primary research interests are in glacial geology, climate change, and tree-ring analysis with projects funded by the National Science Foundation and National Geographic Society. He is also the founder of The College of Wooster Tree Ling Lab, a group of faculty, staff, and students who study tree rings.
Susan Clayton
Known for her work with the American Psychological Association on the psychological impacts of climate change, Clayton studies social justice and sustainability through a psychological lens.
Richard Lehtinen
Interested in topics in ecology, evolution, and conservation biology, Lehtinen has made headlines for studying Wooster’s trademark Black Squirrel, and, naming a frog species, the Guibemantis woosteri, after Wooster.
Hamed Goharipour
With experience as a city planner in Kansas and Theran, Iran, Goharipour’s research examines visual representation of cities, including in cinema.
Denise M. Bostdorff
Recipient of multiple research and teaching honors, Professor of Communication Studies Denise Bostdorff analyzes political rhetoric related to issues of crisis, war and peace, and race.