conference
Speaker Bio
Tom Wessels
Antioch University New England
Core Faculty and Associate Chair for External Relations
Department of Environmental Studies
Overview
As a terrestrial ecologist I consider myself a generalist with interests in forest, desert, and alpine ecosystems, geomorphology, evolutionary ecology, and the interface between landscape and culture. Although my graduate training was as a research ecologist, my avocation is to teach which I do through my courses at Antioch, my books, and the numerous public workshops I conduct each year.
Areas of Expertise
Tom Wessels is an ecologist and founding director of the master’s degree program in Conservation Biology at Antioch University New England. He is former chair of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation that fosters environmental leadership through graduate fellowships and organizational grants. He serves as an ecological consultant to the Rain Forest Alliance’s SmartWood Green Certification Program. In that capacity Tom helped draft green certification assessment guidelines for forest operations in the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Tom has conducted landscape level workshops throughout the United States for over 30 years. His books include: Reading the Forested Landscape, The Granite Landscape, Untamed Vermont, and The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future.