Dr. Harold Glasser
Executive Director for Campus Sustainability
Professor, Environmental Studies
Office: (269) 387-2713
Fax: (269) 387-2272
Email:
Location
1309 Faunce Hall
Mailing Address
Office of Sustainability
Western Michigan University
1903 W. Michigan Ave
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5286
Teaching interests
ENVS 3000H - Environment, Technology and Values
ENVS 3400 - Environmental Policy
ENVS 4100 - Appropriate Technologies & Sustainability
(Ecological Design: The Campus as a Living Laboratory)
ENVS 4500 - Environmental Studies Senior Seminar
Bio
My research explores how individuals, organizations, and societies—from pre-agricultural to contemporary—make choices that affect the environment, which, in turn, affect them. An overarching theme is an effort to understand the general disjunction between stated, widespread environmental concern and present-day actions, lifestyles, and policies. In this vein, a major focus is developing a framework for transparently evaluating and illuminating the tradeoffs among alternative policies, projects, and product designs under conditions where limited information, risk, conflict, lack of scientific consensus, and multiple and incommensurable evaluation criteria predominate. I also use this evolving framework to assist schools, communities, organizations, and businesses in their efforts to promote ecological and cultural (ecocultural) sustainability by doing more with less.
In January of 2005, Glasser completed a 12kW research/education PV array that is being used to assess the life-cycle costs of three types of PV panels, which represent the three leading PV technologies (single crystal, polycrystalline, and amorphous). Glasser also leads an innovative, inquiry and project-based learning initiative to develop energy education for sustainable development curriculum for K-12 students in Michigan.