Meet our Faculty & Staff

Department Faculty & Academic Advisors

Dr. Corrie Grosse

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Office: Peter Engel 253, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-2552

Courses:

ENVR 150: Intro to Environmental Studies
ENVR 279A: Environmental Methods and Analysis
ENVR 303: Climate Action Workshop
ENVR 305: U.N. Climate Change Conference
ENVR 306: Global Climate Change Policy
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium
ENVR 327: Gender and Environment
ENVR 377A: Energy and Society
ENVR 395: Research Seminar

Degrees and Post-Graduate Research/Study

Ph.D. in Sociology with Interdepartmental Emphasis in Environment and Society, University of California Santa Barbara
M.A. in Sociology, University of California Santa Barbara
B.A. in Sociology and Spanish, University of Idaho

Corrie Grosse began teaching at CSB/SJU in the fall of 2017. She specializes in the intersection of energy, climate justice and grassroots activism. Her current research examines how Native and non-Native communities and organizations in Minnesota work together to resist the Line 3 tar sands pipeline and build Native-led renewable energy. Her book, Working Across Lines: Resisting Extreme Energy Extraction (forthcoming July 2022), explores how communities in Idaho and California build effective energy coalitions across differences in political views, race and ethnicity, age, and strategic preferences. She also has studied the priorities and concerns of youth climate justice activists at the United Nations climate change negotiations, the exclusion of Indigenous peoples and values from these negotiations, and how Ecuadorian women who work in Fairtrade rose production balance work and family. Originally from Teton Valley, Idaho, she loves being outside. Some of her favorite activities are running, biking, hiking, x-country skiing, bandy ball, and making good food with family and friends. For more information about her work and climate justice, visit her website: www.corriegrosse.com.

Selected Publications:

Grosse, Corrie. Forthcoming July 2022. Working Across Lines: Resisting Extreme Energy Extraction. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Grosse, Corrie and Brigid Mark. 2020. “A Colonized COP: Indigenous Exclusion and Youth Climate Justice Activism at the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations.” Journal of Human Rights and the Environment. 11(3):146–170
Grosse, Corrie. 2019. "Climate Justice Movement Building: Values and Cultures of Creation in Santa Barbara, California." Social Sciences 8(79):1-26. Download PDF.
Foran, John, Summer Gray, Corrie Grosse, and Theo LeQuesne. 2018. "This Will Change Everything: Teaching the Climate Crisis." Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy 28(2): 126-47. Download PDF.

Dr. Troy Knight

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Office: Peter Engel 239, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-2007

Courses:

ENVR 150: Intro to Environmental Studies
ENVR 175: Earth Systems Science
ENVR 210: Environmental Field Experience
ENVR 275: Humans in the Environment
ENVR 279A: Environmental Methods and Analysis
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium
ENVR 331: Science of Global Climate Change
ENVR 395: Research Seminar

Degrees and Post-Graduate Research/Study:

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Arizona
M.S. in Geography, Georgia State University
B.A. in Anthropology and History, University of Georgia

Troy Knight began teaching at CSB/SJU in the fall of 2009. His initial academic training was in archaeology where an interest in how past societies impacted their environments, and were in turn impacted by environmental change, was ignited. His current research includes reconstructing past climates and forest population dynamics using dendrochronolgy, the study of tree rings, as well as using phenology to track the impacts of climate change. In his free time, he enjoys gardening, baking, cross-country skiing, and being still.

Selected Publications:

A Bimillenial-length Tree-ring Reconstruction of Precipitation for the Tavaputs Plateau, Northeastern Utah. Knight, TA, Meko, DM, and Baisan, CH. Quarternary Research, vol 73, 2010.
A Long-term Perspective on a Modern Drought in the American Southwest. Pederson, N, Bell, AR, Knight, TA, et. al. Environmental Research Letters, Vol 7, 2012.

Dr. Derek Larson

Environmental Studies Department Chair
Professor of Environmental Studies and History
Office: Peter Engel 235, Saint John’s University
Phone: (320) 363-3247

Courses:

ENVR 150: Introduction to Environmental Studies
ENVR 278A: 20th Century World Environmental History
ENVR 315: American Environmental Literature
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium
ENVR 395: Research Seminar
HIST 360: US Environmental History

Degrees and Post Graduate Research/Study:

Ph.D. in History, Indiana University
M.A. in History, Indiana University
M.A. in Religion, Yale University
B.A. in History and Religious Studies, Lewis and Clark College

Derek Larson began teaching at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in 1998. Dr. Larson has served as Chair of the Environmental Studies Department since 2001 and holds a joint appointment with the CSB/SJU Department of History. His current research is focused on environment and culture in post-WWII America and the history of the American West. Every month he writes an Op-Ed article for the St. Cloud Times and has regular columns for the Avon Hills Salon blog. In his spare time he enjoys fishing, playing guitar, camping and woodworking.

Selected Publications:

Book Keeping Oregon Green: Livability, Stewardship, and the Challenges of Growth, 1960-1980 (Oregon State University Press, 2016).
"In My Opinion: Life on the Editorial Page," Headwaters: Vol. 28, 87-147. (2015)
"Avoiding "Silent Fall": Ethics and the Future of Hunting," Headwaters: Vol. 23, 109-125. (2006)
"For Beauty as Well as Bread: Saint John's and the Land" in Hillary Thimesh (ed.) Saint John's at 150: A Portrait of This Place Called Collegeville. 1856-2006. (Collegeville, Minn: Saint John's University Press, 2006)

Dr. Jean Lavigne

Professor of Environmental Studies
Office: Peter Engel 243, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-3994

Courses:

ENVR 150: Intro to Environmental Studies
ENVR 279A: Environmental Methods & Analysis
ENVR 310: Environmental Geography
ENVR 311: Intro to Geographic Information Systems
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium
ENVR 395: Senior Research Seminar

Degrees and Post-Graduate Research/Study:

Ph.D. in Geography, University of Kentucky
M.S. in Geography, Pennsylvania State University
B.A. in Geography, Macalester College

Jean Lavigne started teaching at CSB/SJU in the fall of 2006. She has traveled extensively (especially in Asia), and as a geographer she is interested in the entire world. She spent fall semester of 2008 leading the CSB/SJU semester abroad in France. Her academic interests include the policy dimensions of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and the politics of food, water resources, and environmental issues in Asia. She has two children who sometimes show up on campus, and a cat who stays at home. She is very happy to be here at CSB/SJU, where she finds her colleagues truly collegial and her students truly studious.

Dr. Kyhl Lyndgaard

Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies
Writing Center Director
Office: Peter Engel 261, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-2392

Courses:

ENVR 300D: World Literature of Climate Change
ENVR 315: American Environmental Literature
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium

Degrees and Post-Graduate Research/Study:

Professor of Writing and Director of Environmental Studies, Marlboro College (2011-15)
ACM-Mellon Post-Doctoral Fellow in English and Environmental Studies, Luther College (2010-11)
Ph.D. in English from the Literature & Environment Program, University of Nevada, Reno
M.A. in English, University of California, Davis
B.A. in English, Saint John's University

Kyhl Lyndgaard returned to CSB/SJU in the fall of 2015. As an environmental writer and scholar, his teaching and research interests include the energy humanities, American environmental literature, popular science writing and ecocriticism. He enjoys exploring the world with his family; having recently built a small and efficient lake home, however, he is becoming an avid staycationer!

Selected Publications:

Inclusion in Higher Education: Research Initiatives on Campus. (Lexington Books, 2020).
Captivity Literature and the Environment: Nineteenth-Century American Cross-Cultural Collaborations. (Routledge, 2017).
Currents of the Universal Being: Explorations in the Literature of Energy. (Texas Tech UP, 2015).

Dr. Joe Storlien

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Office: Peter Engel 257, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-2053

Courses:

ENVR 150: Intro to Environmental Studies
ENVR 175: Earth Systems Science
ENVR 279A: Environmental Methods and Analysis
ENVR 275: Humans in the Environment
ENVR 300T: Sustainable Agricultural Science
ENVR 320: Research Colloquium
ENVR 395: Research Seminar

Degrees and Post-Graduate Research/Study:

Ph.D. in Soil Science, Texas A&M University
M.S. in Environmental & Technological Studies, St. Cloud State University
B.S. in Environmental Studies, St. Cloud State University

Joe Storlien began teaching at CSB/SJU in the fall of 2014. Growing up in a small farming community in southwestern Minnesota gave him an early connection to his interest in environmental issues in agriculture. His early academic work focused on nutrient cycling and sustainable agriculture. His more recent work involves sustainable bioenergy/biofuel crop production, carbon cycling, soil trace gas emissions, and measuring human impact on drivers of global climate change. He can be found biking, fishing, gardening, and attending live music performances in his free time.

Selected Publications:

Long-Term Bioenergy Sorghum Harvest Strategy and Soil Quality. (AIMS Energy, 2016). Journal Article
Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide Emissions Impacted by Bioenergy Sorghym Management. (Soil Science Society of America Journal, 2014). Journal Article

Julia Fine

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Julia Fine is a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow working on climate justice communication. Her current research examines discursive strategies of climate justice organizing in the United States, with a focus on interactional conversations and affective stance-taking. Trained as a sociocultural linguist, she has also worked with the Kodiak Alutiiq community in Kodiak, Alaska to support the Alutiiq language revitalization movement. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, painting, and writing music.

Department Staff

Jenny Kutter

Department Coordinator | Assistant to the Chair
Office: Peter Engel 201, Saint John's University
Phone: (320) 363-3163

Degrees:

B.A. in Chemistry and Environmental Studies, College of Saint Benedict

Jenny Kutter began work in the environmental studies department in 2008. Her interests in science and the environment have taken her career in a variety of directions: analyst at the newborn screening laboratory for the State of Minnesota, lab manager at a private water testing laboratory, head baker at Saint Benedict's Monastery, and garden manager for Common Ground Garden. Her interests in the environment spill over into her home life where she and her husband have been restoring a 100-year-old farmhouse, complete with geothermal heating/cooling and solar photovoltaic electricity. A solarthermal winter greenhouse keeps her rich in greens throughout the winter, and summer gardens and a small chicken ranch help feed her passion for cooking and eating locally.

Selected Publications:

Haeg, Larry and Jennifer Kutter, editors. The Nature of Saint John's: a Guide to the Landscape and Spirituality of Saint John's Abbey Arboretum. Saint John's University Press, 2015.

Contributing Faculty:

Jeff Anderson, Peace Studies (Ph.D., The American University)
Gordon Brown, Biology (Ph.D., University of Minnesota)
Terry Check, Communications (Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh)
William Lamberts, Biology (Ph.D., University of Minnesota)
Steven Lemke, Art (MFA, University of Notre Dame)
Matthew Lindstrom, Political Science (Ph.D. Northern Arizona University)
Kyle Rauch, CSB and SJU Sustainability (M.A. Hamline University)
Megan Sheehan, Sociology/Anthropology (Ph.D. University of Arizona)
Christen Strollo, Chemistry (Ph.D., University of California, Riverside)
Charles Wright, Philosophy (Ph.D., State University of New York—Stony Brook)

Diane Veale-Jones, Professor Emerita of Environmental Studies

Diane Veale-Jones began teaching in the nutrition department in 1985. She transferred to the environmental studies department in 2007 where she taught until retirement in 2016. Diane has a wide variety of interests and hobbies that include gardening, baking bread, cooking (especially ethnic foods), traveling (especially to food museums), and spending time with her children and grandchildren. Her academic interests include ethnic foodways, locally grown foods, food issues related to gender, farm to school initiatives, world hunger, and innovative environmental studies pedagogy.

Degrees and Post Graduate Research/Study:

M.S. in Human Nutrition, Cornell University
Emphasis in international nutrition and community nutrition
Minor in Rural Sociology, emphasis on food and agriculture
B.A. in Dietetics, San Jose State University
Honors in Dietetics