Faculty Profile
Michael Beevers
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies (2011)
Contact Information
Kaufman Hall Room 106
717-254-8036
Bio
Dr. Beevers specializes in global environmental politics with an emphasis on the linkages between natural resources, security, conflict and peace. His work appears in numerous book chapters and journals including Global Governance, International Peacekeeping, African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review and The Extractive Industries and Society, among others. His book, Natural Resource Governance and Peacebuilding in the Aftermath of Armed Conflict: Sierra Leone and Liberia (Palgrave-MacMillan) was published in 2018. He has worked as a research associate at Princeton University and as a consultant for the United Nations Environment Programme and World Resources Institute. He was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger.
Education
- B.S., Western Illinois University, 1993
- M.S., M.P.A., University of Washington, 2004
- Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2011
2023-2024 Academic Year
Fall 2023
ENST 161 Environmental Connections
This introductory environmental studies course draws from the influences of the humanities and natural sciences on the social sciences in relation to the environment. The course will examine the ideas, concepts, and debates central to the field. Students will examine the relationship between humans and the environment and become familiar with a range of environmental challenges, with an emphasis on how these challenges have emerged over time and space. The course will investigate and evaluate a variety of strategies that are currently being pursued to address these environmental challenges. The course stresses the importance of “seeing connections”, thinking carefully and critically about environmental issues, and appreciating that complex questions rarely have a single solution. This is an introductory course for those majoring in environmental studies and environmental science. Non-majors should enroll in ENST 121 Introduction to Environmental Science. This course has no laboratory section.
Spring 2024
INST 290 Environment, Conflict & Peace
Cross-listed with ENST 372-01.
ENST 372 Environment, Conflict & Peace
Cross-listed with INST 290-03.
SINE 400 Senior Sem in Soc Innov/Entrep
This capstone course builds on and integrates the key concepts of the introductory course in this certificate program by requiring students to reflect on, synthesize, and apply knowledge gained through their academic programs and experiential learning experiences. The focus will be on creating shared value, which simultaneously enriches social, ecological, and economic systems. Through exercises in strategy formulation and implementation, students will gain an appreciation for the challenges and rewards associated with conceiving and transforming innovative solutions into new products, services, and/or initiatives that change our world in meaningful ways. In imagining these pathways for success, we will also address the importance of compassionate leadership, tools that nurture vital social connections, and the power of our own agency.Offered every fall.
