Initial Publication Date: July 19, 2016

Project Team

Part of the InTeGrate Wittenberg University Program Model

Sarah Fortner (Wittenberg University)

Dr. Fortner is Assistant Professor of Geology and Environmental Science at Wittenberg University. Her mission is to research and promote earth resource sustainability through student-centered courses and by conducting transdisciplinary (biology-geology-chemistry) research focused on understanding the earth's ability to sustain life. Her classes and research students work with community experts on issues of food security, soil sustainability, environmental pollution, & water health. She seeks to build capacity in community partnering and collaboration across disciplines to solve grand challenges.

Amber Burgett (Wittenberg University)

Dr. Burgett is an assistant professor of Biology at Wittenberg University. She teaches courses in Freshwater Ecology, Behavioral Ecology, Environmental Science, and Conservation Biology for both majors and for general education requirements. Her research focuses on the effects of landscape use and agricultural contaminants on aquatic biodiversity. In her courses, Dr. Burgett emphasizes the connections between the concepts students are learning and the application and importance of those topics to the biodiversity and ecosystems at the base of their own communities.


Sheryl Cunningham (Wittenberg University)

Dr. Cunningham is an Associate Professor of Communication at Wittenberg University. She teaches courses in rhetoric, media studies, and has implemented issues of environmental sustainability into two courses at Wittnenberg. She also does research on media coverage of environmental issues, and is working on a current project about fracking.


Ruth Hoff (Wittenberg University)

Dr. Hoff, Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, helped develop Wittenberg's Culture and Languages Across the Curriculum program, which provides language students an opportunity to explore cross-disciplinary connections to other courses they are taking through the study of authentic resources in the target language. She has served as faculty sustainability coordinator and is currently a member of the Sustainability Task Force. She also created a cultural and Spanish language adaptation of the Environmental Justice and Freshwater Resources module. Read Ruth Hoff's Faculty Reflection.


David Finster (Wittenberg University)

Dr. Finster is Professor of Chemistry at Wittenberg University. He teaches courses in general chemistry, inorganic chemistry, and global climate change. He has co-authored a textbook, "Laboratory Safety for Chemistry Students," and one area of professional interest has been to draw connections between laboratory safety and environmental safety. He has led the Chemistry Department to join the Green Chemistry Commitment, which seeks to integrate green chemistry concepts across the chemistry curriculum. Read David Finster's Faculty Reflection.

Additional Faculty Reflections