I have worked for environmental protection, environmental education, sustainability and social justice in diverse settings and in many places, including Colorado, Alaska, Brazil and Washington State. In the states of Colorado, Alaska, and Washington, I have worked since 1970 for wilderness preservation through research and writing, grassroots education, and lobbying. In the Amazon region of Brazil, I engaged in research with rubber tapper communities striving for rainforest conservation, self-determination and social justice. I taught geography at Michigan State University for six years before joining the Evergreen faculty in the fall of 1998, where I rotated between teaching undergraduate and graduate programs dealing with cultural geography, environmental studies, sustainability and justice, and environmental advocacy. My first stint in the MES program was in the spring of 1999 and I maintained a pattern of teaching at least two years at a time in MES and then rotating back into the undergraduate curriculum. The only exception to this was when I was MES Director from 2005–9. I retired at the end of the spring quarter of 2020. I still live in the same home in West Olympia where I’ve been for the last 26 years and life is good.

Connect with me at: ted.whitesell@gmail.com