Peter Blaze Corcoran, Director  

Professor of Environmental Studies and Environmental Education
Florida Gulf Coast University

Peter Blaze Corcoran is Professor of Environmental Studies and Environmental Education at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he serves as Director of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education. He has been a visiting professor in Australia and The Netherlands. He works extensively in international environmental education with special interest in the South Pacific Island Nations. He is among the founders of the Global Higher Education for Sustainability Partnership and has recently conducted their consultations with stakeholders in tertiary education in many regions of the world. He is Past President of North American Association for Environmental Education. He serves as Senior Fellow in Education for Sustainability at University Leaders for a Sustainable Future in Washington, DC, and is Senior Advisor to Earth Charter International in San Jose, Costa Rica. His most recent books are The Earth Charter in Action: Toward a Sustainable World published in the Netherlands by Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) Publishers in 2005 and Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability: Contestation, Critique, Practice, and Promise published in The Netherlands by Kluwer Academic Press in 2004.

Brandon Hollingshead
Research Associate

Brandon Hollingshead graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2005 with a major in environmental communication and a minor in literature. He is a member of the Earth Charter Youth Initiative Core Group and actively participated in the editing of the book The Earth Charter in Action: Toward a Sustainable World (KIT Publishers 2005). Hollingshead is studying under Terry Tempest Williams in the Environmental Humanities graduate program at University of Utah. He will marry his sweetie Becky Yost in October 2007 and that totally rules.  He remains active with the Center as a consultant on research and editorial projects.

Joseph Weakland  
Editorial Associate

Joseph Weakland was born in Pensacola, Florida, and is a graduate student in English at  Florida Gulf Coast University. Joseph enjoys reading and writing, and is a member of Sigma Tau Delta, the International English Honor Society. He plans to pursue a doctorate, and hopes to one day be a teacher.

Jessica Mendes
Graduate Assistant

Jessica Mendes is a graduate student at Florida Gulf Coast University working towards a degree in Public Administration. Jessica serves on the Board of Directors for a local, grassroots organization, Environmental & Peace Education Center and is also an activist for social justice and environmental issues in Southwest Florida. She hopes to continue working with nonprofit organizations in the future.

Ariel Chomey
Student Assistant

Ariel Chomey is a fifth generation native of Southwest Florida. After being homeschooled until age 14, she enrolled at Edison State College and graduated High Honors with an AA degree in 2007 at age 17. She is currently majoring in Environmental Studies at FGCU and is active in the University Honors Program. A long time pianist, Ariel enjoys playing piano in her down time and also works to help local animal shelters. Ariel earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle Award, in 2009 and hopes to work for the National Park Service as an interpretive ranger in the future.

Kevin Filiowich 
Student Assistant

Kevin Filiowich is originally from Northern Minnesota.  Currently an undergraduate student at FGCU, he studies Spanish and Education.  His contribution to the Center includes work on campus food sustainability and public relations.  He enjoys exploring and learning.

Jordan Yingling 
Student Assistant 

Jordan Yingling was born in Bellevue, Ohio and is an Athletic Training major at Florida Gulf Coast University.  Jordan is the third boy in his family to attend FGCU with brothers, Jameson and Jarrett, also attending.  Jordan enjoys playing intramural sports on campus, as well as fishing and golfing.  Jordan plans on graduating in Spring 2011 with a B.S. in Athletic Training.