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.

Jim Wohlpart, Associate Director of the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Education, is a Professor of English and Associate Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a founding member of the faculty at FGCU, having arrived in August 1994, three years before the university opened. Wohlpart was a recipient of several awards and citations at the University of Tennessee, where he received his doctorate in 1993. In the inaugural year of Florida Gulf Coast University, he received the XX Award (The Twenty) for his leadership in opening the new university. He has taught courses in nineteenth century United States Literature and Culture and in Environmental Literature. Working with a team of faculty and administrators, he received a $200,000 two year grant from the PEW Grant Program in Course Redesign in order to redesign a required General Education course entitled Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts. He has also received funds and grants to support several readings and workshops on campus, including grants from the Florida Humanities Council. His latest publications have focused on the area of environmental literature and engagement with place, including publications in the South Atlantic Review on Emily Dickinson and on Orion online on the Riverwoods Field Laboratory. He serves on the Board of the Estero Bay Buddies, a citizen support organization, and was a founding member of ECOSanibel (Earth Charter of Sanibel).

 Originally from Saint Petersburg, Florida, Grant Bailey is now a Senior at Florida Gulf Coast University and loves every minute of it!  He is seeking a degree in environmental studies and hopes to become an environmental educator.  Grant is anxious to travel and is currently considering graduate programs in environmental education. He is active in numerous student organizations on campus such as Power of One Animal Rights Group, Amnesty International, and Students Against Hunger and Homelessness. Finally, Grant is thankful to have found the Center as it has and continues to inspire him.

Born in Dayton Ohio and raised in Southwest Florida, Adam Finney is a senior graduating this spring with an Environmental Studies degree. He hopes to become a middle school teacher, educating our youth on the importance and wonders of the environment.  In his free time he enjoys traveling and spending time outdoors.

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.

Megan Melvin is preparing to graduate from FGCU in the Spring of 2008 with a major in English and a minor in Philosophy.  Originally from Indiana, she has also studied at Miami University of Ohio and University College London.  At FGCU, she edits the literary magazine The Mangrove Review and is currently coauthoring an essay with Dr. Jim Wohlpart for inclusion in the book Young People, Education, and Sustainable Development, edited by the Center.  Megan is now finalizing plans for after her graduation and is considering attending graduate school in the U.S. or returning to London.  She spends her free time traveling and relaxing with her family on Upper Captiva Island.

Elan Solveson is an undergraduate student working towards an environmental studies degree with an emphasis on environmental education. Elan is involved in many environmental education programs. She works with the Wings of Hope program educating students about the Florida Panther, works as an environmental educator for the FGCU Scholars Club leading students on tours of the campus trail system, works with Collier
County Audubon educating students about birds, and is excited at the opportunity to work at the Center! In her spare time, Elan enjoys playing the guitar and spending time outdoors. Upon graduation, Elan is excited to pursue her passion of traveling, and is looking to incorporate environmental education into her travels.