The University of Vermont Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources has named Dr. Nathan J. Sanders, professor at the University of Copenhagen and Head of the Biodiversity Section, as the new director of the UVM Environmental Program.

He will oversee the University’s environmental studies major housed within three campus units: the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The Environmental Studies program has over 600 majors and is among the fastest growing majors on campus. Dr. Sanders will begin his UVM tenure January 2017.

A global change ecologist and former professor at the University of Tennessee for 10 years, Sanders focuses his research on the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss at local, regional, and global scales. A specialist in ant biology and alpine ecology, Dr. Sanders has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in journals including Science, PNAS, Proceedings of the Royal Society, and Ecology Letters, with more than 20 papers published with undergraduate co-authors. He has advised and currently advises a total of nearly 20 graduate students. He has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on research projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, and a variety of private foundations, among others, with grants totaling more than $8.6 million.

At the University of Tennessee, Sanders, an award-winning teacher, used NSF funding to help revise and modernize the undergraduate curriculum in biology. He helped create an interdisciplinary concentration in sustainability and developed the university’s first course in sustainability and global change.  He also administered independent research by more than 1000 students. At the University of Copenhagen, as head of the graduate level Biodiversity Section, a position analogous to a department chair, Sanders facilitates budgeting, curriculum development, professional development of staff, and cross-disciplinary research and teaching.

He grew up in Arkansas and earned his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Colorado and his doctoral degree from Stanford University.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Sanders to the University of Vermont and the Rubenstein School,” said Dean Nancy Mathews. “He is a world renowned conservation biologist and highly accomplished teacher in global change ecology and sustainability sciences. His proven leadership and administrative experience in interdisciplinary settings position him well to be an inspiring director of the Environmental Program, building on the legacy of prior directors, Carl Reidel, Ian Worley, and Stephanie Kaza. We are delighted to have Nate take the helm of the Environmental Program."

“There are so many exciting things happening at UVM and in the Rubenstein School, and there is such an amazingly talented group of students, faculty, alumni, and staff,” Sanders said. “I can’t wait to get to know everyone and do what I can to help the Environmental Program at UVM to become one of the best programs in the country.”

Sanders follows former Director of the UVM Environmental Program Dr. Stephanie Kaza, who retired in 2015, and takes the place of Interim Director Dr. David Massell of the UVM History Department.

“We’re deeply grateful to Professor Patricia Stokowski and the search committee for their outstanding work last spring. We also wish to thank Professors David Massell (interim director) and Amy Seidl (interim associate director) for their thoughtful and skillful leadership of the Environmental Program during this time of transition,” said Mathews.

Dr. Sanders is married to Dr. Aimée Classen, a highly regarded ecologist and a new hire in the Rubenstein School as an associate professor of environmental sciences.