Spring 2001 -- Vol. 18, No. 1

FACES OF PENN STATE

Christopher Uhl
Professor of Biology

Christopher Uhl believes a move toward sustainability would boost Penn State and enable the University to serve as an ecological example for other businesses and intitutions of higher learning across the country.

For much of the past 20 years, Christopher Uhl has studied Amazon rainforests--but he has not done so as you would imagine. Unlike many tropical biologists, Uhl has spent his field time not in the pristine rainforests themselves but in the abandoned farms, ranches, and mining sites that are increasingly prevalent in Amazonia. His research about rainforest ecology and the destructive impacts of fire, logging, and ranching, helped create a culture of concern for the rainforests. Through his tireless efforts to create an Amazonian research institute, IMAZON (www.imazon.org.br), he has played a key role in developing sustainable approaches to resource use in the region. "I want to know if these battered lands can possibly return to forest again," he says. "Can they recover? Can they heal themselves?"

Uhl also understood it was the people of Amazonia who had to move toward action. "Although I loved Amazonia, I knew it was the Brazilians, the residents of Amazonia, who will ultimately decide that land's fate," he says. Today, IMAZON has a staff of 10 Brazilian scientists. All of its research is aimed at promoting sustainable approaches to land use and cultivating a conservation ethic.

"It is amazing," Uhl says. "IMAZON's scientists are now called to the nation's capital on a regular basis, to share their research findings on sustainable land-use practices and conservation."

Uhl remains as the Senior Research Advisor for IMAZON but his passion for ecological healing now has a changed focus. He has been back home in Pennsylvania--he was born in Allentown--and back at Penn State since the early 1990s. Since then, the University has become his focus.

"It might seem strange to talk about the need for ecological healing here at Penn State," he says. "But, Penn State and other universities across the United States are contributing to the growing world-wide ecological crisis at a time when they could be playing a central role in healing this crisis." Uhl's strong words are grounded in some research. In 1998 and 2000 he spearheaded an effort aimed at assessing the ecological sustainability of Penn State. Uhl's team used 33 sustainability indicators to evaluate Penn State's performance in areas such as water and energy use, waste production, recycling, food-purchasing policies, pesticide use, land conservation, research ethics, and openness in decision making.

"While Penn State has made progress toward sustainable practices in a few areas, we still have a long, long way to go," Uhl says. "Penn State--with its high national profile--has a unique opportunity to join its various environmental efforts into a comprehensive ecological mission."

Leaders at other universities already see Uhl as a resource. He has received numerous invitations to speak about the pivotal role universities might play in modeling sustainable practices. His ecological-healing perspective also permeates his teaching. The central goal for the BiSci 3 course he teaches is to "instill in students a sense of awe and wonder for the natural world, as well as a deep sense of caring and ecological responsibility."

-- By Steve Sampsell

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