Page 2 mg The Clarion I March 26, 20
News
Expert to Discuss Rising Sea Levels at Brevard College
Western Carolina University professor
Rob Young will speak on “Sea Level Rise,
Global Change and the Public Debate” at
Brevard College on Wednesday, April 7.
The 7 p.m. presentation, which is free
and open to the public, will take place in
the Francis Pavilion of the Porter Center for
Performing Arts on the campus of Brevard
College. A question and answer session will
be held after the talk.
Young is professor of geosciences and
director of the Program for the Study of
Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina.
He is also co-author of a new book, “The
Rising Sea,” which warns that rising ocean
levels brought about by global warming
is not something that might happen in the
future, but is happening already.
Young wrote the book along with Orrin
H. Pilkey, a pioneer in the study of American
shoreline development policy who holds
the position of professor emeritus in the
Nicholas School of the Environment at
Faculty Promotion
Four Brevard College faculty members
were recently granted promotions by the
College’s Board of Trustees.
Dr Resa Chandler, Dr Kristina Holland
and Dr John Padgett were promoted to
associate professor with tenure. Dr Amie
Scheidegger, who already holds the rank
of associate professor, was also granted
tenure.
Dr Resa Chandler
Chandler, who has been on faculty at
Brevard College since 2007, specializes
in exercise and medical physiology; cell
and molecular biology; carbohydrate
metabolism and diabetes; ergogenic aids
and sports nutrition; and weight training.
She is a member of Brevard College’s
Division of Science and Mathematics and
coordinates the Exercise Science major
She received her bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in Biology from the University of
North Carohna at Charlotte.
Chandler also earned a master’s degree
and herPh.D. in Exercise Physiology from
the University of Texas at Austin.
Dr Kristina Holland
An alumna of Brevard College,
Holland joined the faculty in 1990. She
Duke University. Both scientists say
that scientific data indicate that over the
last decade seas worldwide have risen an
average of slightly more than one-eighth
inchperyear, and reliable research indicates
oceans may climb as much as seven feet in
the next 100 years.
Although the topic may seem remote to a
mountain community, sea level rise affects
everyone since tax dollars subsidize flood
insurance for coastal properties AU along
the country’s coasts, tides will rise and fall
on massive seawalls or mined roads, homes,
businesses and public buildings.
Coastal cities such as Miami, New
York, Charleston, Boston, Baltimore, New
Orleans and many others around the world
wiU be forced to enact a pohcy of retreat.
Rising seas are inevitable. Young says, but
despair is not:
Lives and communities can be saved,
but only by facing hard and controversial
choices, including abandoning storm-
teaches British, world, environmental and
women’s literature in addition to freshman
composition, hnguistics and film courses.
Holland serves as the chair of the
College’s Academic Support Committee
and directs the writing services offered
through the College’s Academic Enrichment
Center
She has participated in the Appalachian
College Association’s Teaching and
Learning Institute, and has received several
feUowships and grants, including a grant
that enabled Holland and two Brevard
CoUege students to travel to London and
Paris.
HoUand received her bachelor’s degree
in Speech Communications from Wake
Forest University and master’s degree in
English from Western Carolina University.
She earned her Ph.D. in English/Rhetoric
and Linguistics from Indiana University of
Pennsylvania.
Dr John Padgett
Padgett, who has been on faculty at
Brevard College since 2004, teaches
American and British literature, particularly
courses focusing on the American South,
Gothic literature and the environment.
damaged property, changing where and
how we build and developing a national exit
strategy from our coasts.
Young, who earned his doctorate in
geology at Duke University, is a much-
sought-after expert on the topics of hurricane
impacts and coastal management. He
has written approximately 100 technical
publications and serves on the editorial
board of three international journals,
including the Journal of Coastal Research.
Young currently oversees more than $2
mfllion in grant-funded research projects
related to coastal science and management.
He is a coastal advisor to the U.S. National
Park Service where he was a Sabbatical
Fellow in 2004. He is also president of
Sialia Environmental, Inc., a firm that
provides environmental consulting and
restoration design.
Young’s presentation is co-sponsored by
Brevard CoUege and the Pisgah Group of
the Sierra Club.
He also teaches courses in journalism
and mass communication and serves as the
faculty advisor for the student newspaper.
The Clarion. Padgett received his bachelor’s
and master’s degrees in English from
Clemson University.
He earned his Ph.D. in English from the
University of Mississippi.
Dr Amie Scheidegger
Scheidegger joined Brevard College
in 2006 to develop and implement the
CoUege’s Criminal Justice Program.
She teaches a variety of courses in
both criminology and criminal justice.
Scheidegger is an active member of several
professional organizations, including the
Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and
the Southern Criminal Justice Association.
Her research has been presented at
both regional and national conferences
and her pubUcations appear in a variety of
sources.
Scheidegger received her bachelor’s
degree in Criminal Justice from Illinois
State University and her master’s degree in
Criminology from Florida State University.
She earned her Ph.D. in Criminology from
Florida State University.
and Tenure Approved by Trustees