Featuring Our Faculty

Energy and Carbon Emissions

Community Outreach Interests

My entire professional focus could easily be described as community outreach. My primary interest is in releasing the enormous pool of information regarding sustainability, too often sequestered within academia, and sharing it with the non-academic public through the use of environmentally responsible means. Over time, my outreach interests have evolved from the scale of local and civic groups to audiences that have exponential impact, such as those within the education industry. By informing and empowering educators, I am able to leverage my efforts. However, even this process has evolved; from local educator groups to an international education audience, thereby acknowledging and underscoring our inevitable inclusion within the "global community."

Research Interests

To understand the consequences of "sustainability-in-action," I chose to experience it first-hand. To that end, in 1998 I divested myself of most possessions, a permanent dwelling, and a consumer lifestyle, and designed and built a low-impact home. I incorporated recycled materials, passive and photovoltaic solar power, water capture, a waterless composting toilet, and a number of other appropriate technologies and lifestyle choices. To reduce my work footprint, I moved all appropriate tasks to the online environment and eliminated the need for a separate campus office and commute. The words you are now reading were written using solar power. My tested hypothesis was: One can live sustainably without compromising standards of living. The primary outcome: In the United States one can live at or near sustainability, while increasing standards of living. My model of living and working exceeded my goals of independence and a reduced footprint. It also created efficiency, comfort, and grace. I can no longer imagine living any other way.

Consequently, I am now interested in the practical aspects of sustainable lifestyles and behaviors, bridging the gap between the academic research and “sustainability-in-action”. To achieve this goal, I am currently working on professional and cultural acceptance of (1) a standard definition for sustainability, and (2) a method of measurement. My most recent work focuses on appropriate measurement of our current ecological footprints, comparing them to threshold values for sustainability, and finding ways to eliminate the difference.

The combination of working with global partners, exposure to ecotourism, and need for measurement protocols has drawn me to sustainable tourism, where I hope to create a model for both measurement and subsequent action. Such a model could have applications far beyond tourism.

Selected Relevant/ Recent Activities

• Design and administration of an entire Environmental Science Technology program, including creation of curricula, courses, and all physical facilities at Pamlico Community College, Arapahoe, North Carolina.
• Development and facilitation of a formal, peer-reviewed, 100% online Environmental Studies course, specifically targeting educators. This is the first science course developed in this manner, through a project with UNC/LearnNC, and currently available for adoption by all UNC-system faculty.
• Serving as Facilitator/Reviewer for UNC-system faculty developing online or reduced footprint, peer-reviewed science courses.
• Development of a set of 100% online environmental science lab activities with the objective of raising awareness of sustainability issues on an international scale. Sponsored by UNC-Worldview.
• Presented the three-day course: The Seventh Generation, an interactive exploration of sustainability on individual and societal levels. Sponsored by the international aid organization Heifer International, Little Rock, Arkansas.
• Willson, S. (In press). Less can be more: Time management strategies for facilitating online courses. LearnNC Online.
• Willson, S. (In press). Quantifying sustainability: The charge of academia. In Proceedings of the Fifth World Environmental Education Congress.
• Willson, S. (In press). Open for debate: Do online courses reduce an institution’s footprint? In Proceedings of the Fifth World Environmental Education Congress.

Courses

• BIOL 1060/1061: Environmental Biology