J. Timmons Roberts
Director, Center for Environmental Studies and Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies:
Sociology and Environmental Studies
Phone: (401) 863-3449
J_Timmons_Roberts(at)brown.edu
Biography
Effective July 1, 2009, Timmons Roberts will be the Director of the Center for Environmental Studies and Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies. He taught at the College of William and Mary and directed its Program in Environmental Science and Policy six of the last eight years (2001-2009), and he held a joint appointment in Latin American Studies and Sociology and co-directed the Environmental Studies program at Tulane University (1991-2001). He was a James Martin 21st Century Professor at Oxford University's Environmental Change Institute in 2006-2007, and a Research Fellow at William and Mary's Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Relations in 2008-2009. His 1992 Ph.D. was from Johns Hopkins University in Sociology's Program in Comparative International Development. His B.A. was in Biology (with research in tropical and temperate ecology) from Kenyon College.
Timmons' interests in environmental science and policy are broad. His main current research concerns global inequality and climate change (in who is suffering most, who caused the problem, and who is taking action), and the role of foreign aid in addressing climate justice matters. His other work concerns both the political economy and the social psychology of environmental issues. Survey and case study work with workers, residents, and students has concerned perceptions of the environment and people's behaviors, and what might be needed to move us towards more environmentally sustainable action. Professor Roberts has worked for many years with students on greening initiatives and with community groups on issues such as environmental justice, sprawl, pedestrian accessibility, recycling. brownfields, and fear of exposures to hazards on the job and at home. He teaches environmental sociology, globalization and the environment, and practicum group workshop courses on environmental policy issues.
Degrees
M.A., Ph.D.
Awards
2008 Fred Buttel Distinguished Contribution Award, the Environment and Technology Section of the American Sociological Association
2001 Graduate Student Association "Teacher of the Year" Award, Department of Sociology, Tulane
2001 Latin American Studies Graduate Student Association Teaching Award
2000 Presidential Certificate in Undergraduate Teaching in recognition of the Service Learning Teaching Award
2000, 2001 Mortar Board (Alpha Sigma Sigma Chapter) Award for Outstanding Teaching, Newcomb College
1999 The Tulane College Senior Class Outstanding Advisor Award for Exemplary Service to Students
1993, 1996 Nominated for the Tulane Graduate School Student Association Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching
Affiliations
American Sociological Association
Section on Environment and Technology
Section on Political Economy of the World System
International Studies Association
International Sociological Association
Working Group 24 Environment and Technology
Teaching
Environmental Sociology; Globalization, Development and Social Change; Research Methods; Environmental Governance and Policy; Environmental Justice; Latin America; Climate Change; Environmental Studies
Funded Research
2008-2010 Co-Principal Investigator, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Grant to the Project-Level Aid Research Project, awarded August, 2008. $1.44 million.
2008-2009 Co-Principal Investigator, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Grant to the Project-Level Aid Research Project, awarded May, 2008. $500,000
2008-2011 Program Director, Mellon Foundation Grant for the Creation of Postdoctoral Teaching and Research Fellowships in Environmental Science and Policy, and the Creation of a Center for Geospatial Analysis at the College of William and Mary. $1.5 million
2006-2007 James Martin 21st Century Professor, Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University. Office, travel, research, conference organizing, and living support totaling over $40,000.
2005-2008 Director and Lead Writer, Renewal Grant from Mellon Foundation "Enhancing Undergraduate Environmental Science and Policy at the College of William and Mary." $300,000 ($530,000 in institutional match).
2005-2008 Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Political Science Program Research Grant: "Collaborative Research: Analyzing Development Finance Using PLAID Data" [Project-Level Aid]. Michael Tierney, PI. Total Costs: $253,000.
2003-2006 Co-Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program. "Interdisciplinary Watershed Studies," P.I. Randy Chambers, Director of the Keck Environmental Field Laboratory. Total costs: $200,621.
2002-2003 Co-Principal Investigator, Virginia Environmental Endowment. "Environmental Impacts of Development in Southeastern Virginia Watersheds: Interdisciplinary Measurement and Analysis." Total Costs: $25,944 plus $25,977 matching grant.
1993-1995 Principal Investigator, National Science Foundation Sociology Program Grant: "Social Roots of Environmental Damage: A World-Systems Analysis of Global Warming and Deforestation." Total costs: $140,438.
1993-1994 Principal Investigator, Department of Energy Grant: "Risk, Stress and Restructuring in the U.S. Petrochemical Industry: A Case Study from Louisiana." (Administered through Tulane/Xavier Consortium). Total costs: $38,892.
'92, '93, '97,'00 Research Fellow, Mellon/Tinker Foundations/Tulane Latin American Studies. Summer research grants for research in Brazil, $4000 each.
1989-1990 Fulbright Commission Doctoral Research Fellow, Grant Total: $14,000.
Web Links
Curriculum Vitae
Download J. Timmons Roberts's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format
