The Florida Center for Environmental Studies (CES) recently named Dr. Colin Polsky as their new director. The vision of CES is to improve Florida's sustainability through research, education and outreach on wetlands ecology and coastal resilience.
Dr. Polsky joined the Florida Atlantic University faculty as Professor of Geosciences in August 2014. His primary responsibility is to Direct the Florida Center for Environmental Studies. CES was founded in 1994 under the superb leadership of Dr. Len Berry, who served as Director until Polsky joined. Dr. Berry remains active in CES as Emeritus Professor of Geosciences.
Dr. Polsky is trained as a Geographer, specializing in the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. He has completed four degrees with majors in four disciplines, plus a two-year postdoctoral training in a fifth field. This background in mathematics, humanities, French, geography, and Science & International Affairs (from U. Texas, Penn State, and Harvard, respectively) has led to a sustained interest in advancing knowledge of U.S. climate vulnerabilities, in both methodological and applied terms.
As part of several inter-disciplinary teams, Polsky has received NSF grants totaling close to $18M of which $1.7M has been directed to his stewardship. His publications include 26 peer-reviewed articles, 2 co-authored books, 17 book chapters, and 11 other reports; he has delivered close to 100 public presentations in 8 countries. Polsky has served as co-Convening Lead Author for a chapter in the 2013 National Climate Assessment, served on NRC, NSF, and USGCRP committees, and prepared reviews for several IPCC reports.
Polsky’s administrative experience includes service for 8 years as Director of a University undergraduate research program, 1.5 years as Associate Dean, and 1 year on an elected governance board. These experiences have led to significant experience with leadership and program-building, both within and across university departments; fund-raising from public and private foundations; staffing of diverse and multi-generational teams; and communicating with varied audiences, for both persuasive and reporting purposes.
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