Environmental Studies Professor Receives Fulbright Award

Robert W. Taylor, professor of Earth and Environmental Studies has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to work at the De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines from January to July, 2009. He will research the topic “Sustainability, Urban Redevelopment and Environment: The City of Manila, Philippines.”

“I will be interviewing various stakeholder groups to access their current sustainability practices,” explains Taylor. “The research will generate a report to the Mayor’s Office of the city of Manila, and the information gathered from the project will constitute the grist for a number of articles and international presentations. I hope to show from the research how sustainability constitutes both good business practices and good civic policy, and leads to healthy communities.”

In addition to conducting research, Taylor will team-teach a graduate course at De La Salle entitled “Applied Research in Environmental Science: Urban Sustainability Metrics.” He will be working with faculty and students from the University’s College of Science, with whom he had previously formed a relationship while teaching a graduate course there as part of the College’s environmental science Masters Degree Program. He will also be leading sustainability workshops and exploring the viability of different models for injecting sustainability practices into public and private decision-making.

Taylor is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program during the 2008-2009 academic year. This is his second Fulbright Award having previously researched urban design and urban planning projects in Nigeria in 1982. As a result of his work there, he edited and contributed articles to the book, Urban Development in Nigeria, published by Avebury.

A long-time member of the faculty at Montclair State, Taylor is an advisor to doctoral students in environmental management, and is the director of the Center for Environmental Management and Analysis (CEMA). He is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri (BA), Saint Louis University (PhD), and has done post-doctoral work at Columbia University.