Sustainability and Environmental Studies

Agriculture Building
CPO 1921
859-985-3593

Office Hours:
M–F, 8:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.

Contact:

SENS Logo

Dr. Richard K. Olson

Director of Sustainable and Environmental Studies (SENS)

Goldthwaite, Room 305A
CPO 1921

Office Hours:

Phone: 859-985-3593

Fax: 859-985-3698

E-Mail:

At Berea College since Fall 1999

Degrees
  • B.A., Dartmouth College, 1973
  • M.A., University of North Carolina, 1975
  • Ph.D., University of Nebraska, 1998
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    Courses
  • Introduction to Sustainability and Environmental Studies
  • Sustainable Appalachian Communities
  • Ecology
  • Ecological Design
  • Environmental Justice
  • Christianity and sustainability
  • Globalization and sustainability
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    Special Interests

    Ecological design

    Ecological machines

    Agroecology and landscape ecology

    Sustainable communities
     
    Papers and Publications
  • Carter, H., C. Francis and R. Olson. (in press) Design and Implementation of Regional Training Workshops for Sustainable Agriculture. Chapter 8 in C. Francis, R. Poincelot, and G. Bird (eds), A New Social Contract. Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY.
  • Olson, R. 2004. Balancing our ecological budget: Equity and the sustainable campus. Heartstone 5(1): 47-52.
  • Cain, C., and R. Olson. 2003. Spiritual greening: Melding Christianity, ecology, and sustainability in the college curriculum. Proceedings of the Greening the Campus V Conference, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, September 18-20, 2003. CD-ROM version.
  • Oldham, C., and R. Olson. 2003. Paying for the green dream: Fund-raising lessons from
    Berea College’s Ecovillage. Proceedings of the Greening the Campus V Conference, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, September 18-20, 2003. CD-ROM version.
  • Olson, R. 2003. Designing the Berea College Ecovillage: Process and results. Proceedings of the Greening the Campus V Conference, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, September 18-20, 2003. CD-ROM version.
  • Olson, R.K., M.M. Schoeneberger, and S.G. Aschmann. 2000. An ecological foundation for temperate agroforestry. pp. 31-61. In: H.E. Garrett, W.J. Rietveld, and R.F. Fisher (eds). North American Agroforestry: An Integrated Science and Practice. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
  • Neher, D.A., and R.K. Olson. 1999. Nematode communities in soils of four farm cropping management systems. Pedobiologia 43:430-438.
  • Olson RK, Olson AH (1999) Farmland loss in America. pp. 15-51. In RK Olson, TA Lyson (eds) Under the Blade: The Conversion of Agricultural Landscapes. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
  • Olson RK (1999) A Landscape Perspective on Farmland Conversion. pp. 53-95. In RK Olson, TA Lyson (eds) Under the Blade: The Conversion of Agricultural Landscapes. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
  • Olson RK, Olson AH, Lyson TA (1999) A National Policy for Farmland Preservation. pp. 247-268. In RK Olson, TA Lyson (eds) Under the Blade: The Conversion of Agricultural Landscapes. Westview Press, Boulder, CO.
  • Olson, RK (1998) Procedures for Evaluating Alternative Farming Systems: A Case Study for Eastern Nebraska. Extension and Education Materials for Sustainable Agriculture. Volume 8. Center for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE, 310 pp, (Ph.D. Dissertation).
  • Olson RK (1995) Diversity in agricultural landscapes. pp. 121-160. In RK Olson, CA Francis, S Kaffka (eds) Exploring the Role of Diversity in Sustainable Agriculture. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
  • Olson RK, Francis CA (1995) A hierarchical framework for evaluating diversity in agroecosystems. pp. 5-34. In RK Olson, CA Francis, S Kaffka (eds) Exploring the Role of Diversity in Sustainable Agriculture. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
  • Francis CA, Olson RK (1995) Diversity from micro to global: Overview and conclusions. pp. 225-244. In RK Olson, CA Francis, S Kaffka (eds) Exploring the Role of Diversity in Sustainable Agriculture. American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
  • Olson RK (1992) Integrating sustainable agriculture, ecology, and environmental policy. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 2(3): 1-7
  • Olson RK (1992) The future context of sustainable agriculture: Planning for uncertainty. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture 2(3): 9-20
  • Olson RK (1992) Evaluating the role of created and natural wetlands in controlling nonpoint source pollution. Ecological Engineering 1(1/2):xi-xv
  • Ethridge B, Olson RK (1992) Research and information needs related to nonpoint source pollution and wetlands in the watershed: An EPA perspective. Ecological Engineering 1(1/2):149-156
  • Olson RK (1992) Chapter 1 - Physiography and forest types. pp. 7-40. In RK Olson, D Binkley, M Böhm (eds) The Response of Western Forests to Air Pollution. Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Rose MR, Böhm M, Olson RK (1992) Chapter 2 - Climate. pp. 41-61. In RK Olson, D Binkley, M Böhm (eds) The Response of Western Forests to Air Pollution. Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Olson RK, Peterson DL, Böhm M (1992) Chapter 13 - Summary, projections, and recommendations. pp. 501-521. In RK Olson, D Binkley, M Böhm (eds) The Response of Western Forests to Air Pollution. Springer-Verlag, New York.
  • Olson RK (1991) Conference on ecology, sustainable agriculture, and EPA. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 6(2):96, 104
  • Coppinger KD, Reiners WA, Burke IC, Olson RK (1991) Net erosion on a sagebrush steppe landscape as determined by Cesium-137 distribution. Soil Science Society of America Journal 55:254-258
  • Burke IC, Reiners WA, Olson RK (1989) Topographic control of vegetation in a mountain big sagebrush steppe. Vegetatio 84:77-86
  • Lovett GM, Reiners WA, Olson RK (1989) Factors controlling throughfall chemistry in a balsam fir canopy: A modeling approach. Biogeochemistry 8:239-264
  • Henderson S, Olson RK, Noss RF (1989) Current and potential threats to biodiversity in forests of the lower Pacific Coastal States. pp. 325-336. In RK Olson, AS Lefohn (eds) Transactions: Symposium on the Effects of Air Pollution on Western Forests, June 29-30, Anaheim, CA. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Schaefer DA, Reiners WA, Olson RK (l988) Factors controlling the chemical alteration of throughfall in a subalpine balsam fir canopy. Environmental and Experimental Botany 28:175-189
  • Reiners WA, Lovett GM, Olson RK (l987) Chemical interactions of a forest canopy with the atmosphere. In: Moses H, Mohnen VA, Reifsnyder WE, Slade DH (eds) Proceedings of the Forest-Atmosphere Interaction Workshop, Lake Placid, NY, October 1-4, l985. US Department of Energy, Office of Energy Research, CONF 85-10250, UC-5, 11, Washington, DC, pp 111-146
  • Reiners WA, Olson RK, Howard L, Schaefer DA (l986) Ion migration from interiors to outer surfaces of balsam fir needles during dry, interstorm periods. Environmental and Experimental Botany 26:227-231
  • Olson RK, Reiners WA, Lovett GM (l985) Trajectory analysis of forest canopy effects on chemical flux in throughfall. Biogeochemistry 1:361-373
  • Reiners WA, Olson RK (l984) Effects of canopy components on throughfall chemistry: An experimental analysis. Oecologia 63:320-330
  • Baldwin IT, Olson RK, Reiners WA (l983) Protein binding phenolics and the inhibition of nitrification in subalpine balsam fir soils. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 15:419-423
  • Olson RK, Reiners WA (l983) Nitrification in subalpine balsam fir soils: Tests for inhibitory factors. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 15:413-418
  • Lovett GM, Reiners WA, Olson RK (l982) Cloud droplet deposition in subalpine balsam fir forests: Hydrologic and chemical inputs. Science 218:1303-1304
  • Olson RK, Reiners WA, Cronan CS, Lang GE (l981) The chemistry and flux of throughfall and stemflow in subalpine balsam fir forests. Holarctic Ecology 4:291-300

  • Blank JL, Olson RK, Vitousek PM (l980) Nutrient uptake by a diverse spring ephemeral community. Oecologia 47(1):96-98

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