MA in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities Program
My journey started in the mountains and deserts of the western U.S. where I developed my ties with nature. It then took me east to Chicago where I became aware of social justice and sustainability issues in the urban environment - and where I met and married my wife. Together we kept going east, first to Washington D.C. and then, for six wonderful years, to as far east you can get and still be in North America - Newfoundland, an isolated island with its own distinct history and culture. It is here that I learned about the ways that science, culture, law, and economics interact to cause and cure real-world problems. For Newfoundlanders, the collapse of the North Atlantic cod fishery in the 1990s was an ecological, economic, and social catastrophe. The latter because it took from the people that which gave them their identity; their day-to-day interaction with the sea. To help, I collaborated with private industry and other scientists in helping to develop a sustainable aquaculture industry as an alternative to the traditional fishery.
The collapse of the fishery was, to a large degree, due to the failure of policy makers to properly apply environmental science to the management of the fishery. That fact was my motivation for attending law school, with a focus on environmental law. I believe that it is only by integrating a sound knowledge of ecology with economic, legal, and social factors, that we can achieve sustainability. Since law school, I have conducted several projects that deal with the integration of environmental law, policy, and science. First, I co-authored a book on the interaction of ecology and environmental law; Law and Ecology. In this book, my co-authors and I focused on how science, law, and economics can be integrated to achieve environmental sustainability – which is the foundation for economic and social sustainability. I have also worked on several legal cases that dealt with how federal and state governments use scientific information to develop policies and laws related to environmental sustainability. Finally, I consultant on several projects analyzing how the environmental and economic policies of private and public landowners, businesses, conservation groups, and various levels of government affect the environmental and economic sustainability of the Northern Forest region of New England and New York.
Educational Background: B.A. in biology from the University of Chicago where I took wonderful courses in, among other things, advanced calculus, population biology, ecology, transcendence in modern western literature, and ancient Mediterranean history. Ph.D. in ecology/evolutionary biology from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) in which I spent many peaceful hours under the ground in the caves of West Virginia doing my field research. J.D. and Masters in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School where I learned that law can be a tool for sustainability and justice or an instrument for oppression and greed; depending on the people who are using it.
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Ross Jones, MSEL, JD, Ph.D