User:PerplexedPrimate/sandbox

Michelle Y. Merrill, Ph.D.

PhD in Biological Anthropology, Duke University  |  BA in Anthropology, UC Santa Cruz

My bio (reproduced with permission of the author):

My graduate research centered on the evolution of cooperation, social learning, culture and the origins of technology through the study of non-human primates. My PhD dissertation (Duke University, 2004) was on orangutan (Pongo abelii) social behavior in the Sumatran rainforests, and the question of orangutan cultures. I had previously studied bonobos (Pan paniscus) at the Language Research Center and in a rainforest in Congo (Zaire).

In 2005-2006, I was involved in the replication project for the Digital Bridge Academy at Cabrillo College, developing the pilot version of the instructor training materials for what would become the Academy for College Excellence FELI program. In this work, I learned more about experiential and team-based education and the experience of at-risk students in community colleges. I also worked occasionally as an eco-literacy consultant with Emergent Systems.

From 2006-2013, I taught Anthropology courses at Cabrillo College (including “Surviving the Future: The (Re)Emergence of Sustainable Cultures”), where I earned the John D. Hurd Award for Teaching Excellence. I was the faculty advisor for the Cabrillo Sustainability Council (student club), an active member of the Cabrillo College Climate Initiative Task Force, and supported students in activities and independent studies related to campus sustainability and social justice.

In 2014, I began a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Environment and Sustainability Research Cluster of Humanities and Social Sciences at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, working on issues of sustainability and pedagogy, including education for sustainable development, emphasizing higher education in Southeast Asia. I am the main organizer for a community of practice on Education for Sustainability in Asia, and lead editor on the book Education and Sustainability: Paradigms, Policies and Practices in Asia (Routledge, Singapore; ISBN: 978-1-138-68141-5).