By SHELLY STRAUTZ-SPRINGBORN
Michigan Correspondent
 
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University Professor David Wright is leading the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies (CARRS) in its efforts to aid in the development and revitalization of sustainable communities.

Wright recently was named chair of CARRS after serving as its acting chair for the last two years when previous department head Scott Witter stepped down to become chair of the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction. Wright said the department’s focus is to be a leader in sustainability efforts and to train leaders for jobs in this emerging field.

“Our focus is on the emerging field of sustainability studies,” he said. “That really includes issues of both environmental and social and community sustainability.”

The department’s mission is to assist the development of sustainable communities by conducting research, teaching and outreach in several areas, including natural resources, land use, tourism, recreation, education, community, food, agriculture and others.

“We are trying to build academic programs that are connected to outreach programs and innovative learning opportunities for our students,” Wright said. “There are a number of people who are interested in non-market valuation of ecosystem services, forests, the Great Lakes, ecotourism” and others. “Those are all things that touch on an aspect of viable communities.”

In addition to his role as chair, Wright is a professor of history of American science and technology and research ethics in the department and has been an expert consultant with the Office of Research Integrity for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services since 2001. He has served as a consultant for research integrity, regulatory compliance, accreditation and related issues for more than 20 higher education and research institutions in the past 10 years.

“David Wright has shown tremendous leadership as acting chair of CARRS for the past two years,” said Jeffrey D. Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “I look forward to continuing our work together as he and his faculty provide leadership to issues affecting the development and revitalization of sustainable communities.”

From 1993-2004, Wright was university intellectual integrity officer in the MSU Office of the President and assistant vice president for Research Ethics and Standards. He has served in several administrative capacities at MSU, was a professor in the Lyman Briggs School and served briefly as a program officer with the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Science Foundation.

Wright received his undergraduate degree from Princeton University in 1967 and his doctorate in American studies from MSU in 1976. He is a member of the Agricultural History Society, the History of Science Society and the Society for the History of Technology, and was president of the American Culture Assoc. from 1981-84.

He has also served as director for the Clarion National Science Fiction Writers’ workshop and as a reviewer for the Rutgers University Press, the University of California Press and the MSU Press. He has written widely on issues of research management and agricultural history.