Dr. Corrie Grosse, a star environmental educator

Faculty Spotlight DR. CORRIE GROSSE

A STAR ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATOR

Want to meet one of the international superstars of the climate change conversation? You’ll have to defer to the Bennies and Johnnies who get first dibs on her office hours. That’s right: We’re lucky enough to have this superstar on our faculty. Of course, Corrie Grosse probably wouldn’t use that word to describe herself. She’s much more concerned with action than with labels. Still, there are a few other labels worth mentioning: writer, scholar, activist, assistant professor and, most recently, part of an ultra-elite group of educators in the climate change movement. Corrie was just selected as one of the “30 under 30” by the North American Association for Environmental Education. More than 175 people applied for this prestigious distinction, and Corrie’s work stood apart. Corrie specializes in the intersection of energy extraction, climate justice and grassroots organizing. At Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s, Corrie’s courses include Energy and Society, Gender and Environment, Climate Action Workshop and Global Climate Policy. And, her impact extends far beyond the classroom. Corrie’s research examines how communities work together to resist fossil fuels – and she walks the walk. Over the past several years, she has been an active voice in this conversation, helping to lead efforts to ban extreme energy extraction in our country. She has lived with activists resisting natural gas in Idaho, participated in grassroots efforts to ban fracking in California, and interviewed youth activists at the United Nations climate summit. She’s now embarking on a project to investigate how Native and non-Native organizations collaborate to resist the Line 3 tar sands pipeline proposed for Minnesota. (Remember, all of this has taken place prior to her 30th birthday.)

“As a professor, I now have the privilege to spend hours each week sharing my passion for climate justice activism with young people who are leading our future.”

- Dr. Corrie Grosse

Corrie knows she’s not in it alone. She’s multiplying her impact by inspiring others to learn what’s at stake and take action. “As a professor, I now have the privilege to spend hours each week sharing my passion for climate justice activism with young people who are leading our future,” she says. She’ll go to the ends of the earth to help make that future brighter. Case in point: Each year, Corrie leads a group of Saint Ben’s and Saint John’s students on a trip to

the UN Climate Change Conference. It’s an extraordinary opportunity for students to be among the very few who get to be inside the negotiations that may determine the course of our collective future. The 2019 conference (COP 25) took place from Dec. 2-13, 2019, in Madrid, Spain (relocated from its original location in Santiago, Chile, due to unrest there). According to the UN: “Climate change is happening [….] and it is already having a significant impact on the world, and on people’s lives. And if current trends persist, then global temperatures can be expected to rise [enough to] bring wide-ranging and destructive climate impacts.” It’s a daunting reality. And leaders like Corrie are tirelessly taking action and educating others to make a real difference. That’s energy well spent.

Professor Grosse (far left) with CSB/SJU students attending the 2019 climate conference. Five students were able to attend due to the generosity of Vicki and Lee Morgan, local advocates for the environment.