Published: November 09, 2011
Jennifer Mattei, Ph.D., Named Director of Sacred Heart University's ESAM Program
Jennifer H. Mattei, Ph.D., has been named the director of the new Professional Science Master's Program in Environmental Systems Analysis and Management (ESAM) at Sacred Heart University.
The ESAM program offers an interdisciplinary master's degree whose graduates will be well equipped to confront the challenging environmental problems of the 21st Century. The national Professional Science Master's programs allow students to earn graduate-level degrees in science, math and technology through non-thesis, interdisciplinary studies that require an internship experience and integrate training in communication, business management, ethics, and other professional skills. This is the only Professional Science Master's program in environmental science in Connecticut.
The curriculum prepares students to understand the complex interactions between the living and non-living portions of the environment and the dramatic role that human activity has on determining the ultimate nature of the world in which we live. The program was launched in September 2011.
As the new director of ESAM, Dr. Mattei will "help graduate students acquire experience in the field of environmental science through research, internships and active case studies involving the Housatonic River watershed. With the help of my biology and chemistry faculty colleagues, we will also hone the students' skills in the latest technological advances from the practical applications of landscape mapping with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to the fine details of operating ICP and GCMS instruments. These tools and the analytical techniques we teach are used for the detection of trace metals in environmental samples utilizing an Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) machine. To quantitatively detect chemicals and toxins in the environment the students learn to use the GCMS (Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometer). Simply put, students enrolled in ESAM will gain experience and technical skills needed in today's job market."
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Dr. Mattei will bring her vast experience to her new post. "I have been trained very broadly in evolution, ecology and forest science. I use my own work experience as an example to inspire students to broaden their horizons. I have worked for the Department of Interior, Office of Scientific Authority managing the U.S. involvement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, tracing wildlife disease outbreaks at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, and the USDA, Beltsville Agriculture Research Center conducting research on pest management. During my post-doctoral studies at Rutgers University and as an assistant professor at SHU, I spent ten years conducting research in forest restoration ecology at Fresh Kills, one of the largest landfills in the world located on Staten Island, N.Y. More recently, I have been conducting research with colleagues and students on the population ecology of the horseshoe crab residing in Long Island Sound. We just started a new project with the ESAM students on the coastal restoration of Stratford Point at the mouth of the Housatonic River in Connecticut with support from the Long Island Sound Futures Fund."
Dr. Mattei, from Armonk, N.Y., earned her doctorate at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, her Master of Forest Science degree at Yale University and her Bachelor of Science in Zoology at the University of Maryland at College Park. She has taught at Sacred Heart University since 1995 in the Department of Biology and was chair of the department from 2003 to 2009. She has collaborated on a number of research projects, including Project Limulus: A Community Based Research Program with past support by CT Sea Grant and currently supported by the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund. She is the recipient of numerous grants, honors and awards, including being named one of the Heroes of the Sea by the Wildlife Trust for her work on horseshoe crab ecology and science literacy. She also received the Green Circle Award from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. Dr. Mattei is a published author and guest lecturer, and has made professional presentations throughout the United States on her research, and most recently was in Hong Kong for an international workshop on the science and conservation of Asian horseshoe crabs.
About Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University, the second-largest Catholic university in New England, offers more than 50 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs on its main campus in Fairfield, Connecticut, and satellites in Connecticut, Luxembourg and Ireland. More than 6,000 students attend the University's five colleges: Arts & Sciences; Health Professions; University College; the AACSB-accredited John F. (Jack) Welch College of Business; and the NCATE-accredited Isabelle Farrington College of Education. The Princeton Review includes SHU in its guides "Best 376 Colleges - 2012 Edition," "Best in the Northeast" and "Best 294 Business Schools - 2012 Edition." U.S. News & World Report ranks SHU among the best master's universities in the North in its annual "America's Best Colleges" publication. As one of just 23 institutions nationally, SHU is a member of the Association of American Colleges & Universities' (AAC&U) Core Commitments Leadership Consortium, in recognition of its core, "The Human Journey." SHU fields 31 division I athletic teams, and has an award-winning program of community service. www.sacredheart.edu
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