Meet the Chair

Dr. Michael A. Reiter is Professor and Chair of the Department of Integrated Environmental Science at Bethune-Cookman University (BCU). He holds a B.S. in Biology from Muskingum College, an M.S. in Biology (Ecology) from Kent State University, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of Virginia. His teaching portfolio includes undergraduate and graduate courses in environmental science, resource management, biology, and field ecology, including Foundation and Capstone courses. He has also served as a Graduate Program Director and as a Graduate Council Chair. Dr. Reiter is Co-Chair of the Sustainable Human and Environmental Systems Roundtable, a national effort to create program design recommendations and a potential certification system for interdisciplinary environmental programs. Dr. Reiter has received university and national awards for his teaching, and has initiated several service-learning relationships that provide research opportunities and field courses for students and data for managers. He also has a wide breadth of teaching experience, having worked in 2yr, 4yr, and graduate programs, both public and private, including HBCU’s.

Professionally, Dr. Reiter is a past President and a Counselor for the international Interdisciplinary Environmental Association, as well as Associate Editor for the international journal Interdisciplinary Environmental Review. He served as the Lead PI for the Integrated Assessment thematic area of the Environmental Cooperative Science Center, where he worked on creating and applying tools for integrated ecosystem management including the development of Combined Ecological-Societal Systems Modeling and the Integrated Assessment and Ecosystem Management Protocol. He has been a PI or Co-PI for over four million dollars in grant funds for his primary institutions (over twenty million for all institutions) over the years for research, student support, lab renovations, laboratory and field equipment, summer salaries, and technician and research associate support related to resource management and environmental issues. He is a member of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Council on Undergraduate Research (Secretary of the At-large Division and Co-Chair of the Internationalization Task Force) and was approved for candidacy as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in Environmental Science/Education. He has received university awards for his research, has been nominated for regional research awards, and has been invited to speak on his work in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Australia, Africa, and South America.

Dr. Reiter has a history of developing strong, locally-connected environmental programs that serve students, departments, universities, and the surrounding communities. His primary focus involves the interdisciplinary and higher-order study of ecological and environmental problems, including interactions among the environment, technology, and human culture, and he emphasizes in his work the importance of making scientifically informed, broadly based decisions concerning present and future environmental concerns. The program development that he has undertaken has resulted in the use of his work by national resource management agencies, community environmental awards, international exchange agreements, several international field courses, and a citation of merit awarded to him by the Board of Trustees of Delaware State University.

Michael A. Reiter, PhD
Professor, Director, and Chair
Department of Integrated Environmental Science
Email: reiterm@cookman.edu
Phone: 386-481-2695
Fax: 386-481-2659