Tom Wessels (born 1951) is an American terrestrial ecologist working as a

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Antioch University New England Antioch University New England is a private graduate school located in Keene, New Hampshire, United States. It is part of the Antioch University system, a private, non-profit, 501(c)(3) institution that includes campuses in Seattle, Washington; L ...

in the Department of

Environmental Studies Environmental studies is a multidisciplinary academic field which systematically studies human interaction with the environment. Environmental studies connects principles from the physical sciences, commerce/economics, the humanities, and social ...

, where he founded a master's program in

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

. He is the

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of five books and is an active

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

Education

Wessels earned a Bachelor of Science degree in wildlife biology from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

and a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Career

Wessels went directly into academia, beginning with a post at the now-defunct

Windham College Windham College was a liberal arts college located in Putney, Vermont, on the campus of what is now Landmark College. History Windham was founded in by Walter F. Hendricks as the Vermont Institute of Special Studies. The school's initial aim wa ...

Putney, Vermont Putney is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The population was 2,617 at the 2020 census. The town's historic core makes up the Putney Village Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Histo ...

. In 1978, he became an adjunct faculty member at

and was instrumental in developing numerous courses in Environmental Studies Department. He became a tenured faculty member at Antioch in 2000. In addition to teaching at Antioch, Wessels has traveled on expedition to

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

with

Haraldur Sigurdsson Haraldur is a masculine Icelandic given name. Notable people with the name include: *Haraldur Freyr Guðmundsson (born 1981), Icelandic professional football defender *Haraldur Ingólfsson (born 1970), Icelandic former footballer *Haraldur Kálv ...

. He chaired the Science department for ten years at

The Putney School The Putney School is an independent high school in Putney, Vermont. The school was founded in 1935 by Carmelita Hinton on the principles of the Progressive Education movement and the teachings of its principal exponent, John Dewey. It is a co-edu ...

, a boarding high school in Putney, Vermont. He served as the chair of the

Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, a foundation that provides

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom *Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama *Grant, Inyo County, C ...

and

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

s to promote

environmental A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets view ...

. Since 1995 he has served as an ecological consultant for the

Rainforest Alliance The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-governmental organization (NGO) with staff in more than 20 countries and operations in more than 70 countries. It was founded in 1987 by Daniel Katz, an American environmental activist, who serves ...

SmartWood Program in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

Social commentary

In his 2006 book ''The Myth of Progress'', Wessels asserts that the aspiration to sustain indefinite exponential

economic growth Economic growth can be defined as the increase or improvement in the inflation-adjusted market value of the goods and services produced by an economy in a financial year. Statisticians conventionally measure such growth as the percent rate of ...

is an impossibility on the grounds that it violates three scientific principles: the

limits to growth ''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...

, the

second law of thermodynamics The second law of thermodynamics is a physical law based on universal experience concerning heat and Energy transformation, energy interconversions. One simple statement of the law is that heat always moves from hotter objects to colder objects ( ...

and the law of

self organization Self-organization, also called spontaneous order in the social sciences, is a process where some form of overall order and disorder, order arises from local interactions between parts of an initially disordered system. The process can be spon ...

. An updated edition was published in 2013, with expanded discussion relating to the

global financial crisis Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

of 2008.

Books

*Gardner, Blake and Tom Wessels. ''Untamed Vermont'' (Thistle Hill Publications, 2003). *Wessels, Thomas. ''New England's Roadside Ecology: Explore 30 of the Region's Unique Natural Areas'' (Timber Press, 2021). *Wessels, Tom. ''Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England'' (The Countryman Press, 1997). *Wessels, Tom. ''The Granite Landscape: A Natural History of America's Mountain Domes, From Acadia to Yosemite'' (The Countryman Press, 2001). *Wessels, Tom. ''The Myth of Progress: Toward a Sustainable Future'' (University of Vermont Press, 2006). *Wessels, Tom. "Forest Forensics: A Field Guide to Reading the Forested Landscape" (The Countryman Press, 2010).

References

*Moose Dung Gazette
ESSP Attends Tom Wessels’ Talk
*Unity Colleg
Keynote Speaker
*University Press of New England site fo

*Wessels'

br>websiteWessels' Bio
on Medomak Camp website

External links

Medomak CampRobert and Patricia Switzer FoundationWhole Terrain
link to Wessels' articles published in

Whole Terrain ''Whole Terrain: Journal of Reflective Environmental Practice'' is an environmentally-themed literary journal that is published approximately once a year by Antioch University New England (ANE). Each volume explores emerging ecological and social ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessels, Tom 1951 births Living people Antioch University faculty American environmentalists American non-fiction environmental writers University of Colorado alumni University of New Hampshire alumni Activists from California