Bailey College of the Environment

284 High Street
Middletown, CT 06457
coe@wesleyan.edu

College of Environment Director and Management Team

  • Barry Chernoff

    Director, Bailey College of the Environment

    Room 201

    (860) 685-2452

    bchernoff@wesleyan.edu

    Bio
    Professor Barry Chernoff joined the Wesleyan Faculty in 2003 where he holds the Robert K. Schumann Chair of Environmental Studies. He currently chairs the Environmental Studies Program and is Director of the College of the Environment. He teaches courses in Environmental Studies, Tropical Ecology, Aquatic Ecosystem Conservation, Quantitative Analysis and Evolutionary Biology for the College of the Enviornmernt and the departments of Biology and Earth and Environmental Sciences. Chernoff’s research centers on the freshwater fishes in North America and the Neotropical region, primarily those in South America in the Amazon. His research includes, ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. Chernoff has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific works, including 6 books and edited volumes. He has led international teams on expeditions designed to conserve large watersheds of the world, having made more than 34 expeditions in 13 countries. Recently, Professor Chernoff and his students have been working on aquatic ecology and conservation genetics of fishes in Connecticut watersheds. In the past he has held professorial and curatorial positions at the Field Museum, University of Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Pennsylvania and the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. He holds a visiting position at Universidad Central de Venezuela. Chernoff has received a number of awards including the Caleb T. Winchester Outstanding Scholar and Teacher Award, 1 May 2006, awarded by Xi of Psi Upsilon, Wesleyan University and a Commendation for Excellence in Teaching, University of Chicago, 2000. Chernoff was elected to the Connecticut Academy of Sciences and Engineering in 2005, where he chaired the Environmental Science and Technology Board until 2010. From 1993-1999, he served on the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Biological Sciences elected by the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council, and served as Vice-Chairman from 1995-1997 and Chairman from 1997-1999. He serves on the Inland Fish Commission’s Endangered and Threatened Fishes Panel for the CT Department of Environmental Protection. Chernoff co-wrote the script for a short documentary film entitled “Understanding Biodiversity” that was awarded finalist status at a number of film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto and Sundance, and received the Silver Apple Award from the American Educational Network. He has served on the boards of a number of community-oriented foundations, including the Confluence Greenway Project of St. Louis, Mo., and as President of the Sustainable Aquatic Research Center. Chernoff served as President of The Jonah Center for Earth and Art from 2004-2010, and as a Board Member of the Buttonwood Tree Performing Arts Center from 2018-2022, in Middletown, CT. Chernoff was a founding member of the acoustic string band, Mattabesset, and currently performs the electric rock band, Smokin’ Lillies, or as a solo act.

  • Andie Bisceglia

    Administrative Assistant

    Room 203

    (860) 685-2173

    abisceglia@wesleyan.edu

    Bio
    Andie (she/her) comes to the COE with over 15 years of experiential and academic work in environmental education, farming, and food systems education in Maine, Connecticut and Georgia. Most recently, she managed a student-run hunger relief and food waste reduction organization at the University of Georgia called Campus Kitchen. She has a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Bates College and an M.S. in Sustainable Food Systems from the University of Georgia. When she's not at the COE, you can find her tide-pooling, gardening, playing music, and eating good food with her family and friends.

  • Laurie Kenney

    Administrative Assistant

    Room 102

    (860) 685-3733

    lkenney01@wesleyan.edu

    Bio
    Laurie (she/her) has been a member of the Wesleyan University community since 2014. A lifelong fangirl, her debut album, Every Apple Does Go Bad Eventually, is available now (October 6, 2023 - Cynical Girl Music Publishing ASCAP). Before joining the Bailey College of the Environment as an administrative assistant, she was a senior writer/editor and the editorial marketing manager in Wesleyan's Office of University Communications. Laurie's professional experience includes 20+ years in publishing, public relations, marketing, and education. A past recipient of a National Make a Difference Day Award and an American Red Cross Community Impact Award, she was the scriptwriter for Wesleyan's 2018 Telly Award-winning video short, "Wes, Actually."

  • Jen Kleindienst

    Sustainability Director

    Room 104

    (860) 685-3242

    jkleindienst@wesleyan.edu

    Bio
    Jen (she/her) began as Wesleyan's first Sustainability Coordinator in 2012 and became Sustainability Director in 2015. Jen is passionate about building a more sustainable world and loves putting ideas into action with Wesleyan and Middletown communities. She oversees Wesleyan’s sustainability strategic planning, which focuses on achieving carbon neutrality, preparing students to become environmental and social leaders, and integrating holistic sustainability into everything that Wesleyan does. Jen leads a team of 30 students and collaborates with campus and community to turn challenging goals into reality and make change. Before coming to Wesleyan, Jen worked in the sustainability offices at Tufts University, St. Michael's College, and MIT. Jen holds an M.S. in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England and a B.A. from Hamilton College.

  • Malana Rogers-Bursen

    Project Director for Food Security, Environmental Justice and Sustainability

    Room 302

    (860) 685-2037

    rrogersburse@wesleyan.edu

    Bio
    Malana (she/her) is the Project Director for Food Security, Environmental Justice and Sustainability with the Bailey College of the Environment. Malana is a community organizer and urbanist with extensive experience in racial equity, community outreach strategies, participatory democracy, and collaborative research. Before joining the Bailey College of the Environment, she was the program coordinator and co-founder for a community center in Bern, Switzerland. She also worked at Everyday Democracy for ten years as a coach and trainer for community engagement processes. In 2015/2016, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the CT Youth Food Program Alliance (formerly the CT Food Justice Youth Corps). Malana has volunteered with a number of racial justice and immigrant justice groups in the US and Switzerland, including Hartford Deportation Defense, CT Students for a Dream, Black Infinity Collective, the Alliance Against Racial Profiling, and the Racial Justice Student Collective. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Boston University and an M.A. in Critical Urbanisms from the University of Basel. Malana currently lives in Hartford, CT. She loves to sing and dance and is learning how to DJ.