Hi, I'm officially the Class of 1942 Endowed Term Professor of Germanic Languages and Literatures. In addition, I'm a faculty fellow at Perry World House and the Penn Insitute for Urban Research and a member of the graduate groups in Cinema and Media Studies, Comparative Literature, and the strategic committee of the Penn Program in Environmental Humanities. With these formalities out of the way, let me tell you what I actually do! 

For me, everything begins with the climate emergency: my teaching, my research, and my service to the University, including my role as Gregory College House faculty director. I teach courses like "Water Worlds" and "Forest Worlds" that are about cultural responses to climate change impacts such as sea level rise, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. In the spring, I offer a Penn Global Seminar on cultural aspects of sustainability and resilience in the Netherlands. Through my research, I show how the mind- and skillset of a scholar in the humanities can contribute to climate action and policy. I've been a member of international urban design teams in Indonesia and the Netherlands. A few years ago, I created a Twitter persona called Dr Poldergeist and started tweeting about life below sea level. Thanks to the creativity of three Penn undergrads and the support of the Penn Undergraduate Research Mentoring Program (PURM), Dr. Poldergeist evolved into an animated figure who addresses controversial climate adaptation issues in the Netherlands in short videos that have been widely viewed in the Dutch water sector. The videos have become a platform for me to participate in urgent debates about how the Netherlands should prepare for accelerated sea level rise. The Poldergeist Project is ongoing and now includes an artistic director, Professor of Fine Arts Joshua Mosley, and nine undergraduate researchers and animators. Our first video asks the important question: "How much of the Netherlands is below sea level?" The second wonders "Is the Netherlands too deep to fail?" 

At Penn, I'm known for instigating the Penn 1.5* Minute Climate Lectures and Penn Climate Week. I'm a longtime supporter of Fossil Free Penn (FFP) and the Student Sustainability Association at Penn (SSAP) and frequently work together with Penn Sustainability and the Environmental Innovations Initiative. I was a founding member of the Faculty Senate Committee on the Institutional Response to the Climate Emergency (CIRCE).

At Gregory College House, I look forward to working with students and staff to create and maintain a strong, inclusive, and resilient community. I love helping students become leaders and supporting them in their activities. Every student has the potential to be a leader. I believe that academic life in the broadest sense should spill over into society. Because of my climate activism on campus, I am plugged into many networks across the schools and in the Philadelphia area. I'd love to help you find a place where you can integrate your studies and values through forms of community service. 

On a more personal level, I love movies, theater, cooking, and playing word games and other board games. I speak German and Dutch and I've been learning Indonesian. Hearing other languages around me makes me happy. I have two college age sons, one at the University of Pittsburgh and the other at St Andrews.