About the Speaker:
Joel Hoffman, PhD, is a research biologist interested in how human-caused changes to the environment influence aquatic ecosystem processes, aquatic habitat, and fish population success. Hoffman grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, but over the years ultimately found a home in Minnesota. He earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. While there, Joel completed a dual degree program and simultaneously worked on a BS in Resource Ecology and Management in the School of Natural Resources and a BA in Philosophy in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. He finished in 1999 and moved west to Nevada to work on high desert ground. After that, Hoffman spent two years in the Pacific Northwest working on fisheries and fish-related science projects everywhere from Oregon to Alaska. Next, he jumped coasts to earn my PhD in Marine Science at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Then in 2006, Hoffman joined the Duluth Environmental Protection Agency facility at MED (Mid-Continent Ecology Division) for an EPA post-doc, and became a federal scientist in 2009, and later, in 2017, Chief of the Ecosystem Services Branch.
About the STEP Seminar Series
The STEP Seminar Series is an interdisciplinary platform for scholars and practitioners to discuss research and policy issues in the broad domain of science, technology, and environmental policy. The seminar series provides an informal setting for feedback and engagement with ongoing research projects and policy debates.
We invite scholars from all disciplines and practitioners working in all action arenas with connections to the fields of scholarship that shape science, technology, and environmental policy. The seminar series takes place throughout the academic year at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, typically over lunchtime on Mondays.
Interested speakers should email Olivia Schares for a list of available dates.