Rate My Professor Brent Olson

Brent Olson is a Professor of Environmental Studies at Westminster College of Salt Lake City, where he serves as Director of the Institute for Mountain Research. He earned a Ph.D. in Geography from Syracuse University in 2011, with a dissertation titled 'Recreation Capital: Amenity Development, Resource Management, and Outdoor Recreation in Bend, Oregon.' His earlier degrees include an M.L.B.S.T. from the University of Denver in 2003, with a thesis 'An Unsteady Noise: A Kayak Trip Down the Snake and Columbia Rivers,' and a B.A. cum laude in English and Media Studies from Carleton College in 1998. Olson joined Westminster College in 2012 as Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, advancing to his current professorial rank. Prior to this, he was Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at George Washington University from 2011 to 2012 and held adjunct positions at George Washington University and Syracuse University.

Dr. Olson's research examines the interactions between culture, political economy, and nature, with particular emphasis on climate justice, inter-species relationships, political ecology, environmental history, and landscape studies. Key publications include 'Paper Trails: The Outdoor Recreation Resource Review Commission and the Rationalization of Recreational Resources' in Geoforum (2010, 31 citations), 'Subdivisions and Deer Uses: Conflicts between Nature and Private Property on the Urban Fringe' in Landscape Research (2013), and ''In the Real Estate Business Whether We Admit It or Not': Timber and Exurban Development in Central Oregon' in A Comparative Political Ecology of Exurbia (2016). He has received the Gore Course Release Grant for the project 'The Political Economy of Snow' (2015), Gore Summer Research Fellowship (2014), and multiple fellowships from Syracuse University, including the Maxwell Dean’s Fellowship (2010, 2007, 2006) and Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship (2007-2008). At Westminster, Olson serves on the Faculty Senate, Sustainability Council, and Teaching and Learning Resources Committee, advises the undergraduate research journal Myriad, and directs the Institute for Mountain Research, fostering public engagement through initiatives like the Westminster Expedition.