Gary Klee

Professor Department of Environmental Sciences gary.klee@sjsu.edu

Current Research Activities

Although I have published dozens of journal articles, book reviews, photographs, etc., I have spent most of my 39+ years at SJSU working on books that would be useful for my teaching: World Systems of Traditional Resource Management (Edward Arnold, London) for ENVS 117, Human Ecology; Conservation of Natural Resources (Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey) for ENVS 110, Resource Analysis; and The Coastal Environment for ENVS 189 Coastal Field Studies. I have now finished my fourth book, California Coastal Wetlands for ENVS 144, California Wetland Controversies. I am now “preoccupied” with two things: (1) Locking in a publisher for the last manuscript, and simultaneously (2) “Brainstorming” ideas for my next book.

Research Connections to Current Events

SJSU has allowed me to follow my research and teaching interests as they evolved over the years. If a course didn’t already exist within the department, I was allowed to develop new courses that matched my interests. Consequently, I have always been able to research and teach “my hobbies”—(e.g., islands and other international cultures [ENVS 117]; coastal & ocean issues [ENVS 189]; nature photography [ENVS 166]; wetlands, my favorite thing to photograph [ENVS 144]; and even gardening [ENVS 118, Sustainable Home Gardens].

Personal Connections to Research

When I was an undergraduate at San Francisco State University back in the 1960s, there was no such thing as Departments of Environmental Studies. One day, I stumbled into a course on Physical Geography by Dr. Eydal. He fit my image of a “real” professor (e.g., older; tweed coat with patches on the arms; pipe smoking; and having a foreign accent). When he starting showing color slides of volcanoes in Iceland, I was immediately hooked on human/land relationships.