New Faculty Spotlight: Louie Rivers
Contact: Andy McGlashen, News Writer for Environmental Science and Policy Program: (517) 432-3823 or mcglash3@msu.edu
To most people, risk is something to be avoided. But for Louie Rivers, environmental risk has been the basis of a career.
The assistant professor, jointly appointed by ESPP and Criminal Justice, comes to MSU from Washington, D.C., where he worked for two years in the National Science Foundation's Decision, Risk and Management Sciences program.
Before that he was at Ohio State, where he earned a master's degree in natural resources with a focus on environmental education, and a doctorate in risk perception and decision making - especially among minorities - in an environmental context.
In the spring, Rivers will join Carole Gibbs and Meredith Gore in teaching three online courses that constitute a master's certificate in conservation criminology: environmental risk perception and decision making; international environmental risk; and corporate environmental risk.
This fall he'll continue work on a five-year research project undertaken by Ohio State, Kentucky State and Purdue. The research examines the perception by black farmers in the South of risks associated with microbial contaminants in food.
He's also part of an MSU Criminal Justice project that is researching efforts to combat open-air drug markets.
Thanks to his father's career in the Army, Rivers has also lived in Oklahoma, North Carolina and Kentucky; he majored in biology and minored in chemistry as an undergrad at Kentucky State.
His latest move is a fairly low-risk venture; he's visited MSU for seminars and research, and has close ties to ESPP.
Rivers worked with Associate Director Joe Arvai when they were both at Ohio State, and said he's excited about future collaboration with his former colleague.
"Of course we have a lot of overlapping interests," he said. "I'm really looking forward to working more often with him."
Rivers said he's also excited about working with Director Thomas Dietz, and about moving to MSU.
"It's a good institution," he said. "I think it will be a nice change from D.C. It's a great place for outdoor activities."
When he's not working, Rivers enjoys running and racquetball. He's also a Civil War buff, and is "really into comic books."
