Jason L. Selwitz

Jason Selwitz, Ph.D., is Dean of Applied Technology at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Washington. He seeks to integrate climate science content along with adaptation and mitigation policy and technology into the curricula. For eight years, he worked at Walla Walla Community College to develop, teach, and manage a green collar training program for mechanical-electrical technicians and operators focused on wastewater, water treatment, renewable energy, advanced bioenergy, and forest/agriculture/food/chemical processing systems. He complete his doctorate in Engineering Science during this time from Washington State University. Immediately prior, he worked for 4.5 years at Green Empowerment to develop and manage village scale renewable energy and watershed projects in collaboration with technical partners and rural farming communities in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Selwitz received a Switzer Environmental Leadership Fellowship in 2006 for research on using freshwater algae to treat wastewater and produce bioenergy while working in residence at the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. During this time, he also worked as the Field Lab Technician for Orange County Water District's Groundwater Recharge Program. Earlier in his career, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines and co-founded the Palawan Conservation Corps. He completed his undergraduate studies at Penn State through integrated coursework with Shaver's Creek Environmental Center (in Pennsylvania) and the Earthquest Outdoor School (in British Columbia).