For more than half a century, Unity College has provided a high quality, innovative yet practical education to students in the field of environmental sustainability. Today we speak with Unity College President, Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, and with Professor Mick Womersley, faculty advisor to the Unity College Search and Rescue Team.
Guests
Dr. Melik Peter Khoury
Unity College President Dr. Melik Peter Khoury is an education entrepreneur whose blend of industry-disrupting vision, strategic financial planning, and managerial expertise has fostered sustainable growth in higher education for over 16 years. At Unity College, Khoury leverages his brand of “functional leadership in abundance” toward Unity’s mission of being the nation’s premiere environmental college, preparing graduates to solve real world environmental problems through the framework of sustainability science. He received a doctorate in business administration from the University of Phoenix, a master of business administration from the University of Maine, and his baccalaureate from University of Maine Fort Kent.
Mick Womersley
Born in northern England, Mick Womersley served in the Royal Air Force from 1978-1985 as an aircraft technician and mountain rescue specialist. He guided in Montana for two years prior to attending the University of Montana for a biology degree and a master’s in Resource Conservation from the Forestry School. He then went on to the University of Maryland Policy School, where he studied under Peter G. Brown, Herman Daly, Mark Sagoff, Steve Fetter, and Carmen Reinhart, among other important academics working in the nexus between sustainability, ethics, and economics. He graduated with distinctions in normative analysis and economics in the year 2002, following successful completion of a dissertation on American religiosity and climate science acceptance. After a short stint at the University of Georgia’s Institute of Ecology, Mick came to Unity College to help develop the sustainability programs in the year 2000. He teaches classes in climate change, sustainability, economics, and energy. His current research interests are in wind power assessment and mapping. Each summer he runs a field program in wind measurements to support this work, using students as crew members. He is also the faculty advisor to the Unity College Search and Rescue Team, Resource Officer for Maine Search and Rescue, and co-editor of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Association’s annual journal “On the Hill.”