Congratulations to our very own Dr. David Taylor, who joined the Stony Brook University Sustainability Studies Program in fall 2014 as a visiting professor of sustainability. In addition to his role as a professor, Taylor is a writer, and his work encompasses many disciplines and genres, from poetry to creative non-fiction to scholarship and science/technical writing. Yet, at the center of all his writing is the concern for environmental sustainability and community.

This central idea common to all Taylor’s works can be found in a new book he worked on with his co-editor and co-contributor, Dr. Steve Wolverton, associate professor of environmental archaeology at the University of North Texas. The book, Sushi in Cortez: Interdisciplinary Essays on Mesa Verde, is published by the University of Utah Press. In the book, Taylor and Wolverton join an interdisciplinary group of academics, artists and cultural witnesses to explore the landscape and cultural history of Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, a place distinguished by both its renowned archeological sites and well-preserved cliff dwellings.

The contributors’ highly personal works featured in Sushi in Cortez include poetry, film, environmental philosophy, nature photography, native Pueblo perspectives and archaeology, respond to questions common to humanity, including those about the value of work and life, and of visiting timeworn places like Mesa Verde.

David J. Taylor, Ph.D.
Visiting Professor of Sustainability
Sustainability Studies Program