Brooke Hecht, Ph.D.

Acting President

Curriculum Vitae (pdf) | Contact

Brooke Hecht, Ph.D. is Acting President with the Center for Humans and Nature. Brooke grew up in the forests of Connecticut and, later, within view of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. At age 15, she spent a summer in a remote mining camp in the outback of Australia, which heightened her awareness of the natural world and offered inspiring insights into the many interconnections among humans and the ecosystems in which they live. Since then, Brooke has explored many facets of biological and ecological science, on scales from genes to biomes.

Brooke earned her B.A. in biology at Dartmouth College, focusing her studies on plant molecular genetics. She then returned to Australia for her Master of Science degree at the University of Melbourne. In Australia, her research assessed the adequacy of buffer zones protecting rainforests adjacent to logged eucalyptus forests. She continued her research on the effects of disturbance on ecosystem dynamics during her Ph.D. in ecosystem ecology at Yale University, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Her research identified indicators of ecosystem resistance to disturbance in boreal forests, which varied throughout the landscape in correlation with historical and current stressors. Her field work took her to Iceland, where she was also a Fulbright Fellow.

Brooke’s interests extend beyond biological disciplines into spheres of philosophy, psychology, and comparative religion. Taken together, these interests fuel her commitment to interdisciplinary work on the sustainability of natural and human communities.

Contact:

Brooke Hecht, Ph.D.
Acting President
Center for Humans and Nature
4001 North Ravenswood Ave, # 401
Chicago, IL 60613
773-404-8270
773-404-8275 (fax)
brookehecht@humansandnature.org