Laurie Parendes, PhD

Dr. Laurie Parendes is a Professor in the Biology, Earth, and Environmental Sciences (BEES) Department at PennWest Edinboro. She has served her department in a variety of capacities, most recently as Assistant Chair in the BEES Department. She has also served as Edinboro Geosciences Department Chair and Geography / GIS Internship Coordinator as well as on a wide variety of departmental committees. Her university service has included the Edinboro campus committee for reviewing PASSHE Faculty Professional Development Council (FPDC) grant proposals, the Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) Professional Development Fund and Mentoring committees, CFE mentor for sabbatical applicants, and the Edinboro Environmental Institute planning committee. Within the northwestern Pennsylvania community, Dr. Parendes is an active member of the French Creek Valley Conservancy’s Stewardship Committee, which meets monthly to review land management plans and discuss other land conservation issues. Examples of regional and national organizations in which she has been a member and /or attended sponsored events include: American Association of Geographers (AAG), National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE), Edinboro Lake Watershed Association, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, The Nature Conservancy, Friends of Erie National Wildlife Refuge, Mid-Atlantic Exotic Pest Plant Council (MA-EPPC), and Goodell Gardens & Homestead. She has given a variety of talks and presented posters related to her research at the AAG’s annual meetings as well as other venues. She was a participant in GeoCamp Iceland, a professional development field experience sponsored by the NCGE.

Dr. Parendes’ teaching and research interests are in the field of Environmental Geography and Biogeography. Undergraduate courses she has taught include Environmental Issues, People and the Planet, Big Questions in Sustainability, Conservation of Natural Resources, Botany, Biogeography, Geography of Water Resources, and Geography Seminar on Invasive Species. Her research has focused on the relationship between humans and the environment, including examining patterns of invasion along roadways by non-native plant species and monitoring the invasion of Edinboro Lake and Conneauttee Creek by non-native zebra mussels. In addition, she has investigated ecoregions on public lands in the continental U.S. and studied water resource issues in the Owens Valley, California.

Prior to her career as a professor, Dr. Parendes was a Science Editor for Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, worked for the California Department of Fish and Game’s Endangered Plant Program, served as the Women in Development Coordinator for Peace Corps / Nepal, and conducted forest ecology research in Florida’s cypress swamps.