Peter Bower

Peter Bower

Research Scholar in Environmental Science

Department

Environmental Science

Contact

Peter M. Bower, research scholar in environmental science, joined the Barnard faculty in 1986 and retired in 2021. He is an environmental conservationist with academic degrees in geology and geochemistry.

Dr. Bower is the developer of the Brownfield Action (BA) curriculum, which has been honored by the American Association of Colleges and Universities as a national SENCER model curriculum. This innovative curriculum includes a network-based, interactive, digital space and simulation, in which student "consulting companies" can explore and solve problems in environmental forensics. This project was developed in conjuction with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Bower has also developed and taught courses in environmental law, environmental hazards and disasters, waste management, and Hudson River environment, among others. He is a recipient of Barnard College's Emily Gregory Award for excellence in teaching.

Dr. Bower is a former mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey, where he has also served on the City Council, the Planning Board, and the Environmental Commission.

He has also served as acting executive director of the Black Rock Forest Consortium in Cornwall, New York, where he managed and directed the staff and facilities of a 3,785-acre forest and oversaw its research, educational, and conservation activities.

  • B.S., Yale University
  • M.A., Queens College/CUNY
  • M.P.H., Ph.D., Columbia University

  • Environmental conservation
  • Curriculum design and development
  • Geology
  • Geochemistry

  • EESC BC3001, Conservation and Preservation
  • EESC BC1001-1002, Environmental Science I and II
  • EESC BC3012, Brownfields
  • EESC BC3013, Shorelines and Streams
  • EESC BC3014, Field Methods
  • EESC BC3019, Energy Resources
  • EESC BC3023, The Hudson River Environment
  • EESC BC3033, Waste Management
  • EESC BC3040, Environmental Law

"Simultaneous Measurement of Primary Production by Whole-Lake and Bottle Radiocarbon Additions" (with C. A. Kelly, et al.), Limnology and Oceanography 32 (1987)

"Estimates of the Resistance to Chemical Transport Posed by the Deep-Sea Benthic Boundary Layer" (with P. H. Santschi, et al.), Limnology and Oceanography 28 (1983)

"Whole-Lake Radiocarbon Addition: The Biogeochemical Cycle of Carbon in the Mixed-Layer" (with C. A. Kelly), Trans. Amer. Geophys. Union 63 (1982)

"Gas-Exchange, Photosynthetic Uptake, and Carbon Budget for a Radiocarbon Addition to a Small Enclosure in a Stratified Lake" (with D. McCorkle), Canadian J. Fisheries and Aquatic Science 37 (1980)

"Heavy Metals in the Sediments of Foundry Cove, Cold Spring, New York" (with H. J. Simpson, et al.), Environmental Science and Technology 12 (1978)

"Transoceanic Alkalinity Profiles in the South Pacific" (with K. K. Turekian and J. Woodburn), Antarctic Research Journal 15 (1968)

"Alkalinity and Strontium Profiles in Antarctic Waters" (with K. K. Turekian, et al.), Antarctic Journal (1967)