Research Institute for
Sustainability | at GFZ

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Paul Bartlett

Senior Fellow

Phone

+49 331 6264-3463

E-Mail

paul [dot] bartlett [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de

Paul Bartlett began his environmental justice work as an ecological economist and environmental scientist under pioneering ecologist scientist-activist Barry Commoner at the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (now the Commoner Center for Health and the Environment) at Queens College, CUNY.

He was the first to model dioxin at a continental scale, identifying top emission sources affecting Nunavut Inuit communities and guiding targeted pollution prevention policies. This accomplishment led him to be invited to collaborate with impacted communities, scientists, and policymakers from regional to global scales geographically and institutionally.

As an educator, Paul Bartlett explores with his students and colleagues how to break the collective delusion of human separation from nature-a mindset driving ecological overshoot and planetary boundary breaches. Inspired by ancestral wisdom and Indigenous relational worldviews, he promotes Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk in Mi'kmaw) in higher education: integrating Western science with traditional ecological knowledge to support a [transformative] Just Transition to Regenerative Culture for all our relations, Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ.

  • Assistant Professor (Adjunct). (2016-present). MSc Sustainability in the Urban Environment Program and Sustainability Council (City College of New York Environmental Justice & Sustainability Program); Interdisciplinary Studies Department (John Jay College of Criminal Justice) City University of New York (CUNY).
  • Lecturer (Adjunct). (2015-present). Physical Science (Climate Science), Environmental Economics, Statistics, Econometrics, Natural Sciences & Economics Departments. Fordham University, Lincoln Center Campus, Manhattan, New York.
  • Lecturer & University Research Fellow. (2009-2015). Economics Department and Social Justice Program. Sustainability Council. Saint Peter's University. Jesuit University of New Jersey.
  • Guest Lecturer & Research. (May 2012, May 2013, May 2014, May 2015). Modeling Air Pollution. Graduate Students. Dept of Arctic Technology, University Centre at Svalbard (UNIS), Norway. Unis.no
  • Lecturer & University Research Fellow. (2009-2015). Economics Department and Social Justice Program. Sustainability Council. Saint Peter's University. Jesuit University of New Jersey.
  • Development Director (Interim). (2008-2009). Theater for the New City. New York City.
  • Research Associate (1994- 2003), Principal Modeler & Project leader reporting to the Director, Barry Commoner. Center for the Biology of Natural Systems (CBNS), presently the Barry Commoner Center for Health & the Environment, Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY). Policy & Activist oriented research.
  • Research Associate (part-time). Database & Statistical Analysis. Mainframe. Latino migration. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, CUNY, & Latino Research Consortium.
  • Urban Planner (various provisional titles). Project Director (zoning, industry & arts); Community, Industry & Arts Liaison. Environmental Impact Statement Review. Task Force on Loft Enforcement. Manhattan Office, Department of City Planning,
  • Consulting, training, collaborations, writing & editing (2003-Present). Arctic Monitoring & Assessment Programme (AMAP.no); Commission on Environmental Cooperation for North America(CEC/CCE/CCA) ; Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático. (INECC formerly INE); UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) & UN Task Forces: Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollutants (HTAP.org 2005-Present), Task Force on Modeling and Measurements (TFMM 1999-2004) for the Convention on Long-Range Transport of Air Pollutants (LRTAP); Green Building Development Consultant & Advisor (Theater for the New City; ABC No Rio Cultural Center; Orensanz Foundation & Go Green LES, Manhattan Borough President); US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA): Technical Committee for Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR); Environmental Exposure Technical Adviser; US Department of Justice (US DOJ, SRA International, Inc.); ERG, Inc; Dominican Studies Institute, City College of New York; Institute for Health & the Environment (IHE), School of Public Health, SUNY at Albany; Co-Editor, Seven Stories Press; Industry Policy Analyst, Trade and Competitiveness Commission, Industrial Cooperation Council, Executive Chamber, New York State. CV/Bio: https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/faculty/bartlett-paul

  • Arctic & Climate Science
  • Art, Communication, Activism & Education
  • Chemicals of Emerging Concern (CECs)
  • Indigenous Perspectives, World Views, & Knowledge
  • Just Transition & Transformation
  • Modeling
  • Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
  • Regenerative Culture and Sustainability Vision, Practice & Policy
  • Scientific Evaluation & Assessments
  • Statistical and Machine Learning Methods for Attribution & Trends
  • Transdisciplinary and Transformational Cooperation

Publications prior to joining the RIFS

  • vAIR - an epistemic model of socioscientific reasoning emerging from citizens engaged in a locally situated SSI. Ruppert, John, Masiel Infante, Paul Bartlett, et al. (2023). Science Education, 107, 609- 650. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21782
  • Emission and Long-Range Transport Modeling. 2021. Bartlett, Paul and Macleod, Matt and (coleads), Lammel, Gerhard, Li Li, Cousins, Ian, Friedman, Carey, Gusev, Alexey, Li, Yi-Fan, Ma, Jianmin, Muntean, Marilena. Chapter 2.1 in POPs and Chemicals of Emerging Arctic Concern (CEACs): Influence of Climate Change, eds. Derek Muir, Cynthia deWitt, Katrin Vorkamp. Arctic Monitoring Assessment Programme (AMAP). Tromsø, Norway.
  • Integrating Core Sustainability Meta-Competencies and SDGs Across the Silos in Curriculum and Professional Development. 2020. Bartlett, Paul, Milena Povov, John Ruppert. (2020). Chapter in The SDGs and Institutions of Higher Education: ed. by Godwell Nhamo & Vuyo Mjimba. Nature Springer. Retrieved from: https://www.springer.com/us/book/9783030261566
  • Unintentional "New" PCB in the Arctic. Special Issue on Chemicals of Emerging Arctic Concern, 2019. Bartlett, Paul, Elisabeth Isaksson and Mark Hermanson. Emerging Contaminants. Volume 5(1): 9-14. KeAi - Elsevier. [Update of CEAC AMAP Assessment] Open Access. Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/emerging-contaminants/special-issue/10JTJQ0QQPT
  • Bartlett, Paul. (2017). Review of The Lost Traveller's Dream, by Joel Kovel. Dialectical Anthropology, 41: 285-289. Taylor & Francis. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10624-017-9468-3
  • Intercontinental transport of persistent organic pollutants: A review of key findings and recommendation. 2012. Alexey Gusev, Matthew MacLeod and Paul Bartlett, Atmospheric Pollution Research, Vol 3, Issue 4, Pages 463-465, doi.org/10.5094/APR.2012.053
  • Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution 2010, Part C: Persistent Organic Pollutants. Air Pollution Studies No. 19, UN ECE CLRTAP. HTAP. 2011
  • POP Model Intercomparison Study. Stage I. Comparison of Descriptions of Main Processes Determining POP Behaviour in Various Environmental Compartments, MSC-E Technical Report 1/2004, 2005. POP Model Intercomparison Study. Stage II. Comparison of Mass Balance Estimates and Sensitivity Studies, EMEP/MSC-E Technical Report 4/2005.
  • Captured: The History of Lower East Side Film and Video. 2004. Patterson, C., Bartlett, P. and Mylonas, U., eds. Seven Stories Press, NY.
  • Gold standard for lower Manhattan cleanup. (2004). Neuman, D., Bartlett, P., Clarke, M., Kotelchuck, D., Rossol, M., Vozick, M.: New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 119-217. Retrieved from: http://nycosh.org/environment_wtc/GoldStandard.htm
  • Commoner, B., Bartlett, P.W., Eisl, H., Couchot, K. 2003.The Deposition of airborne dioxin emitted by North American sources on ecologically vulnerable receptors in Nunavut, in Northern Lights Against POPs: Toxic Threats in the Arctic, edited by Terry Fenge and David Downie, McGill-Queen's University Press, published for the Inuit Circumpolar Conference (Canada). https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt801rz
  • The ecological domain of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) emissions from the Hudson River. 2003. Bartlett, P.W., Commoner, B., Couchot, K., (CBNS); O'Hehir, D., 2003.Final report to the New York Community Trust. April.
  • Cohen, M.D., et al, 2002. Modeling the atmospheric transport and deposition of PCDD/F to the Great Lakes. Environmental Science & Technology Vol.34 No.22, pp 4831-4845. Nov. [Outstanding Scientific Paper, OAR, NOAA]
  • Commoner, B., Bartlett, P.W., Eisl, H., Couchot, K. 2000. Long-range air transport of dioxin from North American sources to ecologically vulnerable receptors in Nunavut, Arctic Canada. North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
  • The economic impact on the recycling system on New York City. (1999). Bartlett, Paul. Ch.V in Eisl, H., et al., Development and implementation of an integrated recycling system for the collection, processing, and the use in manufacturing of New York City municipal solid waste. Final report to the Pew Charitable Trusts. April.

  • A Fire in the Forest of Possibilities. Is "What If' Now "What Was'? A Walk through the Utopian Loisiada Past and Present. (2025). Panelist. ABC No Rio 45 Years. Emily Harvey Foundation (Fluxus Gallery). 537 Broadway, 2nd Floor, NYC. April 19. https://abcnorio45.org
  • Emerging Strategies to Indigenize the Curriculum at an Urban University. (2024). Theme Elevating the pluriverse: Indigenous and diverse visions for sustainable. International Conference for Sustainable Development: Solutions for the Future. UN SDSN. September 19.
  • 911 Butoh Performance Honoring those Lost. (2023). Times Square. Vangeline Theater. Sept 11.
  • Wikipedia Edu: Bringing Environmental Justice and Climate Literacy Beyond the Classroom Walls. (2022). World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC). Prague, Czech Republic. March 14-18.
  • Earth Law and the Rights of Nature: A New Generation of Laws Built for Nature. (2021). Global Conference on Sustainability in Higher Education (GCSHE), Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). October 12-14.
  • POPS/CEC LRT: Knowledge Gaps & Cooperative Research Opportunities. Two Lectures. (2021). International Arctic School (IAS), Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China. July 21.
  • POPs/EC Long Range Transport & Emission Uncertainties: Opportunities for Inter-comparison Modeling Collaborations (invitational poster & hybrid working meeting). (2019). Society for Ecotoxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). Toronto, Canada. Nov. 4.
  • Emerging Contaminants: Eco-Political Institutional Failure, Challenges, & Initiatives. (2019). Ecology Society of America (ESA) & United States Society for Ecological Economics (USSEE) joint conference. Louisville, Kentucky. August 11-16.
  • Eco-literacy Workshops for Non-Faculty Staff: An Ethic of Care and Domain Based Moral Education Approach. (2019). Canadian Society for Economics and Ecology (CANSEE). Waterloo. May 22-24.
  • Chemicals of Emerging Arctic Concern: Institutional Failure and Opportunities for International Collaboration. (2019). Polar Academy, Harbin Institute for Technology (HIT), Harbin, China. February 28.
  • Chemicals of Emerging Concern: Challenges & Opportunities (2018). Congress of the International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE). Puebla, Mexico. September 10th.
  • Using socially acute questions focused on 'care' to enhance epistemic thinking about ecosystem services and sustainability. American Society for Ecology (ASE) Conference. New Orleans. August 7th.

  • Fellow, Indigenous Perspectives, Knowledge and Environmental Justice (IPKEJ). Teaching & Learning Center, John Jay College, CUNY. F23-Sp24. Faculty Seminar Organizer and Facilitator.
  • Fellow, Environmental Justice and Project Based Learning. Teaching & Learning Center, John Jay College, CUNY. F19-Sp20. Faculty Seminar Organizer and Facilitator.
  • Scientific Committee appointment to the new Polar Academy, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. February 2019-2022.
  • University Research Fellow (originally Scholar-in-Residence). Saint Peter's University. 2012-2015.
  • Certificates, North American Task Force, Evan Lloyd, Dir., Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America cec.org, Ing. Alfonso Flores Ramirez, Dir. Gen., Instituto Nacional de Ecologia, ine.gob.mx, and Ing. Victor J. Guitierrez Avedoy, Dir. Gen., Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), Mexico; December 2009 & November, 2012.
  • Outstanding Scientific Paper (2002; 2004). Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Mark Cohen lead author.
  • Outstanding Lecturer (1993). LaGuardia Community College, CUNY.
  • Commendation with Robin Kramer, J.D. Herbert Sturz, Chair, NY City Planning Commission.
  • Scholarships, Teaching Assistant (Statistics) and elected Student Adviser (1991-92), New School for Social Research, New School University, NY, NY.
  • Gold Medal, Minnesota State Science Fair, Minnesota Academy of Science.