Dr. Brooklynn Wynveen
I grew up just outside of the Twin Cities in Minnesota. While I grew up in a family of modest means, I always knew that a college education was the key to success and security. Feeling I had no other options to achieve this goal, I joined the US Air Force out of high school. I served six years as a Russian linguist, during which time, I completed my bachelors’ degree online. This was back when an “online” degree was essentially a correspondence course with the added feature of email communication.
Upon my discharge, I attended Texas A&M to earn my Master’s in Natural Resource Development, with my thesis research focusing on the human dimensions of unconventional natural gas development in the Barnett Shale region of Texas. Then, while serving as an Extension Associate at Mississippi State University, I began working on a PhD in Sociology. I later transferred to Clemson, which had no such program. Seeking the best fit for this square peg, I landed in a multi-disciplinary program called Planning, Design, and the Built Environment. My focus would most closely align with their City and Regional Planning emphasis—however with a much greater focus on the human dimensions thereof. My dissertation research involved a formative and iterative intervention aimed at improving sustainable living behaviors among non-environmentally-motivated individuals.
While I continue to publish papers based on my dissertation research, my focus has shifted. I’ve since conducted an in-depth study of a single small-scale honey producer, the results of which I am still working on getting published. And then currently, I am working on a project aimed at understanding the experiences of living kidney donors. This project involves qualitative analysis of numerous in-depth personal interviews, with the goals of: raising awareness about the need for living kidney donors, better identifying suitable potential donors, and identifying areas in which donor rights and protections require improvements. Upon completion of this project, I intend to explore other dimensions of the living kidney donation phenomenon (including the experiences of kidney transplant recipients, as well as those still awaiting a transplant).
While I find my research very exciting and rewarding, my primary duties as a lecturer at Sam Houston State revolve around teaching, which I am also very passionate about. I strive to be available, accessible, approachable, and authentic in my online classrooms. Having earned an online degree myself, I believe strongly that this format can transform students’ abilities to achieve the goal of receiving higher education credentials, thus improving their chances for success outside of school. For this reason, I put a LOT of time and effort into my teaching, and I believe that it shows in my interactions with students. My primary concern is my students’ success!
Classes Taught: Social Inequality, Research Methods, and Marriage and the Family
Research Interests: Human dimensions of sustainability, Living kidney donation
Selected Publications:
- Wynveen, B.J., A.R. Meyer, and C.J. Wynveen. 2019. Promoting Sustainable Living Among College Students: Key Programming Components. Journal of Forestry 117(4): 353-359.
- Wynveen, B.J. 2017. Improving Sustainable Living Education Through the Use of Formative Experiments. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development 11(1): 14-32.
- Wynveen, B.J. 2015. Perceptions of Sustainability and Sustainable Living Among Non-Environmentally-Motivated Individuals. Society & Natural Resources 28(12): 1278-1289.