The Provost Fellow for Public Affairs is responsible for all aspects of the Public Affairs Conference, working to establish conference relationships with the regional private sector, educational institutions, and public and private schools, as well as statewide relationships wherever possible.

Dr. D. Alexander Wait
Provost Fellow for Public Affairs
Associate Professor
Biology

 

Alexander Wait received his A.A. from New Mexico Highlands University in Sports Education, his B.S. from SUNY-Geneseo in Biology, his M.S. from SUNY-CESF in Environmental Science, and his Ph.D. from Syracuse University in Biology. Dr. Wait carried out is Ph. D. research at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook N.Y. His research was in the area of plant-insect interactions, investigating methods of fertilization that maximized growth of plantation grown trees while minimizing fertilizer runoff and impacts of insect herbivores. Dr. Wait also investigated how elevated ground level ozone and carbon dioxide concentrations affected tree growth and insect herbivory.

Prior to joining the Department of Biology at Missouri State University in 1999, Dr. Wait was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Maryland where he examined the impacts of climate change on the demography of a natural plant population in Utah. His current research is in the areas of fire ecology and oak regeneration in the Ozarks, and island ecology in the Gulf of California.

Dr. Alexander Wait’s interest in the area of sustainability has grown from his teaching and research in conservation biology and climate change biology to working with groups examining non-fossil fuel sources of energy and learning about social equity. Successful business leaders across the globe who consider the consequences of economic vs. uneconomic growth and the use of GDP (gross domestic product) as a measure of wealth and growth have inspired Dr. Wait to move out of his comfort zone in biological research and teaching to push for sustainable practices at Missouri State University and in the region.

This year’s Missouri State University theme of Sustainability, a convocation series on Sustainable Action Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow, and the fifth Public Affairs Conference that will cover the Social, Economic and Environmental aspects of Sustainability should result in a more sustainable Missouri State University, a more sustainable southwest Missouri, and students that lead all future generations everywhere toward sustainability