Biography
Dr. Chesnes earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering Sciences and a B.S. in Zoology from the University of Florida. He also received a Graduate Certificate in Wetland Sciences from the H.T. Odum Center for Wetlands at the University of Florida. He has worked in the biological and environmental sciences field for over 30 years. He is a professor of biology at Palm Beach Atlantic University and is the Associate Dean of Sciences within the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Chesnes is trained in systems ecology and specializes in estuarine and field biology. He has worked in wetlands, estuaries, salt marshes, and coastal systems throughout the southeastern United States, studying vertebrates, invertebrates, and plant species. He has researched, presented, and published work in various areas, including seagrass and invertebrate ecology, fisheries management, the invasive Burmese python in the Everglades, institutional sustainability, higher education, and the interface between science, faith, and culture. He is the primary instructor at PBA for Environment and Society, Natural History of the Everglades Watershed, Natural History of the Galapagos, and Field Biology classes as well as Introduction to Life in the Sea, a non-majors’ marine biology course.
Dr. Chesnes has collaborated and coauthored works with several undergraduate students in research, resulting in numerous peer-reviewed publications and professional presentations. He was the lead instructor for the Marine Biology Summer Camp at John D. MacArthur Beach State Park between 2007 and 2012 and was named the park’s 2011 Environmental Champion for his seagrass research spanning over fifteen years. He currently sits on the Parks Friends Executive Board as well as that of the MANG Foundation.
He was awarded the Charles and Hazel Corts Award for Outstanding Teaching (Professor of the Year) from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2015. The Gale Environmental Academy at Forest Hill High School also awarded him the Environmental Star award for his work on the Lake Worth Lagoon, a collaborative project between the university and high school.
Currently, Dr. Chesnes serves as a science advisor for the Knox Theological Seminary as a part of the Science for Seminaries Phase II Project, funded through the Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program within the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He has also received an AAAS grant in collaboration with the PBA School of Ministry advancing Creation Care in the Seminary.
Degrees
PhD in Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida | MS in Environmental Engineering Sciences, University of Florida | BS in Zoology, University of Florida