ISSE Staff
Wolf Naegeli
Emeritus (Retired)
Office Phone: (865) 974-4251
Email: wolf@naegeli.net
Ph.D. and M.S., Natural Resources Policy and Planning,
Cornell University
Throughout his career, Dr. Naegeli has worked to improve communication, education, and public decision-making on complex environmental issues with long-term implications. Before coming to the United States, Dr. Naegeli was Director of Information for World Wildlife Fund Switzerland. He was the founder and editor of Panda (now WWF Magazine), established WWF’s Teacher Information Service, and initiated the Swiss Center for Environmental Education, which evolved into an institution offering continuing education and environmental specialist certification to adults in many professions. Dr. Naegeli also was a founding member of the Swiss Solar Energy Society. As marketing executive for World Wildlife Fund International, he coordinated The Seas Must Live public-awareness and fundraising campaign in German-speaking countries out of a liaison office he established in Frankfurt, Germany.
Dr. Naegeli studied zoology, journalism, and marketing at the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. From 1978 to 1985 he was a graduate student and teaching assistant, lecturer, and research associate at Cornell University. His degree work included remote sensing; applied ecology; landscape architecture; and science, math, and environmental education. He taught courses on science, society, and environmental issues and environmental conservation. In 1984, he was contracted by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Land & Water 201 program to develop computer applications and methods for analyzing and visualizing the National Resources Inventory for more effective communication of results to decision makers and the general public.
Dr. Naegeli pioneered uses of desktop computers and computer networks for scientific applications at TVA and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). On assignment to ORNL for 14 years after joining the University of Tennessee in 1985, he worked as a policy and technology analyst and as a systems integrator on projects for several federal agencies. He received a Special Achievement Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the development and deployment of a scientific workstation for analyzing the hydrogeology and monitoring groundwater quality at hazardous-waste sites. He led the development of an emergency management information system and of interactive simulation models for planning and assessing emergency responses to chemical accidents. He also contributed to, and supported the preparation of, multimedia training materials and workshops for emergency responders, teachers, and global-change researchers.
Since 2000, Dr. Naegeli has been the systems architect and a geospatial applications developer for the South East Regional Information System (SERIS) and the Southern Appalachian Information Node of the National Biological Information Infrastructure. He is developing interactive tools for public participation in community sustainability initiatives, citizen environmental monitoring programs, and the place-based K-12 Special Habitats integrated science education project.
Dr. Naegeli’s research interests include energy efficiency, sustainable communities, the interactions of agriculture and forestry with climate at the regional and global scale, and nongovernmental environmental-conservation initiatives at the grass-roots level and in the private sector. He has been a board member or consultant for many nonprofit educational organizations. He served on Apple Computer Inc's User Group Advisory Council from 1991 to 1993. Presently he is treasurer of the Foundation for Global Sustainability and a participant in the Millennium Project of the American Committee for the United Nations University.