About Alder Fuller & Euglena Academy
Dr. Alder Fuller
Alder Fuller is founder, Dean & instructor of Euglena Academy located in Eugene, Oregon.
Education & Professional Background
Dr. Fuller studied & taught biology & mathematics at the college-level for 39 years. My university degrees are:
- PhD Ecology & Biological Evolution, U of New Mexico, 1990
- MS Probability Theory & Mathematical Statistics, U of Memphis, 1984
- MS Biological Systematics, U of Memphis, 1976
- BS Biology (Invertebrate Biology & Entomology), U of Memphis, 1973
Dr. Fuller taught biology & mathematics full-time at an Albuquerque, NM community college (TVI: 1990 - 1997) & one year as a part-time biology instructor at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA (2000).
Personal statement from Dr. Fuller
"...studying complexity has changed my views of science, education and life so much that I’ve found it increasingly more difficult - and a lot less interesting & fun - to teach biology and mathematics “the traditional” way, without tying complexity directly into them. Yet, trying to weave ideas from systems sciences into an established, “syllabus-on-record” college course, wading through layers of curriculum committees, attempting to explain systems principles and their relevance to a committee faculty who were classically trained and had little to no background in systems {thus didn’t “get it”} - was very challenging. (Read, virtually impossible.)
Thus, in 2001, I quit mainstream college teaching to found Euglena (Euglena Education, LLC, of which Euglena Academy is the current project). I wanted my own school where I could design an experimental college-level curriculum that explicitly incorporates the linkages between leading-edge ideas in systems theory, nonlinear dynamics, chaos theory, geophysiology, biology and mathematics.This project has been one of the greatest challenges of my life, far exceeding the challenge of even my doctoral studies. When I started Euglena, I was a biologist and educator with no background for running a business, and seemingly little aptitude for it. I wanted to teach, not do marketing and bookkeeping. I’ve learned the lessons of business the hard way. I’m still working on it.
But simultaneously, Euglena has been one of the greatest joys of my life. Being able to teach about life (and the universe within which it is embedded) from a systems sciences perspective is very fulfilling intellectually. Since 2001, I have had the opportunity to offer glimpses of that perspective to hundreds in classes, seminars, workshops and public lectures."
Euglena Academy
(primary scientific expertise for this project provided by Euglena Academy)
Euglena Academy is an independent, college-level school for adults (18+) in Eugene, OR, founded by Dr. Alder Fuller, offering scientifically-rigorous classes (beginning & advanced) & workshops about systems sciences (AKA complexity) focusing on two integrated topics:
- The biology, health, origins & evolution of cells, organisms, ecosystems & Gaia. System sciences are profoundly changing our scientific understanding of everything & contributing to an unprecedented paradigm shift in every discipline of science, especially biology. They offer an awe-inspiring new understanding of the processes of life from cells to organisms & ecosystems to Gaia, our living planet, yet are easily understandable by people with any background, including those with no previous science.
- Global heating & climate change, the greatest challenges that humans have faced in the history of our species. We have probably passed a critical threshold (“tipping point”) for climate change that will soon transform Earth into a “different” planet with a more violent & chaotic climate that hasn't existed for 55 million years. We must begin planning to adapt. Without systems sciences – including Gaia theory - the
scale, speed & severity of the changes are not understandable & adequate solutions are less probable.
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