Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences and Professor of Environmental and Ocean Sciences

Ron Kaufmann, PhD, joined the USD faculty in 1997 and currently serves as the associate dean for programs and curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences. His areas of specialization are benthic and pelagic ecology and environmental biology, and his teaching includes courses in biology, environmental studies and marine science, as well as interdisciplinary courses that are team-taught with colleagues in the humanities. Kaufmann’s scholarship focuses on biological communities and their dynamics as well as their responses to changing environmental conditions. He has studied marine communities in extreme environments such as the Antarctic and the deep ocean, as well as in Mission Bay. At this time, he is not taking on any new graduate students, though he is available to serve as a graduate committee member.