Appointed the new director of the State of the Rockies Project in May 2014, Eric Perramond is excited about the focus for the Rockies Project for the 2015-16 academic year. A human-environment geographer and political ecologist, the issues of scarcity, access, and justice are all fixed firmly in his sights. That said, the Rockies Project is “less about any specific topic,” but rather “more about getting students curious and involved in a tangible theme that citizens and experts care deeply about,” he said. The SOTR Project also is about “the intellectual experience for the college, and tying what the Rockies Project does into the mission of the liberal arts at CC.”

Joining Colorado College in 2005 was a “no brainer” decision, he said, one made easier by his passion for the Southwest, which he first discovered while at Mary Washington College (’92). Following his master’s at Louisiana State University where he worked on a sustainable agriculture project at Zuni Pueblo in New Mexico, and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin, where he examined private cattle ranching in northern Mexico, Perramond was determined to bring his work and passion to their natural coalescence — the Southwest, and to Colorado.

During his time here, Perramond says that “CC has changed far more radically than I have!” – particularly with emphasis on the diversity of students he now teaches. “We’re constantly forced to consider how we make our materials relevant and interesting to a constantly growing and changing student body,” he said.

Beyond the classroom and the field, Perramond likes to get outside “as much as possible,” cooking, and all things wine-related.