Michael T. Ledbetter
Mike Ledbetter
Professional Information
Title: Professor
Educational Background:
- BAAS 1969, Memphis State University
- MS 1970, Memphis State University
- PhD 1978, University of Rhode Island
Contact Information
- Office Location: FH 303
- Office Phone: 569-3257
- E-Mail: mtledbetter@ualr.edu
Bio:
After receiving a bachelor’s and master’s degree in geology, doing a stint in the army and returning to graduate school to get a PhD in oceanography, my career has taken many interesting twists and turns in and out of academia. The first 15 or so years were largely spent as researcher and/or faculty member in geology and oceanography and the next ~10 years as a program officer in two Federal research agencies (NOAA and NSF). While at NSF I had a very rewarding time directing a global change research program that spanned nearly all of the sciences and employed a system-science approach to analyzing the effects of global warming in the Arctic. After spending a few hundred million tax dollars on that endeavor and enjoying the experience of learning about research in a wide array of disciplines new to me, I returned to academia to be the dean of the College of Science and Mathematics at UALR. Now I am enjoying a more rewarding period in my career as a member of the faculty teaching Physical Geology, online courses in Oceanography and Weather Studies, and a new course in the social and cultural sciences educational core, Science and Technology in Society. Additionally I teach a one-year course, Science and Society, in the Donaghey Scholars Program. In all my courses I utilize my experience in the government to emphasize how science contributes to solving problems in society at an array of scales from global to personal.