Meet the Faculty - Josh Drew

09/10/2025

Josh Drew shares his journey to ESF with warmth and humor, recalling his first campus tour with his mom and how he eventually returned as a professor. Arriving just before the pandemic, he jokes about having “two first days” at ESF — once in 2019 and again when campus reopened — and both times he was struck by the kindness and sense of community. From endless cups of welcome coffee to the collaborative spirit of colleagues and students, Drew describes ESF as a place that embraces people fully and fuels both scientific discovery and personal connection.

In the classroom, Drew teaches core conservation biology courses, blending theory with hands-on skills like statistical analysis in R. His own research bridges human and natural sciences, exploring how biodiversity and cultural health are intertwined — work that often pulls in collaborators from fields as varied as anthropology, linguistics, chemistry, and microbiology. What excites him most, though, is the energy of ESF students. He admires their passion for the environment, their eagerness to learn, and their drive to make the world better. For Drew, teaching isn’t just instruction — it’s a shared exploration, where students’ insights and lived experiences create something far richer than any lecture slide.