Dominique Werboff

Director of Arboriculture

dwerboff@coastal.edu

843-349-2296

Dr. Werboff is a human-environment geographer specializing in multi-stakeholder strategies for forest and landscape restoration and sustainable development in human-dominated landscapes. She holds a Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University, a Permaculture Design Certificate from the Cabiokid Foundation, and a Rainforestation Trainer Certificate from the Yale Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative & Visayas State University.

Her research has covered topics ranging from community-based forest management to climate change mitigation to experiential learning. As the Director of Arboriculture at CCU, she oversees the management and maintenance of the campus landscape as a public garden and living laboratory, guided by the principles of ecological restoration, sustainability, and resilience. She has worked extensively in the Philippines on a range of interconnected topics, including reforestation, agroforestry, protected areas, livelihood and food security, biodiversity and ecosystem services, traditional ecological knowledge, indigeneity, gendered adaptations to climate change, land tenure, governance, and the relationship between human and environmental health.

Dr. Werboff is involved in several non-profit organizations. She is the President of Reforest Our Future and a member of the Advisory Committee of EcoLogic. In the Philippines she co-founded the Restoration Initiative for Sustainable Ecosystems (RISE) and served for a decade as a Senior Associate Scientist for the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)-Philippines.

On campus, she is the founding advisor for SPROUT, a student club whose mission is to promote awareness and educate students and the community about ways to sustainably engage with the environment. She worked with students from SPROUT and one of her classes to develop the proposal that led to the establishment of the CCU Arboretum.