Seth Pritchard

Interim Dean of the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

Seth Pritchard was appointed Interim dean of the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences in January 2024. Before assuming the role of interim dean, Pritchard served as the director of the interdisciplinary undergraduate Program in Environmental Studies from 2012 to 2015. He chaired the Department of Biology from 2016-2021 where he led a department of 900 students and nearly 50 faculty members. He was associate dean of the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences before being named interim dean. He teaches undergraduate courses in environmental and sustainability studies, general biology and plant physiology. 

Pritchard’s research is on sustainable agriculture and the impacts of global environmental changes on crop production, forest ecology and management of forest products. His articles have appeared in a number of international journals including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, New Phytologist, Ecology Letters, and Global Change Biology, and he has served as a reviewer for more than 30 international scientific journals. He published the book Crops and Environmental Change in 2005.  

Before entering academia, Pritchard was a botanist and research plant physiologist with the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service in Alabama and West Texas where he focused on improving agricultural management practices. He has been a frequent advisor to plant biology research initiatives at the United States Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. 

EDUCATION

1998: Ph.D. Botany, Auburn University

1992: B.A. Biology, Berea College

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

2024-current: Interim Dean, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

2022-2024: Associate Dean, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences

2016-2021: Chair and Professor, Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2012-2015: Director, Undergraduate Environmental Studies Program, College of Charleston, SC

2009-2015: Associate Professor of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2004-2009: Assistant Professor of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2003-2004: Visiting Assistant Professor, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC

2002-2004: Consultant, Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL

2002-2003: Assistant Professor, Belmont University, Nashville, TN

2000-2002: Plant Physiologist, United States Department of Agriculture, Big Spring, TX

1998-2002: Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Agronomy and Soil, Auburn University, AL

1998-2000: Research Botanist, United States Department of Agriculture, Auburn, AL

1996-1997: Director, Electron Microscopy Facility, Auburn University, Auburn, AL