I am grateful to everyone at John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. for their guidance throughout the production of this book. They were professional, patient, and extremely helpful. I am also deeply appreciative of the reviewers that provided insightful initial comments on the text.

There are many who helped me in one way or another as I worked on this book. I cannot name everyone, but please know that all of my friends, family members, colleagues, and former students have my thanks. Yet there are some who deserve some special thanks for inspiration or assistance. They are: Mario Jose Gomez, Jim Brinkmann, Charlie Brinkmann, Fenda Akiwumi, Kamal Alsharif, J. Bret Bennington, Elizabeth Bird, David Brinkmann, James Brinkmann, John Brinkmann, Rose Brinkmann, Jennifer Collins, Michelle and Craig DeBruyn, Andrea Del Toro, Lauren D'Orsa, Joni Downs, Emma Farmer, Bernard Firestone, Sandra Garren, Jody and Erik Gartzke, Lynne Goldstein, Antonio Gomez, Carolina Gomez, Elis Grecia Pulido Gomez, Elis Vera de Gomez, Charleen Gonzalez, Karla Gonzalez, Mark Hafen, Grant Harley, Nancy Heller, Adriane Hoff, Sharon and Bob Hoff, Randy Honig, Heidi Hutner, Robin Jones, Rafael Jaramillo, Bhavani Jaroff, Sophia Kasselakis, Ina Katz, Beth Larson, Lawrence Levy, Burrell Montz, Keshanti Nandlall, Christophser Niedt, Gitfah Niles, Joanne Norris, Leslie North, Juan Penso, Lisa Marie Pierre, Jason Polk, Phil Reeder, Norma Camero Reno, Geary Schindel, Patricia and Nelson Sohns, Elizabeth Strom, Graham Tobin, Maya Trotz, Naimish Upadhyay, Phil Van Beynen, George Veni, and Laurie Walker.

I would also like to thank all of the photographers who submitted photographs for this book. Finally, I would like to thank all of my current and former students for the inspiration you give me to have hope for the future of our planet.

Robert (Bob) Brinkmann, Ph.D. is the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Northern Illinois University where he is also a Professor in the Department of Geology and Environment. He was born in 1961 in rural Wisconsin and was greatly influenced by his experiences growing up in a quaint, small‐town environment. As a child he spent many hours in nature hiking, fishing, and canoeing, especially in the wilderness of northern Wisconsin. In 1979, he entered the geology program at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh. There, he earned a Bachelor of Science with a focus on lithology, mineralogy, and field geology. During this period, he travelled throughout North America and participated in a geology field school in Alberta, British Columbia, and the Yukon. His first publication, on the formation of the Berlin Rhyolite, was published in 1982.

After graduation, Brinkmann attended the University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee where he earned an MS in Geology in 1986 and a Ph.D. in Geography in 1989. During this period, he worked in diamond exploration, ice crystallography, and soil chemistry. It was while conducting fieldwork in diamond exploration that Brinkmann began to be influenced by sustainability issues. He started to take courses with the late Forest Stearns, one of the first ecologists to call for research on urban ecosystems, and the late Robert Eidt, a soil scientist noted for his definition and interpretation of anthrosols, or humanly modified soils. Brinkmann began to study a number of topics including heavy metal geochemistry of garden soils in cities, ancient agricultural soils in the Arabian Peninsula, and soil and sediment erosion in mountainous regions. He also took courses with cave and karst expert, Michael J. Day, and noted archaeologist, Lynne Goldstein.

In 1990, Brinkmann became an Assistant Professor at the University of South Florida (USF) where he continued his research on urban sustainability, particularly as associated with soil and sediment pollution in urban and suburban areas and cave and karst research. He published numerous articles and books including the only book on the science, policy, and management of urban street sweeping (with Graham Tobin) and the only book on sinkholes in Florida. He became a Full Professor in 2000 and the first Chair of USF's Department of Environmental Science and Policy. He also served as Chair of the Department of Geography and as Associate Dean for Faculty Development in the 2000s. He arrived at Hofstra University in 2011 to start a new sustainability studies program. The undergraduate program offers a BS, BA, and MA in sustainability. From 2016 until 2019 Brinkmann served as Vice Provost for Research and Dean of Graduate Studies at Hofstra University.

Over the years, he has designed a number of courses, including ones on sustainability management, wetlands, and community‐based sustainability. Brinkmann has served as an elected officer with a number of national, regional, and local organizations and has appeared on a number of national news outlets as an expert on geologic and environmental issues, including CBS News and CNN. His blog, On the Brink, which focuses on environmental and sustainability issues, gets thousands of hits a day. He also has a regular column on Huffington‐post, and his opinion pieces have appeared on Newsday and CNN.com.

Don't forget to visit the companion website for this book:

www.wiley.com/go/Brinkmann/IntroductiontoSustainability

There you will find valuable material designed to enhance your learning, including:

• Learning Outcomes for all chapters
• Color version of figures
• Exercises for all chapters

Scan this QR code to visit the companion website