Eric Greene, President & Founder

Beginning in the early-1980s, Eric Greene developed and graduated with the first transdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate degrees in Animals & Culture Studies from Binghamton University and Vermont College (now part of The Union Institute and University), respectively, followed by advanced study in cultural anthropology at the New School for Social Research. Designed to explore cross-cultural understandings of nonhuman animals and the complexities of our relationships with them, his work remains inspired by notions of social and environmental justice, as it illuminates the subjectivities of individual animals and the meanings attributed to being human. In 1990, he created and taught the first program in animals and culture studies offered at an institution of higher education (Miami-Dade College).

As a graduate student, Eric built a professional career in the nonprofit sector. Reflecting upon his years as an executive at health-related education and research organizations (both, community-based and national), he finds great potential in translating health-based strategies to animal protection and ecological projects. In 2003 he founded EverGreene Consulting which provides domestic and international programs with needed services (e.g., strategic planning, program development, proposal planning, and marketing). His services have supported such projects as coexistence and reconciliation in the Middle East; community-based family violence programs; and HIV prevention programs in underserved communities.

In 2010, Eric founded the Green Pet-Burial Society, designed to take a multilevel approach in promoting conservation whole family cemeteries and other green burial options for a pet’s remains, and to advance the study of our perceptions of animals and our relationships with them.

Eric is committed to blending his academic and nonprofit expertise in ways that advance research and programs designed to explore the complexities of our relationships with other animals, and to improve those relationships cross-culturally. He facilitated the advisory council of the Animals & Society Institute and currently serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal, Society & Animals.

Research interests include: animality, semiotics, the body in public/private space, representations of nature, religion, bullying and home-based violence. 

updated April 14, 2020