Ron Balthazor, Ph.D. is a senior academic professional at the University of Georgia. He teaches composition and Environmental Literature and is the lead developer of the Emma project, a web application for writing. His scholarship has appeared in Portal, The Journal of General Education, Readerly/Writerly Texts, Literary and Linguistic Computing, and ATQ. His continuing interests include Environmental Literature and Eco-criticism, Thoreau, PHP, Symfony (a web application development platform), honey bees, chickens, worms, and the rich ecosystem of the backyard garden. He serves on the Office of Sustainability’s committee for the integration of sustainability in the curriculum at UGA and is the director of the Sustainability Certificate.