Erim is a lecturer at Gonzaga University, where he teaches Ecology and Organismal Biology. He is also a Ph.D. candidate in environmental and natural resource sciences at Washington State University in the Endangered Species Laboratory. His research includes the conservation of endangered species, the ecology of freshwater ecosystems, and amphibians and freshwater fish. Erim holds a BS in environmental studies with minors in economics and political science from SOU. While at Southern Oregon, he was a McNair Scholar and served as Co-Director of the Environmental Resource Center. As Co-Director, he helped pass a student referendum that off-set the university’s carbon footprint. This led to SOU becoming one of the most environmentally-friendly campuses in the country. He earned a master’s in natural resource sciences from Washington State University. He currently serves on the Board of the Bullitt Environmental Foundation. He has previously served on the board of the Society of Northwestern Vertebrate Biology and Oregon Stewardship. At Gonzaga, he is a member of the Undocumented Community Support Coalition and mentors first-generation college students through Gonzaga’s Unity Multicultural Education Center. Prior to teaching at Gonzaga, he served as co-advisor for MEChA de WSU (Chicanx student organization) for many years.

“SOU helped me become a university educator and mentor. I look toward the professors I had at SOU for how to be a caring and inspiring mentor. And I still call them up for advice from time to time, and they have always been there for me.”