Donald Strauss, PhD, MFA is the founding chair of the Urban Sustainability Master of Arts program at Antioch University Los Angeles. The program launched in October 2010 with the intention of training practitioners and activists committed to working at the urban intersections of global environmental change and social, economic, and environmental justice.

In March 2015, Donald completed his work in the Environmental Studies program at Antioch University New England (AUNE), where he earned a PhD. While in the Environmental Studies Program, he focused on narratives of individuals and groups in urban communities and their relationships to the natural, social, and political ecosystems with which they interact. His dissertation, titled Ridazz, Wrenches, & Wonks: A Revolution on Two Wheels Rolls Into Los Angeles, is an examination of the spontaneous emergence of a bike culture that has played an unlikely role in the transformation of regional transportation policy and the cultural life of Los Angeles, California.

Since January 2007, Donald has served as a Climate Change Presenter with The Climate Reality Project, founded by The Honorable Albert Gore. He has given over 50 presentations titled Climate Change: Causes, Consequences, and Solutions, based on the material included in the Academy Award-winning documentary film An Inconvenient Truth. With the ongoing assistance of the staff at The Climate Project, Donald has continuously updated the presentation so that, in its current form, it reflects the most current state of scientific knowledge and social discourse pertaining to global environmental change.

Prior to assuming his role as Chair of the Urban Sustainability Program, Donald was a member of the Core Faculty in the Antioch University Los Angeles Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies Program, where he directed the Creative Writing Major Area of Concentration. He has been teaching at Antioch University Los Angeles since 1998.