Richard Murdocco, an adjunct professor at Stony Brook University, was recently recognized for his contributions to sustainability and environmental education at the inaugural Long Island Herald’s GreenBIZ Awards. Murdocco, who teaches in the Department of Political Science in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, was one of three individuals honored in the Education category.
The awards event, organized by Herald Community Newspapers, highlighted executives and community members on Long Island who have influenced business practices with a global impact. The publication noted Murdocco’s work at Stony Brook University and his efforts to advance discussions on renewable energy, responsible land use, environmental policy, and preparing future leaders to understand how economic development intersects with environmental protection.
Murdocco’s interest in environmental issues began during his undergraduate studies at Fordham University. “That came from studying the interrelationship between land use and water quality,” he said. “I wrote my undergraduate thesis on land use and development on Long Island, and it really opened my eyes to how what we do on top impacts the water we drink on the bottom.”
After completing degrees in political science and urban studies at Fordham, Murdocco attended Stony Brook University for a Master’s in Public Policy—a program he now teaches in. He studied under Lee Koppelman, a prominent advocate for sustainability on Long Island who influenced Murdocco’s approach to balancing development with environmental preservation. “Ever since then I’ve been arguing for the balance between development and growth and the need for environmental preservation,” he said. “His work was formative in shaping my own.”
A lifelong resident of the Stony Brook area, Murdocco grew up in Setauket. His father has taught at Stony Brook’s Renaissance School of Medicine since the 1980s. “When I was younger, I would sit in and watch him teach, and now I’m teaching,” he said. “It still feels kind of weird.”
Murdocco joined Stony Brook as an instructor in 2016 to support its public policy graduate program and develop online courses focused on land use development or environmental policy. He is currently pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at Touro Law Center with plans to enter real estate law. “My plan is to eventually get into real estate law,” he said. “I should have done this 20 years ago, but as my wife says, there’s a reason why I didn’t. Now I’m surrounded by 22-year-olds and it’s humbling. You reach a point where your career becomes an echo chamber but it’s different when you’re in the classroom. Sometimes it’s refreshing to be smacked down a little bit.”
Addressing current challenges in politics related to sustainability policy, Murdocco tells his students: “I tell my students all the time, the pendulum swings both ways on the politics side,” he said. “Sometimes we have policies that are more green, and sometimes it’s more pro-business and less regulation. But I remind them that elections still happen. The system has persevered and for 250 years we’ve had slow-moving democracy. The system still works, for better or for worse, it’s just slow in a time we’re used to having what we order delivered to our stoop by day’s end. But that’s not how government works. Between the market correcting and legislative elective pressure, that’s how you get movement.”
Reflecting on his experience as an educator at Stony Brook University: “A lot of people say that, but it is true,” said Murdocco regarding teaching future leaders. “I’ve had students go on to work for the FDIC. Others are legislative aides. Some of them run for office. And I’ve been teaching long enough now that I meet people in meetings and they say ‘hey, you taught me!’”
Looking forward, Murdocco aims to continue preparing students for roles where they can make positive changes through informed policymaking: “I sincerely hope to give students the tools they need to effectuate good policy change and leverage the law to help people make more informed decisions,” he said. “That could be municipalities, that could be real estate developers… I try to achieve the balance that I learned about all those years ago in my own classes at Stony Brook. It’s my hope that all those lessons come to fruition. It’s cyclical. Today I’m talking about trends as a teacher that I spoke about when I was a student.”