Personal Summary

My main teaching and research interests focus on ethical and philosophical issues arising from the interactions of scientific and technological development with environmental and social concerns. Some general areas I explore in my research and teaching are sustainability, global climate change, risk management, agriculture, and public deliberations over emergent technologies. In addition, I’m interested in examining the philosophical and spiritual roots of environmental values.  

Center for Ethics:

The Center for Ethics (CFE) was created in 1996 to promote teaching, research, and service in applied and professional ethics. The Center’s mission is to promote responsible moral discourse over pressing contemporary concerns. As such, the Center’s programs focus on a variety of topics, such as global climate change, technological development, health care, sustainability and conservation policies. The Center offers courses, public lectures and conferences, and professional development workshops.

Visit the Ethics Center’s Web site: http://www.umt.edu/ethics/

Education

Ph.D., Philosophy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN
M.A., with Honors, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
B.S., Soil Science, University of California, Riverside, CA

Field of Study

Environmental ethics
Agricultural ethics
Ethics and Global Climate Change
Philosophy of Technology

Selected Publications

“The Magic Bullet Critique of Agricultural Biotechnology,” The Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
Volume 19, Number 3, 2005
Reprinted in: Ethics and the Life Sciences, ed. Fredrick Adams (Philosophy Documentation Center, 2007)

 “Transforming the Market-Model University: Environmental Philosophy, Citizenship and the Recovery of the Humanities”

Worldview: Environment, Culture, Religion

Volume 8, Numbers II-III

Reprinted in: Teaching Environmental Ethics, ed. Clare Palmer (Brill, 2005)

“Perspectives on Precaution: the Role of Policymakers in Dealing with the Uncertainties of Agricultural Biotechnology”

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues

Volume 5 Nos. 1/2 2005

“Science and the Consequences of Mistrust: Lessons from Recent GM Controversies”

The Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Ethics, Volume 16, No. 6, 2003

The Ecological Community and the Narrative of Creation”

Worldviews: Environment, Culture, Religion,

Volume 7, Number I/II, 2003