Michael P. Nelson | |
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Born | Michael Paul Nelson |
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Academic background | |
Education | Michigan State University (MA) Lancaster University (PhD) |
Michael Paul Nelson is an American environmental scholar, writer, teacher, speaker, consultant, and Professor of environmental philosophy and ethics at Oregon State University. [1] Nelson is also the philosopher in residence of the Isle Royale Wolf-Moose Project, a senior fellow with the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written word, and the director of the Center for the Future of Forests and Society. [2] From 2012 to 2022 he served as the Lead Principal Investigator for the H.J. Andrews Long-Term Ecological Research Program and held the Ruth H. Spaniol Chair in Renewable Resources at Oregon State . [3]
Born in Richland Center, Wisconsin, and raised in Janesville, Wisconsin, Nelson earned an M.A. in philosophy at Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in philosophy at Lancaster University in England. [4]
Nelson taught in the philosophy department, and held a joint appointment in the College of Natural Resources, at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point from 1993 to 2004, in the philosophy department at the University of Idaho from 2005 to 2007, and held a triple-joint appointment in the Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University from 2007 to 2012, before joining Oregon State's Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society in the College of Forestry.
Nelson's work focuses on environmental philosophy and ethics, philosophy of ecology, conservation biology, wildlife ecology and ethics/metaethics, American Indian environmental thought, applied philosophy, and wilderness philosophy. [5] He is the co-founder and co-director of the Conservation Ethics Group, an environmental ethics consultancy group fusing ethics with social and ecological science. [6] He has written articles, co-authored one book, and edited three books on environmental ethics. [7]
Nelson was awarded the University Excellence in Teaching Award from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2002 and the Teacher/Scholar in Residence Award from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2001. [8] His book, Moral Ground, won two 2010 ForeWord Reviews book awards - the Gold Medal for Anthology, and the Bronze Medal for Environment. His Conservation Ethics Group won the Phi Kappa Phi award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Research in 2011.
Isle Royale National Park is an American national park consisting of Isle Royale, along with more than 400 small adjacent islands and the surrounding waters of Lake Superior, in the state of Michigan.
Gaylord Anton Nelson was an American politician from Wisconsin who served as a United States senator and governor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the founder of Earth Day, which launched a new wave of environmental activism.
A land ethic is a philosophy or theoretical framework about how, ethically, humans should regard the land. The term was coined by Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) in his A Sand County Almanac (1949), a classic text of the environmental movement. There he argues that there is a critical need for a "new ethic", an "ethic dealing with human's relation to land and to the animals and plants which grow upon it".
Aldo Leopold was an American writer, philosopher, naturalist, scientist, ecologist, forester, conservationist, and environmentalist. He was a professor at the University of Wisconsin and is best known for his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), which has been translated into fourteen languages and has sold more than two million copies.
The Adirondack Park is a park in northeastern New York protecting the Adirondack Mountains. The park was established in 1892 for "the free use of all the people for their health and pleasure", and for watershed protection. At 6.1 million acres, it is the largest park in the contiguous United States.
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The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point is a public university in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Established in 1894, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. UW-Stevens Point grants associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees, as well as doctoral degrees in audiology, educational sustainability, and physical therapy. The 406-acre (164 ha) main campus includes the 280-acre (113 ha) Schmeeckle Reserve, 15 academic buildings, and 13 residence halls. UWSP also has two branch campuses located in Wausau and Marshfield.
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Environmental philosophy is the branch of philosophy that is concerned with the natural environment and humans' place within it. It asks crucial questions about human environmental relations such as "What do we mean when we talk about nature?" "What is the value of the natural, that is non-human environment to us, or in itself?" "How should we respond to environmental challenges such as environmental degradation, pollution and climate change?" "How can we best understand the relationship between the natural world and human technology and development?" and "What is our place in the natural world?" Environmental philosophy includes environmental ethics, environmental aesthetics, ecofeminism, environmental hermeneutics, and environmental theology. Some of the main areas of interest for environmental philosophers are:
A Sand County Almanac: And Sketches Here and There is a 1949 non-fiction book by American ecologist, forester, and environmentalist Aldo Leopold. Describing the land around the author's home in Sauk County, Wisconsin, the collection of essays advocate Leopold's idea of a "land ethic", or a responsible relationship existing between people and the land they inhabit. Edited and published by his son, Luna, a year after Leopold's death, the book is considered a landmark in the American conservation movement.
Richard K. Nelson, also known as "Nels", was an American cultural anthropologist and writer. He grew up living in Wisconsin, receiving his education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison before earning his Ph.D. degree from the University of California. Nelson spent many years living in Interior Alaska with indigenous people, reflected through his work. His work has focused primarily on the indigenous cultures of Alaska and, more generally, the relationships between people and nature. He was the host to a public radio series called Encounters aired nationally. He has been awarded a variety of awards for his commitment to the community as an activist, serving on the Sitka Conservation Society, and for his creativity as both an author and artist. Nelson died in a San Francisco Hospital at the age of 77 from a long-term battle with cancer.
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Judith Andre is a philosophy professor (retired) and virtue theorist. She earned her Ph.D. at Michigan State University in 1979 and has taught courses on ethical issues in global public health, ethics and development, animal welfare, and virtue theory at Old Dominion University and Michigan State University before retiring.
Robert T. Lackey is a Canadian born fisheries scientist and political scientist living in the United States. He is best known for his work involving the interplay between science and policy, natural resource management, and assessments of the future of salmon runs. Lackey is a professor of fisheries and wildlife and adjunct professor of political science at Oregon State University. From 1981-2008, he held senior leadership posts at the United States Environmental Protection Agency research laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon.
William J. Ripple is a professor of ecology at Oregon State University in the Department of Forest Ecosystems and Society. He is best known for his research on terrestrial trophic cascades, particularly the role of the gray wolf in North America as an apex predator and a keystone species that shapes food webs and landscape structures via “top-down” pressures.
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