Environmental Philosopher & Public Health Scientist
Mobilizing 21th century frameworks of ecology and planetary health for research, teaching, and human transformation.
As our societies realize the necessity to reprioritize ecology and biology as master sciences in the great transition upon us, I see science, public health, and philosophy working synergistically, just as medicine now accepts a biopsychosocial model of health. Writ large, this looks like: (1) understanding how life and ecosystems flourish, in order to (2) allow us to figure out how to calibrate our values to meet those non-negotiable fundamentals, so that we can (3) design our societies to meet the needs of all, enabling greater ingenuity, innovation, and empowerment.
Each one of us contributes our own crucial piece of the puzzle in addressing our metacrisis, and I honor each sincere contribution. In my research and organizing efforts, I endeavor to prioritize those issues which have the most potential leverage to address major societal challenges. This can include gaining and providing deeper insight into hyped topics, encouraging high-level pivots to important paradigms in policy or business, or pushing back against misguided enthusiasm for solutions that are single metric, not effective, or will make things worse.
To accomplish these different modes of applied scholarship, I perform experiments, reflect on the history of culture and concepts, and piece together documentary evidence from the archives of the Anthropocene to inform and assess policy, applying systems thinking to bio-ethical cases. This engaged methodology maps multi-level patterns in the social and environmental determinants of health together with philosophical concerns about the utility of our utilities, aiming to provide direction for targeted interventions leveraging ethically- and science-based social and institutional harmonization.
And, I am lucky enough to have my work funded by multiple active grants, large and small, public and private (see Research), and have the honor to serve as the editor-in-chief of the journal Biosemiotics.
Ph.D. in Environmental Philosophy
magna cum laude
University of Kiel, Germany
Postdoctoral research at the University of Vienna & the University of California at San Francisco
Graduate degrees from the London School of Economics & UCLA
Bachelors degrees (Rhetoric and Political Science, w/honors) from the University of California at Berkeley
Recent Posts
Beyond Determinism
Overcoming Determinism Whether something is good or bad for us or others is not always immediately apparent. And it may change according to the situation. Which means that universal, timeless, generalizable rules for what is good or bad according to its essence will...
Ecocide as Semiocide: The Demise of Nature and Its Impact on Meaning
2 May 2024 talk at Utrecht University I'm excited to be giving a talk at Utrecht University's Ecocide Interdisciplinarity Series Talks for Justice. Part of their Conceptualizing Ecocide project, they get that if we wish to actually create a solid Path to...
Update on Glyphosate and Chemical Regulatory Anomalies
This presentation is from January 2024's UCSF's Symposium to Evaluate and Counter Harmful Industry Impacts on Health, which included Tracey Woodruff, Robert Lustig, Lisa Bero, Marion Nestle, and many other inspiring speakers.