Curriculum Vitae
RESEARCH
My research interests concern the intersections of environmental humanities, continental philosophy, philosophies of nature and the environment, animal studies, and the phenomena of endangered animals and species extinction. To this end I have a few research projects on the go:
(i) philosophical ethology, including the translation of writers Dominique Lestel (Animality, forthcoming with U of Edinburgh Press) and Vinciane Despret (Angelaki and University of Minnesota Press's "Posthumanities" series). For information on these publications, please see the Publications tab above;
(ii) an historical and critical reading of the early 20th century "nature fakers" controversy, wherein I read the wild animal stories as instances of animal philosophy and philosophical ethology, and I do so in conversation with contemporary nature writing and artistic practices of being and thinking like an animal;
(ii) an examination of multispecies communities, endangered and extinct animals, critical ecologies, and notions of resilience, particularly with a view to regional disturbances in northern Ontario.
CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION
In 2013 I initiated and led a SSHRC-funded international symposium, "Thinking Extinction," on the philosophy and biology of species extinctions. This symposium featured a diverse network of scholars, artists, and scientists, including Margaret Atwood.
In 2017, while a Visiting Researcher at the ENS in Paris, France, I organized and hosted an international colloquium on "Field Philosophy and Other Experiments." This colloquium examined recent developments by philosophers to engage in experiential and collaborative learning through field work on environmental issues, and resulted in a special issue of parallax (now republished as a book with Routledge).
In addition to the above, I have been a co-applicant, collaborator, and/or lead on a number of other conferences, symposia, and speaker series, both at Laurentian and elsewhere.
