Philosophy Symposium: On Policy, Philosophy & the Environment
June 16 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
What We’ll Explore
In this mini-symposium facilitated by community philosopher Marisa Diaz-Waian we’ll talk with guest panelists and authors involved with the book A Watershed Moment: The American West in the Age of Limits about policy, philosophy, and the environment. Topics explored will range from environmental justice and conservation policy (Evelyn Brister) to equitable communities (Kristal Jones) and market solutions for conservation on private lands (Travis Brammer). The symposium will be structured in a way that allows ample time for community Q & A. More details coming soon….
More Context for Our Discussion
All guests panelists are authors featured in A Watershed Moment , which features a collection of essays reflecting on the American West that reveal tensions between a culture of economic growth and personal freedom and the ecological, economic, and social constraints set by community values and the land itself. As Westerners and their communities come up against these limits, the volume editors highlight issues of sustainability endemic to the region and to the nation as a whole.
The volume presents practical approaches to land use, land management, and community planning that are motivated by philosophical views on justice, quality of life, and sustainability in the American West. The contributors are policymakers, government employees, land and water managers, urban planners, biologists, tribal members, writers, and academics from a variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The result is a compelling vision of place-based, policy-oriented sustainability across the West.
When
Monday, June 16th from 6pm-8pm (Plus book signing from 5:30pm-6pm*)
Where
Lewis & Clark Library (in the Large Community Room)
RSVP
Coming Soon…
Cost
FREE (Donations appreciated)
Other
*Books will be available for purchase from the authors. Book signing from 5:30pm-6pm. See also our companion Philosophy Walk on Saturday, June 14th event w/ guest scholar Evelyn Brister
Guest Scholars
Evelyn Brister is a Professor of Philosophy at Rochester Institute of Technology and a faculty affiliate in Public Policy and Environmental Science. Her research examines ethical and political issues in land management and conservation science. She is the editor, with Robert Frodeman, of A Guide to Field Philosophy (Routledge, 2020), a collection of essays examining collaborations between philosophers and policymakers, and she has written over two dozen articles in philosophy and environmental science. She spends as much time as she can in and around Yellowstone. In her new book, A Watershed Moment: The American West in the Age of Limits, she and other authors present practical approaches to addressing ecological, economic, and cultural issues that are motivated by philosophical views on justice, quality of life, and sustainability.
Kristal Jones is the Co-Owner & Principal Researcher at JG Research & Evalutaion. She has worked in the domestic US and internationally with many different types of organizations focused on agricultural development, natural resource management and rural livelihood strategies in the context of environmental change. Her interest in how people relate to their natural environment, and in turn impact that environment, began as an Agroforestry Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal. Her dissertation work with the CGIAR Consortium explored the social dimensions of seed systems in Sahelian West Africa, and the values that farmers associate with the types of seeds they plant and the types of exchanges they use to access seeds. Kristal worked as a research scientist at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) at the University of Maryland. There she developed programs that build capacity for and awareness of what kinds of information and support that teams of researchers and practitioners need to utilize and integrate the many types of data required to understand and address complex challenges that have both human and environmental dimensions. Kristal grew up in Bozeman, MT, and attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill as a Morehead-Cain Scholar. She has a PhD and MS in Rural Sociology and International Agriculture and Development from the Pennsylvania State University.
Travis Brammer is the Director of Conservation at The Property and Environmental Research Center (PERC), overseeing its Conservation Innovation Lab and all field projects. Raised as a seventh-generation family cattle rancher in Colorado with professional expertise in western conservation issues, Travis is passionate about the intersection of conservation and agriculture. He began his career at the Wyoming Stock Growers Land Trust rising to become the group’s Interim Conservation Director. He later graduated with honors from the University of Wyoming College of Law and most recently served as a Conservation Fellow at the Ruckelshaus Institute and MacMillan Private Lands Stewardship Program. Travis’ thesis was on the creation of a western rangeland conservation fund to help the next generation of farmers and ranchers access land and engage in conservation. As Director, Travis will establish partnerships around the country, creating and implementing innovative market solutions to some of the nation’s most significant natural resource challenges.
Make a Donation Here
Our philosophy activities are FREE to the community. While donations are never expected, they are always appreciated and help to keep programs like these going. Donations help to cover activity leader honorariums, implementation, and resource archiving, and more! If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution you can do so by clicking here. For those facing more challenging financial circumstances, we ask that you please try to “pay it forward” with acts of kindness for your neighbors and community.
