REFEREED
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS:
"Ecological Psychology and the Domain of Ecological Science",
Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA) meeting in Quebec
City, Quebec, May 2001.
“Must Environmental Philosophy Be The Handmaiden of
Environmentalism?”, Iowa Philosophical Society meeting,
University of Iowa, October 1999.
“Complex Systems Ecology: Science or Philosophy?”, Ontario
Ecology and Ethology Colloquium, Queen’s University, May
1998.
“Input/Output and State-Space Representations of Dynamical
Systems: Why Engineers are Instrumentalists About Physical
Theories”, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of
Science (CSHPS) meeting, St. John’s, Newfoundland, June 1997.
“Prediction and Confirmation in Evolutionary Game Theory”,
Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA) meeting, St. John’s,
Newfoundland, June 1997.
“A Proposal for Understanding Systems Ecology”, Ontario
Ecology and Ethology Colloquium, University of Western
Ontario, May 1997.
“Understanding Systems Ecology”, Graduate Student Symposium
on Environmental Science, University of Western Ontario,
April 1997.
“Value as Noun and Verb: A Critique of the Metabolism-Repair
Argument for Intrinsic Value in Environmental Philosophy”,
Ontario Philosophical Society (OPS) meeting, Brock
University, October 1996.
“The Ecological Self”, Canadian Society for History and
Philosophy of Science (CSHPS) meeting, Brock University, May
1996.
“Information as Specification: Measuring the Time-to-Impact
Parameter in Ecological Psychology”, presented at MEPHISTOS
’95, an annual graduate student conference in history and
philosophy of science and technology, University of Toronto,
November 1995.
INVITED
TALKS:
“What is the Philosophy of Ecology?”, to the Ecology,
Evolution and Organismal Biology Club at ISU, November 2008.
“Philosophical Issues in the Intelligent Design Debate”, to
biology teachers (grades 7-12 grades) as part of an ISU
outreach program in Molecular Biology, Biotechnology and
Plant Genomics, July 2007.
“Holism and Reduction in Ecology”, presentation given to CEAH
Fellows on a collaborative research project developed with
Arnold van der Valk (EEOB). Jan 24, 2007.
“Ecology and The Collapse of Complex Societies”, Carleton
University, Invited Speaker Series, January 2007.
“Ecology is Not a Natural Science (and the sooner we realize
this the better)”, given at a conference titled “Building on
Borders: Constructions of Ecological Knowledge”, Technical
University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany, April 6, 2006.
“Philosophical Issues in the Intelligent Design Debate”, ISU
Bioethics Institute, May 25, 2005.
“Hangups over Holism: A Reply to Some Recent Criticisms of
Ecosystem Ecology and its Application in Environmental
Management and Policy”, University of Guelph, January 21,
2005.
“The Structure of Theoretical Explanation in Systems
Ecology”, Complex Ecology and Sustainability Group workshop,
Towson University, Maryland, August 18-21, 2004.
“What is a Science of Complexity?”, Complex Adaptive Systems
Workshop, ISU, September 2003.
"Sources of Domain-Independence in the Formal Sciences",
plenary speaker at the conference "Foundations of the Formal
Sciences IV: The History of the Concept of the Formal
Sciences", Bonn, Germany, February 15-17, 2003.
“Evolution, Sociobiology and Ethics”, ISU Bioethics
Institute, Summer 2001.
"Synthetic Microanalysis in Complex Systems Theories",
Complex Adaptive Systems Workshop, ISU, February 2001.
“Ecological Pessimism vs. Technocentric Optimism on
Environmental Issues: The Roots of the Debate”, for Ch E 401,
Chemical Engineering Senior Seminar, taught by Surya
Mallagraprada, February 2001.
“Mathematical Structures and the Philosophy of Space and
Time”, joint meeting of ISU Philosophy Club, Physics Club,
and Mathematics Club, November 2000.
“The Ecological Self”, ISU Philosophy Club lecture, October
2000.
“Determinism in the Physical Sciences”, for Phil 360X: Free
Will and Determinism, taught by Jack Davidson, at ISU,
October 2000.
“Ethical Theory”, for Hon 321U: Ethical Issues in Biological
Sciences, taught by R. Gladon, at ISU, September 2000.
"Does Ecosystem Ecology Need a New, Fourth Law of
Thermodynamics?”, Philosophy of Science Conference hosted by
the Inter-University Center, Dubrovnik, Croatia, April 10-15,
2000.
“Certainty and Domain-Independence in the Sciences of
Complexity”, Complex Adaptive Systems Workshop, ISU, February
2000.
“Does Nature Have Intrinsic Value?”, ISU Biology, Zoology and
Genetics Club, November 1999.
“Must Environmental Philosophy Be the Handmaiden of
Environmentalism?”, Department of Philosophy, University of
South Carolina, January 1999.
“What Environmental Philosophy Could Be”, Department of
Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Winter
Term Speaker Series, January 1998.
“Epistemic Ecosystems: The Neo-Gibsonian Approach to
Intentional Dynamics”, Department of Philosophy at Carleton
University, Ottawa, ON., Invited Speaker Series, January
1998.
“Why the Niche is an Epistemic Concept”, BIPED reading group,
University of Western Ontario, September 1996.
CONFERENCE
COMMENTARIES:
Commentary on Nicholas Agar's Life's Intrinsic Value,
International Environmental Ethics Society meeting at the
American Philosophical Association meeting (Pacific
Division), Seattle, March 2002.
Commentary on Josh Weisberg’s “Reducing the Jerrymander:
Anti-Anti-Reductionism in Biology and Psychology“, presented
at an interdisciplinary conference on the philosophy of mind
entitled “Naturalism, Evolution, and Intentionality”,
University of Western Ontario, April 1998.
Commentary on Francisco Flores’ “A Variation on Einstein’s
Theory of Theories and Questions for the Philosophy of
Science”, OPS meeting, Brock University, October 1996.
Commentary on Pamela Courtenay-Hall’s “The Deep
Ecology/Ethics Debate”, CPA meeting, Brock University, May
1996.