Andrew Light
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Public Affairs
University of Washington B.A., Reed College
"When We Restore Nature, What Do We Owe the Past?"
Restoration ecology is the practice of restoring damaged ecosystems, especially those which have been harmed by humans. Restorations can range from small-scale urban park projects, such as the ongoing restorations in Central Park in New York City and in the forest preserves surrounding Chicago, to huge wetland mitigations such as those currently in progress in the Florida Everglades and the San Francisco Bay. But when we restore a site that has been degraded by humans, should we eliminate all vestige of the processes that led to the need for the restoration in the first place? Many restorationists would respond that we should -- that the goal of restoration is to recreate a functioning ecosystem as close as possible to the original state of the area before it was disturbed by humans. This presentation will offer reasons to believe that instead we have moral obligations to both past and future human communities to retain elements of industrial or agricultural legacies, or "disturbance memories," in our restorations. Such a position may allow us to restore functioning ecosystems while also doing honor to people who have made use of an area in the past, rather than demonizing them for what we perceive as an environmental wrong.
Professor Light holds a joint appointment at the University of Washington with the Evans School of Public Affairs and an adjunct appointment with the Department of Geography. He is also a Research Fellow at the Institute for Environment, Philosophy and Public Policy at Lancaster University (UK), and a Faculty Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Development in the School of Architecture at the University of Texas at Austin. A prolific author, he published Reel Arguments: Film, Philosophy, and Social Criticism and he is currently finishing a book on ethical issues in restoration ecology. Prof. Light is also editor of 14 books in environmental ethics and policy, philosophy of technology, and aesthetics, including Environmental Pragmatism, Philosophies of Place, Technology and the Good Life, Moral and Political Reasoning on Environmental Practice, Animal Pragmatism, and The Aesthetics of Everyday Life.
Be sure to check out Dr. Light's interview with Dr. Orosco at ENGAGE!
Anne Fausto-Sterling
Professor of Biology and Gender Studies
Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Biochemistry
"Born and Raised: A Critical Analysis of Sexuality and the Nature/Nurture Debate"