International Society for Environmental Ethics
The International Society for Environmental Ethics strives to advance research and education in the field of environmental ethics and philosophy. Founded in 1990, ISEE promotes environmental thought as path to appropriate human use, respect, conservation, preservation, and understanding of the natural world.
ISEE typically holds sessions on the Group Program at each of the divisional meetings of the American Philosophical Association. We also host a yearly summer conference where scholars in environmental philosophy present research. We occasionally co-sponsor conferences or workshops with other organizations, and we recognize scholars in the field through yearly awards.
Current Leadership
Katie McShane
President
Department of Philosophy
Colorado State University
Katie McShane is a professor in the Philosophy Department at Colorado State University, specializing in environmental ethics and ethical theory. Her work explores the moral significance of the emotional attitudes that we take toward the natural world. She has written articles on ecosystem health, the value of biodiversity, the moral importance of animal welfare, and the nature of awe and respect for the nonhuman world. Her work has been published in journals such as Philosophical Studies, Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, and Ethics & the Environment.
Yasha Rohwer
Vice-President
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Oregon Institute of Technology
Yasha Rohwer is a professor of philosophy at Oregon Tech. He attended his first ISEE meeting in 2012 in Allenspark Colorado. He specializes in environmental ethics and philosophy of science. His work in environmental ethics focuses on foundational values in conservation biology and the moral permissibility of using genetic technologies for conservation projects. His work has been published in journals such as Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Science, Conservation Biology, Conservation Science and Practice, and Ethics, Policy & Environment..
Levi Tenen
Treasurer
Levi Tenen is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Batten University. His research lies at the intersection of Environmental Ethics, Law, and Political Philosophy. He is currently exploring who should own public lands and how those lands ought to be managed. He attended his first ISEE conference in 2019 and looks forward to many more.
Simona Capisani
Secretary
Department of Philosophy
Durham University
Dr. Simona Capisani is an Associate Professor of political and environmental philosophy at Durham University in the UK. Her area of research expertise is on environmental politics and governance. In her work she focuses on justice-based considerations and the uneven impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss on (both human and non-human) communities. In particular, she examines the dynamics of governance institutions and she develops evaluative frameworks for assessing and driving institutional change to better address the intersections of biodiversity loss, climate change, and inequality. She specializes in issues such as climate-induced (im)mobilities, biodiversity and climate governance synergies, geoengineering governance, and the political economy of ecological crisis. Previously she was a researcher at Princeton University for the Climate Futures Initiative in Science, Values, and Policy and a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University. She earned her PhD from the University of California, Irvine and holds an MA from San Francisco State University.
Website: https://www.simonacapisani.com/
Eric Godoy
Newsletter Editor
Eric Godoy is an assistant professor at Illinois State University in the department of philosophy. He is an affiliated faculty with the Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies Program and a member of the Graduate Faulty. He regularly teaches environmental, moral, and social-political philosophy. Recently, his research has focused on energy justice and democracy, environmental justice and urban parks, and gender and trophy hunting. His work has been published by the New York Times and by multidisciplinary journals such as Ethics, Policy & Environment, Environmental Values, Journal of Cleaner Production, and Journal of Political Ecology. He received his PhD in Philosophy from the New School for Social Research.
Current Nominating Committee
Markku Oksanen
Helena Siipi
Chris Diehm
Laÿna Droz
Workineh Kelbessa
Kian Mintz-Woo
Leonie Bossert
Dustin Sigsbee
Jay Odenbaugh
ISEE-Europe
Linde De Vroey (University of Antwerp)
ISEE-E Coordinators
Leonie Bossert (University of Tübingen)
ISEE Statement of Diversity
The International Society for Environmental Ethics advances research and education in the field of environmental ethics and recognizes the importance of diverse perspectives, experiences, and values as part of this mission. We are committed to building a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable community. We also acknowledge the historic and ongoing underrepresentation of many groups and the overt and subtle forms of exclusion that operate in our field and in philosophy more generally. We aim to build more inclusive and welcoming spaces in our conferences, programs, and communications by supporting people of diverse backgrounds and identities, as well as by actively working against discrimination, bias, and exclusion. We embrace the ongoing effort this requires, and invite your participation and engagement with this work.
ISEE Institutional Partners
Instituted in 2025, ISEE’s Institutional Partnership Program seeks to establish formal partnerships with like-minded organizations, with the aims of enabling collaboration and mutual support in reaching shared goals, expanding the field of environmental ethics, and broadening access and contributions to education, events, dialogue, and activities related to environmental ethics.
Interested in becoming an institutional partner?
Contact us at isenvironmentalethics@gmail.com
ISEE has formal institutional partnerships with the following organizations: