Thirty-third Annual National Conference
Contemplating Integral Ecology for the Common Good
What is integral ecology, and how can it be oriented to the common good? How can faith-based liberal arts institutions of higher education train their students to be attentive to both natural and human ecology so as to contemplate and develop effective solutions to questions of ecology and sustainability? Hosted by Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a liberal arts college in the Catholic, Dominican tradition, this conference will explore these questions from multiple perspectives, engaging the natural sciences, philosophy/theology, and the humanities/arts.
Speakers
Kerry Andrew Emanuel, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Department of Meteorology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA
Title: “Climate, Energy, Poverty and Population: Four Interwoven Challenges of Our Times”
Bio: Dr. Kerry Emanuel is the Cecil and Ida Green emeritus professor of atmospheric science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was on the faculty from 1981 to 2022. Before that he was on the faculty of UCLA from 1978 to 1981.
Emanuel’s initial focus was on the dynamics of rain and snow banding in winter storms, but his interests gradually migrated to the meteorology of the tropics and to climate change. His specialty is hurricane physics and he was the first to investigate how long-term climate change might affect hurricane activity, an issue that continues to occupy him today. His interests also include cumulus convection, and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction.
Emanuel is the author or co-author of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and three books, including Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes, published by Oxford University Press and aimed at a general audience, and What We Know about Climate Change, published by the MIT Press and now entering its third edition. He was a co-founder and co-director of MIT’s Lorenz Center, a climate think tank devoted to basic, curiosity-driven climate research. 
Marie I. George, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
St. John's University, Queens, NY
Title: “Augustine and Aquinas on Integral Ecology”
Bio: Marie I. George holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Laval (1987), and an M.A. in biology from Queens College, NY (2002), and an M.A. in Pastoral Theology from St. Joseph's College, ME (2008). In addition, she has two bachelor’s degrees, one in liberal arts from Thomas Aquinas College (1979) and another in biology from Queens College (2000). She is a Professor of Philosophy at St. John’s University, NY where she has taught for over thirty years, including courses on the philosophy of biology, philosophy of science and religion, bioethics, and environmental ethics. She has received several awards from the John Templeton foundation for her work in science and religion, and in 2007 was co-recipient of a grant from the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) for an interdisciplinary project entitled: “The Evolution of Sympathy and Morality.” She is the author of two books: Christianity and Extraterrestrials? (2005) and A Catholic Perspective and Stewardship of Creation: What Catholics should know about Church teaching on the environment (2009) and has also authored a number of peer-reviewed articles on environmentalism.
Debra Rienstra, Ph.D.
Professor of English
Calvin University, Grand Rapids, MI
Title: “Refugia Faith: A Way Forward”
Bio: Debra Rienstra is professor of English at Calvin University, where she has taught since 1996, specializing in early British literature and creative writing. Her scholarly research focuses on early modern religious poetry, particularly that of George Herbert and Mary Sidney. Besides scholarly essays and chapters, she has published four trade books—on motherhood, spirituality, worship, and ecotheology/climate change—as well as numerous essays and poems. Her most recent book is Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth (Fortress 2022), a book that combines theology, nature writing, and biological principles to consider how Christians must adapt our faith and practice for a climate-altered planet. Rienstra is also the host of the Refugia Podcast and writes twice monthly for The Reformed Journal blog, writing about spirituality, pop culture, the church, the arts, higher ed, and more. Rienstra holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and a Ph.D. in Literature in English from Rutgers University.
Registration is now closed. For more information on the conference, including a preliminary schedule, click here. Click here for a flyer.
For Information on Previous National Conferences, Click here.
Future National Conferences
2024 - Westmont College
Santa Barbara, CA
September 27-29, 2024
