This November we hosted Dr. Lori Gruen, Professor of Philosophy & Coordinator of Animal Studies at Wesleyan University, for her second Lambert Lecture for the Center.  Gruen’s work lies at the intersection of ethical and political theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in traditional ethical investigations.

Titled "Empathy and Sanctuary: Reimagining our Relations with Other Animals", her compelling talk had the full room questioning how we do, could and should engage and relate with non-human animals.   In addition to succinctly covering ethical theory,  she gave an overview of some notable relation categories with case studies.  Particularly enlightening was the topic of Government owned chimpanzees formerly used for lab research which are now protected, but some remain in the same caged facilities begging the question of what sanctuary could and should be. 

Gruen is the author and editor of 11 books, Fellow of the Hastings Center for Bioethics, a Faculty Fellow at Tufts’ Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine’s Center for Animals and Public Policy and a member of the APA Committee for Public Philosophy.  She also sits on a number of non-profit advisory boards and has become known as a bit of an archivist for chimpanzees in the US given her work documenting the history of The First 100 chimpanzees in research in the US, and the journey to sanctuary of the remaining chimpanzees in research labs, The Last 1000. 

If you missed the compelling talk, do not despair, it can be accessed here. 

Join us at the Goodwin-Niering Center for the Environment in giving a warm and hearty welcome to the incoming class of 2021!  It was a competitive application process but these twelve amazing Sophomores are the selected scholars who officially start in the program this coming Spring 2019.  Enjoy the pictures and a little about their environmental passion that they will pursue in the next two and a half years in the Center.  Notice the variety of interests and majors which continues to make our Center interdisciplinary and engaging!