2018-2019 Philosophy Symposium – “The Environment, Ethics & Stewardship” (Part 3)

Ed Glowienka (Philosopher, Carroll College).  Ed is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Carroll College. He received his B.A. from the University of Scranton and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Emory University. His research specialty is European philosophy of the 17th and 18th centuries. He writes and teaches on a broad range of topics in metaphysics and ethics.  Ed has twice received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities to co-direct a seminar entitled “Re-enchanting Nature: Humanities Perspectives,” the second iteration of which will be held here at Carroll in July. 

Mary Hollow (Conservationist, Prickly Pear Land Trust). Mary’s ancestors homesteaded a wheat farm south of Montana’s sweetgrass hills, still in the family today. She grew up in Helena and graduated from the University of Montana with degrees in Business finance administration and Economics. She worked for U of M’s trade center and then moved to Washington DC to work for Senator Max Baucus on the Committee on Finance. Montana beckoned but this foundation of government and policy knowledge would filter its way into everything else that followed.  Back in Montana Mary managed outfitting operations on the Missouri and Blackfoot rivers, and then joined The Nature Conservancy serving in land protection and government affairs roles until her move to Prickly Pear Land Trust.  As PPLT’s Director, Mary finds great joy in her team and wonderful board, working with key conservation stakeholders and as with all regional land trusts PPLT is bigger and stronger than ever. Recently it garnered national attention for work with veteran and disabilities communities on their Peaks to Creeks initiative. 

Nick Gevock (Conservationist, Montana Wildlife Federation).  Nick has served as the conservation director at the Montana Wildlife Federation since 2012. He worked for 11 years as a newspaper reporter in Bozeman and Butte, where he covered nearly every issue relevant to MWF including federal public lands, natural resource development, wildlife, fisheries, recreation, hunting and fishing regulations, endangered species and private land conservation.  Before that, Gevock worked as an archaeologist on projects ranging from a Paleolithic reindeer kill site in northern France, Mayan sites in Honduras and throughout the American West on sites in the Southwest, Pacific Northwest and Northern Great Plains. Today he works on key wildlife, habitat and public access issues on the local, state and federal level. That includes working on federal land policies including fighting efforts for the states to “takeover” federal lands, and lobbying the state Legislature on key bills that affect our public wildlife.

Patrick Burke (Philosopher, University of Montana).  Pat’s academic background includes a B.A. in philosophy from UC San Diego and advanced degrees in forest ecology and philosophy from the University of Montana.  He worked for the US Forest Service as a Wilderness Ranger and Trail Crew Foreman in the Anaconda-Pintler and Selway-Bitterroot Wildernesses. Subsequently, he founded and was President of Bitterroot Restoration (BRI) for twenty years—at the time BRI was the largest firm providing comprehensive ecological restoration services in the United States. For the last twelve years Pat has taught courses at the University of Montana in the Philosophy Department and the Davidson Honors College primarily in the areas of restoration ecology, environmental ethics, moral philosophy and the history of ideas.  Presently, he is particularly focused on issues related to climate change, the global ecological crisis and the future of the natural world in the Anthropocene.

Patricia Heiser (Earth Scientist, Carroll College).  Patricia completed an undergraduate degree in geology and ecology at the University of Vermont, and her Ph.D. in Geology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her graduate work focused on the Pleistocene glacial and sea-level history of the Bering Strait Region and Russian Far East. She spent a year in a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin Madison, investigating  ice age ‘fossil’ permafrost features, before taking a faculty position at Ohio University in Athens. There she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in geology, geomorphology, soil science, and climate change.  She missed the mountains, however, and before long found her way back to the University of Alaska Anchorage to teach geology and develop integrated science curriculum for education majors. Completing the circle, she returned to the University of Alaska Fairbanks to help build the geography program, teach, and continue research on paleoecology, lake system history, and tundra-forest ecotone dynamics in Southwestern Alaska.  Finally ready for perceptible sunshine in winter, Patricia came to Carroll College in 2012 and took over as Director of the Environmental Program. She teaches courses in Earth and Environmental Sciences, Geomorphology, Field Methods, and other field-based courses. She has engaged and/or advised student research ranging from tree-ring studies of fire history, to the paleoecology and climate history of Big Belt Mountains, to microplastic fiber content of lint accumulating on cave walls. Presently her students are probing the murky bottom of Lake Helena, reconstructing a continuous sediment record of landscape changes from post-glacial climate to early settlement and the impact of mining activities in the Helena Valley.

Ben Gabriel (Conservationist, Montana Wilderness Association).  Ben has worked in higher education, conservation and outdoor recreation for two decades. He began his career working on the rivers of the Southeast supervising guides for Wildwater Limited, and in city recreation in Columbus and Westerville Ohio.  In 2004, Ben moved west to work in higher education, launching and overseeing New Mexico State University’s Outdoor Recreation and Leadership Program for a decade. In 2014-2017, Ben moved solely into conservation serving as executive director of the Friends of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks in Las Cruces New Mexico building grassroots support and defending against threats to public lands and wild places.  Currently, Ben is the executive director of the Montana Wilderness Association, overseeing the organization’s strategy and operations based in Helena, MT.  MWA has seven offices across the state and its mission is to ‘Work with communities to protect Montana’s wilderness heritage, quiet beauty and outdoor traditions, now and for future generations.’ He is dedicated to ensuring Montana remains the last best place.  Ben holds a masters degree in higher education administration from NMSU and a Bachelors in Recreation Studies and Adventure Recreation from Ohio University. He enjoys being on the river, rock climbing, and backpacking, as well as hiking and camping with his wife Christa, their daughter Neko and two pups, Rosie and Taos.