Biography
Evelyn Brister is a Professor in the Philosophy Department at Rochester Institute of Technology. She has a PhD in Philosophy (2002) and an MS in Environmental Science (2012). Her research is on the identification of priorities in land management, and has written about the complex judgments involved in decisions about whether and how to use GM chestnut trees to restore Eastern US forests. She is also involved in research on how best to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between social and natural scientists and between philosophers and scientists. A book co-edited with Robert Frodeman, A Guide to Field Philosophy (Routledge 2020), captures narrative accounts of philosophers who have engaged in fieldwork with scientists, engineers, and others outside the academy. She also served as Vice President of the Public Philosophy Network and the APA Committee on Public Philosophy.
Selected Publications
(2021) “Conservation Science and the Ethos of Restraint,” with J. Britt Holbrook and Megan J. Palmer, Conservation Science and Practice 3 (2021): e381.
(2020) A Guide to Field Philosophy: Case Studies and Practical Strategies, Routledge; co-edited with Robert Frodeman.
(2020) “Not the Same Old Chestnut: Rewilding Forests with Biotechnology,” with Andrew E. Newhouse, Environmental Ethics 42 (2020): 149-167.
(2017) “Feminism and Contextualism,” In Jonathan Ichikawa, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Epistemic Contextualism (2017).
(2016) “Disciplinary Capture and Epistemological Obstacles to Interdisciplinary Research: Lessons from Central African Conservation Dispute,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 56 (2016): 82-91.
(2013) “Global Warming and the Problem of Failed Intentions,” Philosophy and Public Issues 3 (2013): 247-271.