For the Gazette

STEVENS POINT – The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point will mark 50 years of environmental ethics education this month with an event featuring American philosopher, J. Baird Callicott.

“Fifty Years of UWSP Environmental Ethics” will be held Wednesday, April 5, 4-5:30 p.m., in the Dreyfus University Laird Room, 1015 Reserve St., Stevens Point.

UW-Stevens Point’s Department of Philosophy was the first in the country to offer a course on environmental ethics, taught by Callicott in 1971.

Callicott will present the keynote, “Thinking like a Planet: The Land Ethics and the Earth Ethic,” discussion reflections on Aldo Leopold’s thought in the past, present and future.

From UW-Stevens Point, Callicott went on to be a national voice and proponent of Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and its response to global climate change.

His talk will be followed by a panel discussion on the history of environmental ethics courses and programs at UW-Stevens Point, and will include: Jason Zinser, assistant professor of philosophy at UW-Stevens Point;  Chris Diehm, professor of philosophy at UW-Stevens Point; Michael Nelson, professor of environmental ethics and philosophy at Oregon State University; Brenda Lackey, associate dean for Academic Affairs at UW-Stevens Point; and Bob Ramlow, UW-Stevens Point alumnus and founding member of the Midwest Renewable Energy Association

Callicott is a retired University Distinguished Research Professor and Regents Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas.

He is co-editor-in-chief of the “Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy” and author and editor of multiple books and journal articles on environmental ethics and philosophy.