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ALEXANDER LEE Assocaite Professor of Philosophy at Alaska Pacific University

I am a philosopher and faculty member at the Institute of Culture and Environment at Alaska Pacific University, where I teach courses in environmental philosophy, ethics, and epistemology. My research explores moral obligations, environmental policy, and conservation philosophy. I am specifically interested in the ethics of environmental change, with recent projects focusing on species reintroduction, the protection of non-living nature, ecological restoration, climate change, and wildness.

Before joining the faculty at APU, I was a Lecturer at the University of Colorado, Boulder, were I taught classes in the Environmental Studies Program, Department of Philosophy, and at the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. I completed my Ph.D. in the 'Theory and Values' track of the Environmental Studies Program at CU Boulder and also hold a Master's degree from Boulder in environmental studies and a Bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in Philosophy and Earth Science.

I have published scholarly articles in journals that include Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, Ethics Policy & Environment, Conservation & Society, and Ecological Restoration. As a writer, I have also contributed opinion pieces and essays to outlets including Grist, High Country News, Mother Nature Network, Powder Magazine, The Ski Journal, The Boulder Daily Camera, The Salt Lake Tribune, The Anchorage Daily News, and The Revelator.

When not philosophizing, I can be found playing outside! Check out some of my pictures and stories here. 

A little bit of public philosophy and recent writing:

• Its Okay to Get Stuff Wrong

• Harnessing our power in local utility elections

• Arctic Rust

• When is comes to oil spills, let’s not wait for hindsight

• To protect federal lands the burden of proof is on conservationists. It should be on extractors.

• The Perspective of an Environmental Conspirator

• Time to Look Past Oil

• Stop Calling a Progressive Agenda Anti-Alaskan

• Five Rules to Keep Us Safe in a Crowded Backcountry

• The Case Against Pineapple Pizza…and Dan Sullivan

• How to Protect Nature During Uncertain Times

• I Miss Skiing. I Miss My Ski Partners More

• The New Wilderness: COVID-19 Through the Eyes of a Backcountry Skier

• It's Time to Start Demanding Justification for Drilling in the Arctic Refuge​​

• The Global Warming Wolf is Real

• The Trouble With Facts We Don't Like

• Non-Partisan Conservation

• Re-Coupling Science and Policy

• Coal Is A Deadman Walking, Recreation is Alive and Well

• The Term 'Climate Change' Isn't Working Anymore

Select Publications:

• Lee Brann, Alexander Lee, and Benjamin Hale, “The Bear Minimum: Reintroduction and the Weaknesses of Minimalist Conservation” The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences (forthcoming).

• Alexander Lee and Marc Shapiro (2023) The Ethics of Unintentional Geoengineering. Ethics, Policy & Environment forthcoming.

• Alexander Lee, Adam Amir, and Benjamin Hale (2021) Wildness Without Naturalness. Ethics, Policy & Environment 24.1.

• A. Lee, A.M. Laird, L. Brann, C. Coxon, A.J. Hamilton, L.A. Lawhaon, J.A. Martin, N. Rehnberg, B.P. Tyrell, Z. Welch, B. Hale, and P.S. Alagona (2021) The Ethics of Reintroducing Large Carnivores: The Case of the California Grizzly. Conservation and Society 19.1.

• Alexander Lee, Alex Hamilton, and Benjamin Hale (2020) Conservation Floors and Degradation Ceilings: A Justificatory Architecture for Constraints in U.S. Environmental Policy. Environmental Ethics 42.2.

• Alexander Lee (2020) The Tragic Death of a Utah Goblin: Conservation and The Problem of Abiotic Nature. Ethics, Policy & Environment 23.2.

• Alexander Lee & Jordan Kincaid (2016) Two Problems of Climate Ethics: Can we Lose the Planet but Save Ourselves? Ethics, Policy & Environment 19:2.

• Alex Lee, Adam Perou Hermans, and Benjamin Hale (2014) Restoration, obligation, and the baseline problem. Environmental Ethics 36. 2 (2014).

• Adam Pérou Hermans, Alexander Lee, Lydia Dixon, and Benjamin Hale (2014) Wolf Reintroduction: Ecological Management and the Substitution Problem. Ecological Restoration 32. 3.

• Benjamin Hale, Alexander Lee, and Adam Hermans (2014) Clowning around with conservation: adaptation, reparation and the new substitution problem. Environmental Values 23.2

• Benjamin Hale, Adam Pérou Hermans, and Alexander Lee (2013) Climate adaptation, moral reparation, and the baseline problem. In Successful Adaptation to Climate Change, Routledge.

Contact for Alex: APLee@AlaskaPacific.edu

https://www.alaskapacific.edu/people/alexander-lee/

CV here.