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ALEXANDER LEE Faculty Associate, Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder

I am a philosopher and environmental scientist interested in the intersection of science, policy, and values. 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.

I am currently the Director of Science and Education at Protect Our Winters. I am also an Environmental Associate at CU Boulder and former faculty member at the Institute of Culture and Environment at Alaska Pacific University.

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:

• What’s in a Name?

• Protect Our Winters and Our Fish

• The Distraction Problem

• 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:

• Simona Capisani, Alexander Lee, and Yasha Rohwer, “Livability and Non-Human Organisms,” Biology and Philosophy 41.9 (2026)

• Benjamin Hale, Sebastian Duñas Ocampo, and Alexander Lee, “Clean Meat and Muddy Markets: Substitution and Indeterminacy in Consumerist Solutions to Animal Agriculture” Food Ethics 9 (2024).

• Lee Brann, Alexander Lee, and Benjamin Hale, “The Bear Minimum: Reintroduction and the Weaknesses of Minimalist Conservation” The Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences 14 (2024).

• 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.