My primary interests are in ethics, including environmental ethics and feminist ethics, and political philosophy.  I began college at The University of Wisconsin-Madison as an English major.  However, I ended up frustrating professors and myself, because instead of focusing on plot constructions and writing techniques, I was always focused on the moral or political questions raised by the literature.  Finally, one professor suggested that I take some courses in ethics and political philosophy, and I found that philosophy was the discipline where I belonged.

I have always been interested in issues of power and privilege.  This interest has led me to feminist philosophy and environmental ethics.  I am particularly interested how the dynamics of gender, race, and social location impact on people's opportunities.  In feminist philosophy, the key issue has been how issues of gender, race, and class affect women’s opportunities and self-images.  In environmental ethics, issues of power are crucial in determining the quality of people’s environments, as well as issues of which beings are to be treated as having moral worth.  These issues often boil down to the deeper issue of what it is to be human, and how we see groups of humans in relation to each other, as well as in relation to other nonhuman beings. 

My most recent work examines how concepts such as “nature,” and “the natural order,” which are supposed to be describing something that is, are actually being used to justify controversial ethical issues, and why this is highly problematic. 

Recent and forthcoming publications include:

"Not Really a 'New Attitude': Dr. Laura on Gender and Morality." In Fundamental Differences: Feminists Talk Back to Social Conservatives, edited by Cynthia Burack and Jyl J. Josephson. (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

"Ecofeminism and the Earth Charter." In WorldViews, Vol. 8, No. 1 (2004): 112-125.

"Rolston on Eating, Hunting, and Genetics: One Ecofeminist's View." In a volume on the works of Holmes Rolston III, edited by Christopher J. Preston and Wayne Ouderkirk (Dordrecht: Kluwer, forthcoming 2006).

AComing Down to Earth on Cloning: An Ecofeminist Analysis of Homophobia in the Current Debate," in Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy (forthcoming 2006.

"Healthcare in the United States: Evil Intentions and Collective Responsibility," in Midwest Studies in Philosophy  (forthcoming 2006).

"Itch Scratching, Patio Building, and Pesky Flies: Biocentric Individualism Re-Visited," in Environmental Ethics (forthcoming 2006).