While pursuing my undergraduate degree in biology and participating in laboratory research at the university, I took an environmental philosophy class and discovered that it was unlike anything I had studied before. I was hooked when I saw that the professors in the philosophy department performed their lectures with genuine passion and a sense of wonder that could not be found in any STEM course I had taken. Since then studying philosophy has undoubtedly shaped the way I see the world. It continues to impart meaning and to inspire self-reflection in my life today.
Having completed my graduate studies, I have returned to my family farm to learn more about our local food system and to undertake a regenerative agriculture project that I hope will build more resilient communities and also inspire others to become involved with growing their own food. Though I was familiar with the current state of agriculture before I studied philosophy, I would not have been inspired to change the way I farm had it not been for my philosophical education at the University of Windsor. The impulse to think philosophically about social, economic, and ecological relations is inseparable from the work I do now, and I hope to continue thinking and writing about the interface between our human and non-human environments as this project continues to develop.