Gregory M. Mikkelson

Writings

2021.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Local ecocentric democracy and fossil fuel divestment.  Environmental Ethics for Canadians.  Oxford University.  New York, NY.

2020.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Divestment and democracy at a Canadian university.  Journal of the Council for Research on Religion 2:1-16.
The following are two shorter versions of this article, adapted for different audiences:
Divestment and democracy.  Digressions&Impressions, April 17th, 2020.
Divestment and democracy, or, why I quit my job.  Cold Hollow to Canada Connections, Spring 2020.

2019.  Fyles, J. W., G. Ingram, G. M. Mikkelson, F. Pendea, K. Scott, and K. Whitbeck.  Patterns on the land:  Paakumshumwaau through the lens of natural history.  In:  Mulrennan, M. E., C. H. Scott, and K. Scott, editors.  Caring for Eeyou Istchee:  Protected Area Creation on Wemindji Cree Territory.  University of British Columbia.  Vancouver, BC.  Pp. 190-219.

2019.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Holistic vs. individualistic non-anthropocentrism.  The Ecological Citizen 2:137-138.

2019.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Invisible hand or ecological footprint?  Comparing social vs. environmental impacts of recent economic growth.  Organization and Environment.

2019.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Nature needs half:  Implications for population, consumption, and inequality in the other half.  The Ecological Citizen 3A:87-91.

2019.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Sentience, life, richness.  In:  DesRoches, C. T., F. Jankunis, and B. Williston, editors.  Canadian Environmental Philosophy.  McGill-Queens University.  Montréal, QC.  Pp. 83-96.

2018.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Convergence and divergence between ecocentrism and sentientism concerning net value.  Les Ateliers de l'Éthique/The Ethics Forum 13:101-114.

2017.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Environmental values, human nature, and economic democracy.  Human Ecology 45:131-134.

2016.  Brown, P. G., D. Barney, M. Kilgour, S. Jordan, P. Caines, G. M. Mikkelson, H. Mintzberg, M. Goldberg, M. Lock, I. Henderson, S. Lovejoy, and B. Reed.  Letter to the McGill Board of Governors on divestment from fossil fuel.

2014.  Mikkelson, G. M.  On the intrinsic value of everything.  Environmental Ethics 36:381-382.

2014.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Richness theory:  From value to action.  Les Ateliers de l'Éthique/The Ethics Forum 9:99-109.

2014.  Mikkelson, G. M. and C. A. Chapman.  Individualistic environmental ethics:  A reductio ad exstinctum?  Environmental Ethics 36:333-338.

2013.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Economic growth drives biodiversity lossQuantdary.

2013.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Growth is the problem; Equality is the solution.  Sustainability 5:432-439.

2013.  Mikkelson, G. M., R. Billé, and G. Kleitz.  Economic equality as a condition for biodiversity conservation.  In:  Genevey, R., R. K. Pachauri, and L. Tubiana, editors.  Reducing Inequalities:  A Sustainable Development Challenge.  The Energy and Resources Institute.  New Delhi, India.  Pp. 101-111.

2011.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Diversity and the good.  In:  Brown, B., K. de Laplante, K. Peacock, D. M. Gabbay, P. Thagard, and J. Woods, editors.  Handbook of the Philosophy of Science.  Volume 11:  Ecology.  Elsevier.  Toronto, ON.  Pp. 399-415.

2011.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Equality:  Economic and ecological.  Canadian Dimension 45(2):35-38.

2011.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Unsimple truths.  Philosophy of Science 78:524-527.

2011.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Weighing species.  Environmental Ethics 33:185-196.

2011.  Mikkelson, G. M., B. J. McGill, B. Beaulieu, and P. L. Beukema.  Multiple links between species diversity and temporal stability in bird communities across North America.  Evolutionary Ecology Research 13:361-372.

2009.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Diversity-stability hypothesis.  In:  Callicott, J. B., R. Frodeman, V. Davion, B. G. Norton, C. Palmer, and P. B. Thompson, editors.  Encyclopedia of Environmental Ethics and Philosophy.  MacMillan.  Farmington Hills, MI.  Volume 1, pp. 255-256.

2009.  Mikkelson, G. M.  The view from Mwakingali A.  Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment 16:851.

2008.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Part-whole relationships and the unity of ecology.

2007.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Ecological economics.  In:  Ruse, M., editor.  Philosophy of Biology.  Prometheus Books.  Amherst, NY.  Pp. 385-392.

2007.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Ecology.  In:  Hull, D. L. and M. Ruse, editors.  Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology.  Cambridge University Press.  New York, NY.  Pp. 372-387.

2007.  Mikkelson, G. M., A. Gonzalez, and G. D. Peterson.  Economic inequality predicts biodiversity loss.  Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE 2.e444.

2006.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Realism vs. instrumentalism in a new statistical framework.  Philosophy of Science 73:440-447.

2005.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Niche-based vs. neutral models of ecological communities.  Biology and Philosophy 20:557-566.

2004.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Biological diversity, ecological stability, and downward causation.  In:  Oksanen, M. and J. Pietarinen, editors.  Philosophy and Biodiversity.  Cambridge University Press.  New York, NY.  Pp. 119-129.

2004.  Mikkelson, G. M.  The science of the struggle for existence.  Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2004.07.03.

2004.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Telling.  Jones Av 10(1):3.

2003.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Ecological kinds and ecological laws.  Philosophy of Science 70:1390-1400.

2003.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Hermit yearnings.  The Crumb 78(8):4.

2002.  Leibold, M. A. and G. M. Mikkelson.  Coherence, species turnover, and boundary clumping:  Elements of meta-community structure.  Oikos 97:237-250.

2001.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Complexity and verisimilitude:  Realism for ecology.  Biology and Philosophy 16:533-546.

2001.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Untangling ecology?  Biology and Philosophy 16:273-279.

1998.  Wright, D. H., B. D. Patterson, G. M. Mikkelson, A. Cutler, and W. Atmar.  A comparative analysis of nested subset patterns of species composition.  Oecologia 113:1-20.

1997.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Methods and metaphors in community ecology:  The problem of defining stabilityPerspectives on Science 5:481-498.

1997.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Other Things Being Equal:  Counterfactuals, Natural Laws, and Scientific Models; with Case Studies from EcologyUniversity of Chicago.  Chicago, IL.

1996.  Mikkelson, G. M.  The large, the small, the real, and the natural.  Biology and Philosophy 11:127-132.

1996.  Mikkelson, G. M.  Stretched lines, averted leaps, and excluded competition:  A theory of scientific counterfactuals.  Philosophy of Science 63:S194-S201.

1995.  Mikkelson, G. M. and M. A. Leibold.  A history of the ecosystem concept in ecology.  Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 38:297-299.

1993.  Mikkelson, G. M.  How do food webs fall apart?  A study of changes in trophic structure during relaxation on habitat fragments Oikos 67:539-547.

Speakings

2020:  Breaking the fossil fuel industry's grip on universities and other institutions, the Climate Reality Project and the McGill Post-Graduate Students' Society

2020:  Why I quit my job at McGill, Fédération Québécoise des Professeures et Professeurs d'Université

2019:  The best divest, Colloquium on Religion and Climate Change, McGill University

2019:  Invisible hand or ecological footprint?  Comparing social vs. environmental impacts of recent economic growth, Canadian Society for Ecological Economics, University of Waterloo

2019:  Justice for species and ecosystems, Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2019:  A leisurely transition to life without fossil fuel, Extinction Rebellion Québec (spring) and McGill Climate Conference (fall)

2019:  The rights of local more-than-human communities, Sierra Club Québec

2018:  Commentary on "Animal Sentience and the Precautionary Principle", Summer School in Animal Cognition, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Université du Québec à Montréal

2018:  The Condorcet Jury Theorem:  More than meets the eye?  Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2018:  Divestment is necessary for McGill to fulfill its social responsibility, Fossil Fuel Divestment Panel, McGill University

2018:  Moderator for panel discussion "Looking Ahead:  A New Era of Environmental Policy in Québec", McGill University

2018:  McGill could play a leadership role by divesting from fossil fuel, McGill University Senate

2018:  Rising up against our tar-stuck bosses, UdeM Sans Pétrole

2017:  Convergence and divergence about net value, International Conference on Convergence and Divergence between Animal and Environmental ethics, McGill University

2016:  Invisible hand or ecological footprint?  Social and environmental impacts of recent economic growth; Groupe de Recherche en Éthique Environnementale et Animale, Université de Montréal

2016:  Nature vs. capital in the 21st Century, International Society for Environmental Ethics

2016:  Richness theory and our vertebrate kin, Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2016:  Sentience, life, richness; Groupe de Recherche en Éthique Environnementale et Animale, Université de Montréal

2015:  Environmental values, human nature, and economic democracy; Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2015:  Individualistic environmental ethics: A reductio ad exstinctum?  Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2014:  How could Canadians converge to a fair-share one-Earth ecological footprint by 2100?, Centre de Recherche en Éthique, Université de Montréal

2014:  Nested (de-)growth scenarios for convergence to a one-Earth footprint by 2050 (and one-tenth of that by 3000), Second Vermont Republic retreat

2014:  No more pipelines for Canadian tar sands, the winning argument presented (with Peter Brown) in the annual Battle of the Profs, McGill University Economic Students' Association

2014:  Richness theory in environmental ethics – From value to action, Centre de Recherche en Éthique de l'Université de Montréal

2013:  Unity in diversity – Richness theory in environmental ethics, Rotman Institute of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario

2012:  Individualistic environmental ethics: A reductio ad exstinctum?  Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science symposium

2012:  Turning humanity from a parasite into a mutualist, International conference on De-Growth in the Americas, HEC Montréal

2011:  Ecology and democracy – In town and at work, Vermont-McGill Joint Cross-Border Sustainability Conference, McGill University

2011:  Why does species evenness cause under-yielding?  Québec Centre for Biodiversity Science symposium

2010:  Local democracy unbound – A hopeful narrative, Rural Heritage Institute, Sterling College

2010:  Multi-level causation and the value of equality, Institute d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques

2010:  The organism and the ecosystem vs. the corporation, Institute d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques

2009:  A model of intrinsic value, McGill Symposium on Environmental Research

2009:  Ecological applications of a more general theory of diversity, Department of Biology, McGill University

2009:  Economic equality, biological diversity, and the McGill polity; Science Talks about Research for Staff; McGill University

2009:  How special are humans?  Doing justice to all 10 million species on Earth, McGill Osler Society

2008:  How to tease apart the effects of facilitation vs. niche differentiation in diversity-productivity experiments, Ecological Society of America

2008:  Making and breaking connections, on behalf of nature and humanity; Women's Networking Group; McGill University

2008:  Realism, economics, and ecology; Dubrovnik Philosophy of Science Conference

2007:  Economic growth is just plain stupid, Citizens in Action, Concordia University

2007:  Liberty, equality, ecology; Neotropical Environment Program; McGill University

2007:  The political ecology of Montréal, Fourth Citizens' Summit on the Future of Montréal, Université du Montréal à Québec

2006:  Socially irresponsible investment by McGill, Debating Union, McGill University

2006:  Toward a general theory of diversity and equality; Department of Philosophy, University of Queensland

2006:  Value, reality, and the more-than-human world; Philosophy of Science Association

2005:  Links between intra- and inter-specific justice, McGill Symposium on Environmental Research

2005:  Mechanistic approaches to ecology – A new holism?  Ecological Society of America

2005:  Mechanistic research in open systems, Department of Biology, Université du Montréal à Québec

2005:  Scale, distribution, and willingness to pay for species and habitat protection; Department of Biology, McGill University

2004:  Undead dogmas of empiricism, Neotropical Environment Program, McGill University

2003:  A critique of reductionist "environmental" science, McGill Symposium on Environmental Research

2003:  A critique of reductionist science, McGill School of Environment

2003:  Biological diversity, ecological stability, and downward causation; Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario

2003:  Downward causation and mechanistic explanation; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

2002:  Comparative philosophy of ecology, Philosophy of Science Association

2002:  Covering laws, contingency, and classification; Department of Philosophy; Trent University

2001:  History vs. environment; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

2001:  Philosophy of ecology – History and current status, Department of Philosophy, University of Texas

2001:  Predictive success and levels of organization, Department of Philosophy, University of Texas

2000:  Letting nature speak, Department of Philosophy, Montana State University

1999:  Biodiversity and expert opinion, International Seminar on Philosophy and Biodiversity

1999:  Situating ecology, Center for the Study of Science and Technology, Rice University

1998:  Backtracking counterfactuals and controlled experiments, Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science

1997:  Equilibrium, stability, and the assembly principle; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

1996:  Counterfactuals and ceteris paribus assumptions in island biogeography, Philosophy of Science Association

1996:  Diversity-stability studies – Problems with definitions, assumptions, and experimental design; Department of Philosophy, University of Guelph

1996:  Taming the weasel, Workshop in the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Chicago

1995:  Counterfactuals and ceteris paribus assumptions in food-web theory; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology

1994:  Confirmation, refutation, and statistical hypothesis tests; MEPHISTOS

1993:  Food webs, secondary extinctions, and the relative importance of competition vs. predation; Land Institute

1993:  The next agricultural revolution?  Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago (with W. C. Wimsatt and J. C. Schank)

1991:  Nested subsets and the design of nature reserves (with B. D. Patterson), Society for Conservation Biology