Experts at Empire State College

Wayne Ouderkirk
Professor, Saratoga Unit Coordinator
Saratoga Springs, NY

Expertise

• Environmental Philosophy and Ethics
• Environmental issues
• Wilderness preservation and restoration
• General philosophy

Profile

Wayne Ouderkirk specializes in philosophy and environmental studies. Although his philosophical training (M.A. and Ph.D.) was primarily in theory of knowledge and metaphysics, for many years he has focused his research and writing on environmental philosophy and ethics. Ouderkirk teaches a range of topics in environmental philosophy and is one of the faculty organizers of an annual Environmental Studies Residency, an interdisciplinary program that is held at Raquette Lake, in the Adirondacks each October.

Ouderkirk has edited books in the field and has published a number of professional essays on several related issues. He also has presented papers at national and international conferences, and in 2004 organized the 14th North American Conference on Environment and Community, which Empire State College sponsored in Saratoga Springs.

Ouderkirk earned his Bachelor of Arts from St. Joseph’s Seminary, and his Master of Arts and Ph.D., in philosophy, from SUNY at Albany. He is the recipient of the Susan H. Turben Award for Excellence in Scholarship.