My work focuses on identifying and analyzing core concepts and values in conservation. 

My  goal is to increase our understanding of these fields, as well as to inform practice. A central question for the field in the 21st century is what kind of manipulations of the “natural” world are acceptable in the name of saving it. From “managing” wilderness until it is no longer wild to genetically altering endangered species, how much human meddling is morally permissible—and how much could be considered obligatory in the face of looming extinctions and the climate crisis? 

My published work in this area explores applied ethics problems at the leading edge of scientific discovery and practice. Here, I examine the ethics of cognitive enhancement of animals, de-extinction, and genetic technologies for conservation biology. With a co-author, I have argued that the intentional eradication of the mosquito Anopheles gambiae using CRISPR gene-drive technology is morally permissible even though it would mean intentionally causing an extinction. I have also explored the tension between more traditional conservation biologists, who work to save populations and ecosystems, and compassionate conservationists, who focus on harm to individual animals and individual animal autonomy. I have also co-written multiple papers with my wife, the environmental writer Emma Marris, on conservation ethics.