Rebecca L. Vidra, Mellon Lecturing Fellow
Contact Info:Office Location: 200H Art Building
E-mail Address:
Typical Courses Taught:
- Writing 20, Academic writing
Synopsis
- Writing 20, Academic writing
Synopsis
- Environ 105s, Ethical challenges env conserv
Synopsis
- Office Hours:
- On Research Leave
June 2008 - July 2009
- PhD, North Carolina State University, 2004
- MS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2000
- BS, The Ohio State University, 1996
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Research Interests:
I am intrigued by research questions at the nexus of restoration ecology and environmental ethics, questions that are difficult to answer with language of either scientists or philosophers. Currently, I am on research leave on Cortes Island, British Columbia to pursue these questions.
For decades, environmental philosophers have tangled over whether nature has intrinsic value. In the meantime, some have argued that restored sites will never have intrinsic value because they are human artifacts, or perhaps even "fakes". I bring these two arguments together in my current work to ask: Can we restore intrinsic value? Using case studies from urban neighborhoods in Cleveland, OH and artifically created wetlands in North Carolina, I am exploring the implications of this question.
Issues of patience in restoration also attract and perturb me. We often don't incorporate a patient approach, especially in mitigation sites where legislation determines success, leading to unsuccessful, pitiful attempts at restoration. Incorporating my experiences outside of my work, primarily becoming a patient mother, I am building this argument into a call for a new approach to restoration.
After being trained as a restoration scientist, I find myself attracted to complex, ethical questions that seem to require both a broad understanding of ecology and the language of a poet. Writing about these issues is incredibly invigorating and I look forward to returning to the classroom to share these insights and gain further inspiration from my students.
Representative Publications
- R.L. Vidra and T.H.Shear. "Thinking locally for urban forest restoration: A simple method links exotic species invasion to local landscape structure." Restoration Ecology In Press (2008).
- R.L. Vidra, T.H. Shear, and J.M. Stucky. "Effects of vegetation removal on native understory recovery in an exotic-rich urban forest." Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 134.3 (2007): 410-419.
- R.L. Vidra, T.H. Shear and T.R. Wentworth. "Testing the paradigms of exotic species invasion in urban riparian forests." Natural Areas Journal (October, 2006).
- R.L. Vidra. "Studying the ethics of ecological restoration: An introduction." Ecological Restoration 24.2 (June, 2006): 100-101.
- Dickinson, W.... (10 undergraduate co-authors) and R.L. Vidra. "The ethical challenges faced by ecological restorationists." Ecological Restoration 24.2 (June, 2006): 102-104.
- Carpenter, A.... (11 undergraduate co-authors) and R.L. Vidra. "Developing a code of ethics for ecological restorationists." Ecological Restoration 24.2 (June, 2006): 105-108.
- R.L. Vidra. "What are your ethical challenges?." Ecological Restoration 21.2 (2003): 120-121.
- R.L. Vidra and T.H. Shear. "The human/nature dilemma in ecological restoration." Global Restoration Ecology. Edited by Francisco Comin. Under Review.
- R.L. Vidra. "Ethical dilemmas in coral reef restoration." Coral Reef Restoration Handbook. Edited by W. Precht. CRC Press 2005.