Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Environmental virtue ethics'
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Kaplan, Christopher Francis. "Environmental Virtue Ethics and the Virtue of Ecological Sensitivity." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/579285.
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What traits and virtues must a person possess to be considered environmentally virtuous? And further, must we recognize new human excellences specific to environmental contexts, or can the traditional virtues be 'extended' to apply to environmental interactions and relationships? Current disagreement in the environmental virtue ethics literature over how to identify and ratify environmental virtue represents a significant issue in the literature because its answer impinges upon other areas of an environmental virtue ethic's framework, including the acquisition and sufficiency of virtue, environmental practical wisdom, and the normative resources available to an environmental virtue ethic. Ronald Sandler, a proponent of non-extensionist environmental virtue ethics, has suggested the recognition of a novel human virtue called "ecological sensitivity".¹ However, Sandler left open at the time exactly what character dispositions and traits constitute that virtue, and how it ought to be fully understood. The thesis presented here attempts to identify the dispositions, attitudes, and traits that constitute ecological sensitivity (or eco-sensitivity).
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Runwen, Zhu. "Environmental Virtue Ethics : Wildlife Tourism in Sweden." Thesis, Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för organisation och entreprenörskap (OE), 2018. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-76288.
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With the permission of Swedish Allemansrätten, the Right of Public Access, allows people to interact with the natural environment... . Environmental ethics, discuss about the relationship between man and nature, and is hence clearly connected to the questions of wildlife tourism. Great part of the previous literature has focused on the environmental ethics in tourism from the perspective of utilitarianism or deontology, with special concern in animal rights, animal ethics and animal welfare. However, questions like ‘what kind of people will do good to the environment?’, ‘What are the characteristics of these people?’ are among those that still need to be discussed in the field of wildlife tourism research. According to the theory of environmental virtue ethics, man's attitude towards nature originates from the internal quality and character of human beings. Whether it is the western scholars Thomas Hill and Geoffrey Frasz, or the ancient Chinese School of Confucianism and Taoism, they all put forward their own opinions on the characters required by the virtue ethics of the environment. In this thesis, documentary writing and network media records of wildlife tourists in Sweden are used as empirical materials to demonstrate the behavioral and psychological manifestations of the three characters of environmental virtues ethics. These three characters reflect the harmonious interaction between man and nature, and contribute in the theoretical discussions of of ethics in Tourism Studies.
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Lindemann, Monica A. "Environmental Virtue Education: Ancient Wisdom Applied." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2005. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4859/.
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The focus of environmental philosophy has thus far heavily depended on the extension of rights to nonhuman nature. Due to inherent difficulties with this approach to environmental problems, I propose a shift from the contemporary language of rights and duties to the concept of character development. I claim that a theory of environmental virtue ethics can circumvent many of the difficulties arising from the language of rights, duties, and moral claims by emphasizing the cultivation of certain dispositions in the individual moral agent. In this thesis, I examine the advantages of virtue ethics over deontological and utilitarian theories to show the potential of developing an ecological virtue ethic. I provide a preliminary list of ecological virtues by drawing on Aristotle's account of traditional virtues as well as on contemporary formulations of environmental virtues. Then, I propose that certain types of rules (rules of thumb) are valuable for the cultivation of environmental virtues, since they affect the way the moral agent perceives a particular situation. Lastly, I offer preliminary formulations of these rules of thumb.
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James, Simon Paul. "Heidegger and environmental ethics." Thesis, Durham University, 2001. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/3958/.
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This thesis presents an environmental ethic based on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Chapter One uses Heidegger's conception of 'dwelling' as the basis for a satisfying account of the 'otherness' or alterity of nature. Chapter Two draws upon Heidegger's writings on 'the dif-ference', Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy and the metaphysics of Alfred North Whitehead to develop a 'dialectical' conception of holism which can accommodate both the account of alterity presented in Chapter One and an account of the intrinsic value of individual beings. Chapter Three frames this conception of environmental holism in terms of ethics. It is argued that Heidegger's ideal of 'releasement' can be thought of as an essential 'function' of humans, the exercise of which promotes human flourishing. Extending this Aristotelian line of reasoning, it is shown how one can draw upon Heidegger's philosophy to articulate a form of environmental virtue ethic. Chapter Four investigates the charge that Heidegger's later thought is quietistic, a general allegation which is analysed into four interrelated specific charges: 1) the accusation that Heidegger is advocating a passive withdrawal from the world; 2) Adorno's charge in Negative Dialectics that Heidegger's philosophy is inimical to critical thought; 3) the objection that Heidegger is unable to deal adequately with either interhuman relations or the relations between humans and nonhuman animals; and 4) the charge that Heidegger's later writings cannot be brought to bear upon practical environmental issues. In answer to this last objection, case studies are presented of two environmental issues: 1) the environmental impact of tourism; and 2) the practice of environmental restoration.
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Tan, Gregory. "Ecological Virtue Ethics: Towards Conversion and Environmental Action." Thesis, Boston College, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:107480.
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Thesis advisor: James T. BretzkeThesis advisor: Andrea Vicini
This thesis argues that, in order to address adequately the ecological crisis, humanity needs to change drastically soon from ecologically harmful to ecologically friendly attitudes and practices. In our Christian understanding, this change requires a conversion from ecological vices to ecological virtues. To do so, humanity needs to move away from its overtly anthropocentric concerns to a more genuine respect for creation. Drawing from Church tradition, this thesis establishes that creation has rights, endowed by the Creator, that need to be protected, if ecological integrity is to be preserved. This thesis suggests what these rights should be and the means that would allow their protection. I then argue that, for the necessary changes in human behaviour to take places, ecological conversion needs to begin with individual conversion before social transformation is possible. This thesis, therefore, proposes the ecological virtues needed for individual conversion, and then ecological social action and advocacy. Thus, this thesis charts a course forward from principles, to motivations, and finally, to action
Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2017
Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry
Discipline: Sacred Theology
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Krueger, Barbara Murphy. "Climate Change Virtue Ethics and Ecocriticism in Undergraduate Education." Thesis, Prescott College, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1583209.
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This thesis explores the question: can an ecocritical approach to environmental virtue ethics (EVE) in undergraduate climate change education inform students' understanding of the ethical issues of climate change and promote environmental responsibility and action? Philosophical theories of virtue ethics will be discussed from an historical perspective as well as to its renewal in the 20th century, especially within the context of the wicked dimensions of the climate change crisis. Dominant themes in climate change ethics including concerns over the scientific complexity, global dimensions, temporal issues, intergenerational fairness and responsibility, justice, and human rights will be presented and used to devise a compendium of climate change virtues and vices. Environmental and climate change education research will be reviewed as well as the reasons for its failure to produce a substantial shift in attitudes and behavior of people especially in the global North will be deliberated. Ecocriticism, which studies the relationship between literature and visual and audial art will be explored, and a novel curriculum based on theoretical elements from climate change virtue ethics and supported with examples of the ecocritical arts will be proposed. It is my belief that an interdisciplinary framework supported and illustrated by climate change ecocriticism from any and all of the literary, visual, audial, and performance arts will create deeper understandings of climate change complexity.
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Lindemann, Monica A. "The Character of Environmental Citizenship: Virtue Education for Raising Morally Responsible Individuals." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2013. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271857/.
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Surely, moral education is not merely intended to result in theoretical knowledge, but instead attempts to change people's behavior. However, when examining and evaluating current trends in moral education, it appears that hitherto moral education has fallen short of its goal to make people better. In this paper, I try to determine what has caused this perceived failure of moral education and conclude that approaches that focus on teaching moral reasoning skills rather than on teaching actual moral content, i.e., values and virtues, are generally ineffective for moral improvement. However, a more traditional form of moral education, namely character education, appears to be a viable alternative to the moral reasoning methods. Since character education can be regarded as the practical application of virtue ethics, I first describe and evaluate virtue ethics and defend it against potential criticisms. I then examine what methods are effective for teaching virtues, and how such methods can potentially be incorporated into the curriculum. Since virtues cannot be taught through theoretical instruction, the acquisition of good habits constitutes the necessary foundation for the establishment of good moral character. Some methods that have been suggested for laying the foundation for virtue are the use of stories, role play, as well as the inclusion of physical and outdoor activities, etc. Furthermore, habituation constitutes the basis for the acquisition of good habits, and as such it requires the application of rewards and punishment by a caring tutor, who at the same time can serve as a role model for virtuous behavior. Finally, I extrapolate if and how character education can be employed to make people more environmentally conscious citizens. I conclude that environmental virtue or character education is the most effective method of environmental education, since it affects how an individual understands, views, and subsequently interacts with the natural environment.
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Kjellsson, Love. "Can the Act of Destroying Nature be Evil in Itself? : A Virtue Ethical Approach to the Last Man Thought Experiment." Thesis, Umeå universitet, Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-123172.
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Kirkham, Georgina Katharine. "Creating art or vexing nature? : ethics and the manipulation of nature, a critical study of arguments from Nature." University of Western Australia. Philosophy Discipline Group, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0163.
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This dissertation comprises a series of five separate papers, arranged as chapters, linked thematically and also in their conclusions. The thematic connection between the chapters is that, in each, I investigate some aspect, either historical or contemporary, of how moral limits have been, or might be, applied to the human manipulation of nature through technology. More specifically, I explore how the concept of naturalness has been, and still is, employed in ethical arguments that seek to place limits upon or defend the use of various technologies. In each chapter, I argue that arguments which appeal to nature or naturalness as a normative concept make proper sense only when understood from the perspective of virtue ethics. The conclusions of each chapter are connected, and connected to the conclusions of the dissertation as a whole: firstly, that what I call 'arguments from nature', as they are used in debates about the moral limitations on the use of technology, are defensible only from within a virtue ethics framework; secondly, that such arguments have an important, although limited, role in such debates; and, finally, that virtue ethics more broadly can inform debates about the ethics of technology and the environment. In the first two chapters, by comparing contemporary debates over the ethics of technological manipulation of nature with historical debates over the proper relationship between art and nature, I demonstrate that virtue ethics have played, and still do play, a significant role in our ethical understanding of our relationship with the non-human world. I argue that the ethical issues that arise from our relationship with the non-human world, in response to advances in technology and to problems with the environment, indicate the need for an understanding of ethics that goes further than the mere consideration of rights and utility. In chapters three and four, I argue that virtue ethical theory provides the most promising understanding of the argument from nature as it is applied in attempts to place limits on the human manipulation of nature. In the final chapter, I explore what a modern environmental or technological virtue or vice might be. I explain and defend the environmental and technological virtue of 'living in place' and, in doing so, bring together and validate the claims made in previous chapters that the appeal to human nature does have a role as a normative guide for our ethical evaluations of how we should live and, more generally, that virtue ethical theory can be of guiding and foundational significance in an overarching ethics of the environment and technology.
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Brown, Pailyn. "Virtue of Attunement: Contributions of Yuasa Yasuo's Embodied Self-Cultivation Practices to Ted Toadvine's Ecophenomenology of Difference." Oberlin College Honors Theses / OhioLINK, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=oberlin1516467964864505.
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Menning, Nancy Lee. "Reading nature religiously: Lectio Divina, environmental ethics, and the literary nonfiction of Terry Tempest Williams." Diss., University of Iowa, 2010. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/556.
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This dissertation describes a method for constructing a religious environmental ethic modeled on the spiritual practice of lectio divina, or devotional reading. Lectio divina is an explicitly religious way of reading, distinguished from other modes of reading not by what is read--even sacred scriptures can be read for mastery of content, for entertainment, etc.--but by how it is read. In lectio divina, the reader engages the text with a willingness to be transformed by an encounter with the sacred, mediated somehow by the text. This vulnerability is inherent in a religious reading, as is the intimacy implicit in the repeated engagement with the text that is central to the practice of lectio divina. The emphasis on vulnerability and intimacy marks this religious approach to environmental ethics as a form of virtue ethics.
Consistent with the traditional insight conveyed by the two-books metaphor, whereby Christians believed God was revealed both in the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, I map the classic stages of lectio divina onto a reading not of scripture but of the natural world. Paying attention requires careful observation, the naming and description of relevant details, and awareness and articulation of emotional responses as one repeatedly visits natural settings. Pondering requires a willingness to enter deeply into the religious, scientific, and other sources that help us understand the natural world and our place within it, as well as a willingness to reflect critically upon those sources. Responding calls upon readers of nature to take definite actions that flow out of the previous stages of paying attention and pondering, utilizing knowledge born of familiarity to address environmental challenges while also protecting natural settings in which the unnamable sacred can be encountered. Surrendering involves acknowledging human limits of understanding, will, and action, and nonetheless finding rest and restoration by trusting in some force beyond the merely human. I illustrate this argument with interpretations of literary works by Terry Tempest Williams, thereby asserting the relevance of religiosity to human transformation and to efforts to imaginatively embody human-land relationships that further human and ecological flourishing.
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Allison, Zachary R. "The Need for Virtue in an Age of Climate Change." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1533163230320019.
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Larsen, Randy R. "The Role of Nature in John Muir's Conception of the Good Life." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1316547924.
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Holmlund, Eric Richard. "Caretakers of the Garden of Delight and Discontent: Adirondack Narrative, Conflict, and Environmental Virtue." Antioch University / OhioLINK, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=antioch1282137895.
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黃廣昌 and Kwong-cheong Wong. "On the virtues approach to Buddhist environmental ethics." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2008. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B4154738X.
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Al-Attili, Aghlab Ismat. "Factors affecting embodied interaction in virtual environments : familiarity, ethics and scale." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/4910.
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The thesis explores human embodiment in 3D Virtual environments as a means of enhancing interaction. I aim to provide a better understanding of embodied interaction in digital environments in general. 3D interactive virtual environments challenge users to question aspects of their embodiment by providing new modes for interacting with space. Designers are facing new challenges that require novel means of interacting with virtual environments that do not simply mirror the way we interact within physical environments. Much of the research in the field aims to show how such environments can be made more familiar and "realistic" to users. This thesis attempts to probe the unfamiliar aspects of the medium. In this thesis I explore the concept, image and object of intimate space. How can an understanding of intimate space inform embodied interaction with virtual environments? I also investigate the role of familiarity by analysing and testing it in two contrasting interactive virtual environments. My contribution is to provide an account of familiarity as the driver behind embodied interaction in virtual environments based on human experience (from a phenomenological standpoint). In order to enhance the process of design for human embodied interaction in 3D virtual environments or in physical environments, I will identify tangible and intangible elements that affect human embodiment in 3D virtual environments and space, such as ethics and scale. Both examples are explored in interactive 3D virtual environments corresponding to real physical environments by subjects who are the daily users of the real physical environments. The thesis presents scale as a tangible element and ethics as an intangible element of human embodied interaction in space in order to highlight the different aspects that affect human engagement with space, and therefore human perception of their space and their embodiment. The Subjects’ accounts contribute toward informing the design of interactive 3D virtual environments within the context of embodied interaction.
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Adair, Joel C. "Resolving Problems in Engineering Ethics: Precept and Example." BYU ScholarsArchive, 1999. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3448.
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This thesis has served to accomplish several objectives. First, a foundation was laid for the consideration of ethical factors in an engineering context. This was done by first establishing the need for ethical judgement in the engineering disciplines. A summary of several significant classical ethical theories followed, providing several tools with which to evaluate decisions that have ethical implications. Finally, the conclusion was made that the best framework for making ethical decisions is found in the application of the virtues espoused by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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Johansson, Megan. "Teachers' Lived Experiences of the Virtual Learning Environment: A Phenomenological Inquiry." Thesis, Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för hälsa, lärande och teknik, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-85127.
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This research project is about the lived experiences of upper secondary school and adult education teachers from a remote region of Sweden, during the global pandemic of 2020 – 2021. Educational change can be understood in terms of experiences, through listening to teachers’ voices, which have the capacity to bring new knowledge for future usage of digital platforms in education. Teaching is an embodied experience and opportunities for movement have become limited in the virtual learning environment. A radical change in the methods of communication has also occured, in particular the verbal and non-verbal clues of oral interaction, which differ in physical and virtual classrooms. Interpersonal relationships have been shown to be of the utmost importance for successful learning, and these need to be formed and maintained both online and offline. Some students are at risk of falling behind academically and socially due to remote learning. The research has shed light on this situation and illustrates how governments should work effectively with teachers to ensure that all students can succeed, regardless of individual setbacks experienced during the global pandemic. This is an ethical responsibility of importance to ensure that no student will be disadvantaged as a result of remote learning.
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Sheng-Chin, Yang, and 楊勝欽. "Environmental Ethics: A Virtue Ethics Approach." Thesis, 2006. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/44980601499480766694.
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博士中國文化大學
哲學研究所
94
In past research regarding the issue, “Why people should protect environment?”, there has been a debate between anthropcentrism and nonanthropocentrism. Because the situation has favored nonthropocentrism, the general conclusion is that human must pay moral attention to nature. However, this conclusion is unsatisfying because (1) it neglected that the issue of environmental protection was raised due to the threat of human survival, and (2) it neglected that the work of environment protection is through human being. Going back to the original issue, this thesis uses historical interpretation and document analysis to claim that the reason that we want to protect environment is that we want to sustain human race, although the view of “sustainable development” points out this concept, but it still fails to support both the ideas of “human development” and “environmental protection”. There are two reasons that nonanthropocentrism scholars failed to justify that human obligates to pay moral attention to protect environment in the pass studies. First, they cannot give a clear definition of “anthropocentrism”, so their criticism has less power. Second, they applied moral principles to claim that nature has intrinsic value sufficient enough to attract human to pay moral attention. This is a misuse of the moral principle because they neglected that human is the center of the application of moral principle, and their theory did not address the difference between “is” and “ought to”, so there were some defects in their theory. This thesis tries to use the approach of virtue ethics. Through the illumination from “land ethics”, it bridges Darwin’s moral develop view and virtue ethics, and develops an “environmental virtue ethics” view. In this point of view, human will apply “philia” virtue to sustain whole survival of human being, and extend this concern to the environment around him. These two purposes form a minimal “justice” view to make believe that all the individuals of human being form a community to support all human members alive, and all kinds of development will not overload for the living environment. Thus in this view, to develop “philia” virtue to keep sustainability of whole human being is a necessary condition for environment protection, and to develop “justice” virtue to satisfy the least criterion is a sufficient condition for environment protection.
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李岷駿. "Ronald L. Sandler’s Virtue-Oriented Approach and Its Implication on Education for Environmental Ethics." Thesis, 2014. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/54155146841398361972.
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碩士國立臺灣師範大學
環境教育研究所
102
“The ultimate goal of environmental education (E.E.) is to train up the people who have environmental ethics and act with correct environmental attitudes and values.” The declaration made by Dr. Yang points out the role of environmental ethics in E.E.. area. Then, after studying the research about education for environmental ethics in Taiwan, We found that we need more spcefic ethical theory of education for Environmental Ethics. Since virtue-oriented approach of environmental ethics focus on what character should we develop to reach ‘Eudaimonia’, which entails human and environment both flourishing. We require environmental virtues to guiding our life. Such approach emphasizes the ability of practice, is very pragmatic. Additionally, E.E.’s definetion implies growing both positive attitudes and the abilities of problem solving. Therefore, virtue-oriented approach fits E.E.’s goal. As a result, the job of this study is to find out the environmental virtues that practice environmental ethics in people’s life. This study adopt philosophical thinking to operate the following research method: stress concept analysis and the method of inductive/deductive for reference. And first, concluding Ronald L. Sandler’s theory to frame out virtue-oriented environmental ethics. Second, applying this approach to show Rachel L. Carson, environmental exampler’s excellent life and virtues. We tried to answer these topics: how a virtuous person think about environmental ethics, how to make a ethical judgement by virtues, and how to take ethical action with practical wisdom. We get following results: 1.The meaning of education for environmental ethics are: (1)acquire the abilities which can promote both human and environment flourish. (2)cultivate and practice environmental virtues. 2.Environmental virtues are: (1)commune with nature, (2)self understanding, (3)care for others, (4)judging ethical issue by reason, and (5)practice abilities.
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Chou, Yu-Chen, and 周昱辰. "Cafaro's Environmental Virtue Ethic Study: A Case Study of Taiwan's Population and Environment Issues." Thesis, 2019. http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/28swu6.
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碩士國立中央大學
哲學研究所
107
Philip Cafaro's environmental virtue ethic goal is how limit consumption could improve our life. To realize the worldview of Cafaro's environmental virtue ethic, we need to know the philosophical view of his environmental virtues and environmental vices, and how his goal could improve our life. The approach taken in this study is to use his environmental virtue ethic theories to face Taiwan's population and environment issues. Therefore, this study will first analyze Taiwan's population and environment issues, taking air pollution, river pollution and overdevelopment as examples. Then this study will discuss the majors of environmental vices, environmental wisdom, and the limit consumption theory of Cafaro’s environmental virtue ethic, and then reflect his theories above. By reflect Cafaro’s theories, this study claims that improving our life is not enough to consider only limit consumption. It is necessary to consider the impact of population. Therefore, at the end of this study will face population and environment issues in Taiwan by strengthening Cafaro’s limit consumption theory, and then provide Taiwan’s education and policies in accordance with the spirit of Cafaro’s environmental virtue ethic.
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"On the Virtues of a Philosophically Pragmatic Reorientation in Environmental Ethics: Adaptive Co-management as a Laboratory." Doctoral diss., 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.53855.
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abstract: With global environmental systems under increasing Anthropogenic influence, conservationists and environmental managers are under immense pressure to protect and recover the world’s imperiled species and ecosystems. This effort is often motivated by a sense of moral responsibility, either to nature itself, or to the end of promoting human wellbeing over the long run. In other words, it is the purview of environmental ethics, a branch of applied philosophy that emerged in the 1970s and that for decades has been devoted to understanding and defending an attitude of respect for nature, usually for its own sake. Yet from the very start, environmental ethics has promoted itself as contributing to the resolution of real-world management and policy problems. By most accounts, however, the field has historically failed to deliver on this original promise, and environmental ethicists continue to miss opportunities to make intellectual inroads with key environmental decisionmakers. Inspired by classical and contemporary American philosophers such as Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, John Dewey, and Richard Rorty, I defend in this dissertation the virtues of a more explicitly pragmatic approach to environmental ethics. Specifically, I argue that environmental pragmatism is not only commensurate with pro-environmental attitudes but that it is more likely to lead to viable and sustainable outcomes, particularly in the context of eco-social resilience-building activities (e.g., local experimentation, adaptation, cooperation). In doing so, I call for a recasting of environmental ethics, a project that entails: 1) a conceptual reorientation involving the application of pragmatism applied to environmental problems; 2) a methodological approach linking a pragmatist environmentalism to the tradition and process of adaptive co-management; and 3) an empirical study of stakeholder values and perspectives in conservation collaboratives in Arizona. I conclude that a more pragmatic environmental ethics has the potential to bring a powerful set of ethical and methodological tools to bear in real-world management contexts and, where appropriate, can ground and justify coordinated conservation efforts. Finally, this research responds to critics who suggest that, because it strays too far from the ideological purity of traditional environmental ethics, the pragmatic decision-making process will, in the long run, weaken rather than bolster our commitment to conservation and environmental protection.Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2019