Mount Allison professor invited to speak at international climate change conference
2012-01-10 08:54:42
SACKVILLE, NB - Geography and environment professor Dr. Brad Walters has been invited to Denmark to be a keynote speaker at an international seminar on climate change. The conference, called Waterworlds, takes place at the University of Copenhagen from January 16-18 and will explore the connections between climate and society, including how climate change impacts human livelihoods.
Walters’ invitation to the conference was in part sparked by his latest book, Causal Explanation for Social Scientists: A Reader (AltaMira Press, 2011) (AltaMira Press), co-edited with Andrew Vayda of Rutgers University. It argues that scientists may benefit by taking into account key insights from philosophy and history when doing their research.
The premise of the book has caused a stir in academic circles because it challenges some of the accepted tenets of how to best do research. The book is the latest publication originating from a more than decade-long collaboration between Walters and Vayda.
“We faced considerable criticism at first; there was a lot of initial push-back to our ideas,” Walters says. “But over time we have been gaining more respect for advocating these unconventional views.”
He says many scholars rely too heavily on theories and models that seek to simplify the world.
“Such abstractions may serve a purpose, but too often we forget the essential lesson of history: that the world is complicated; contingent events often rule the day,” he says. “Theories, models and other generalizations should be viewed as tools to assist researchers in their search for explanations. They should not be confused — as they so often are — as explanations in their own right.”
The Copenhagen conference focuses on methodologies for research on climate society issues, which fits neatly with Walters’ own research interests.
In addition to the process of research, Walters also studies tropical human ecology. His doctoral studies explored coastal communities in the Philippines and their use of and impact on tropical mangrove forests. His latest project examines upland forests and land use change in St. Lucia, a small island nation in the Caribbean.
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