Elliott Woodhouse

Biography

Elliott Woodhouse is a member of the Equity and Justice Research Group of the IIASA Population and Just Societies Program, where he collaborates on the RAINFOREST project. His work involves research on the ethics and justice of biodiversity and conservation policy and in the RAINFOREST pathways.

Woodhouse's background is in ethics and political theory, with a focus on environmental issues and climate justice. He received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Sheffield, successfully defending his thesis titled, Messing With Nature? Environmental Ethics and the Challenge of Geoengineering, in early 2024, examined by professors Alasdair Cochrane and Claire Palmer. This project was completed in conjunction with the Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation (LC3M), an interdisciplinary research group conducting research into enhanced weathering carbon capture, as well as public opinion studies of geoengineering interventions. Research into public opinions on geoengineering, both carbon dioxide removal (CDR) and solar radiation management (SRM), shows that lay members of the public regularly express concern about geoengineering interventions – tampering with/messing with nature. Woodhouse's work assisted the social science section of LC3M in exploring what this concern might entail, and how successful it might be as a critique of geoengineering.

As part of his work, he taught modules looking at Political Philosophy and Climate Change, as well as the History of Western Ethical Thought and the Philosophy of Science. He was also a research assistant for the Living with Landscape Change project, which put key stakeholders in the Peak District National Park in conversation to explore how their values shaped their views of changes in one of the UK's most iconic upland areas.

Prior to his doctorate, Woodhouse acquired a master's degree in Political Theory. He specialized in ethical problems raised by wildlife conservation policy. He also completed a six-month research internship with The Wildlife Trusts, exploring how practical conservation work managed conflicts between promoting wildlife and human recreation. His master's thesis explored how deontological approaches to nonhuman value lead to theoretical conflicts in conservation policy, and considered whether a care-ethics approach might reconcile these differences. He regularly worked with the Sheffield Human Animals Research Centre (SHARC), a major institute in the recent political turn in interspecies ethics.

Woodhouse has a significant side-interest in philosophy of education and the use of philosophy-for-children (P4C) pedagogy, particularly in using semi-structured philosophical dialogue to deepen public conversations around the ethical problems raised by climate change. He has over 10 years of experience as a P4C practitioner and has regularly run public workshops on climate change philosophy in that time. His work on the use of philosophy in the development of adolescent non-cognitive social skills was published in the Journal of Pre-College Philosophy and Public Practice.

Outside of work, Elliott maintains his interest in biodiversity and conservation. He is a former Wetland Bird Surveyor for the British Trust for Ornithology, and a member of the Scottish Ornithologists Club.

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Last update: 21 MAY 2024