Ryan E. McCoy
About me
My work
I'm a philosopher and PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky. I work at the intersection of philosophy of science and environmental ethics and enjoy thinking about social and ethical questions that arise in climate change research and policy. My dissertation, written under the supervision of Julia Bursten, focuses on the growing need within climate research for improvements in regional and local climate information, and explores knowledge gaps in regional modeling efforts, limitations to the kinds of information these models can provide, as well as how this affects climate change mitigation and adaptation. I show how transdisciplinary approaches to climate research that include the knowledge and expertise of local communities can help to address many of these knowledge gaps.
Additionally, I have been a part of several interdisciplinary research projects, ranging from work as a Research Assistant for an NSF funded project on knowledge formation in agriculture science, to conducting interviews for the Kentucky Climate Oral History Project. Currently, I am working as part of an interdisciplinary team to develop and distribute a climate change needs assessment for Extension personnel in Kentucky, and also serve as Research Assistant to Lauren Cagle for the Kentucky Climate Consortium.
My approach
I enjoy doing philosophy that engages with and is relevant to scientific practice and social issues. I fully subscribe to the idea that sustainability issues are 'Wicked Problems', and that addressing these challenges requires a diverse range of talents and perspectives. As a researcher, this involves reading literature across a variety of disciplines, as well as collaboration with other philosophers and researchers outside of my discipline. Not only do I think this makes for better research, but it's also just plain fun to learn from and alongside others.
These interests in collaboration and social issues carry over into my teaching, both in terms of content and approach. I believe students learn best when they're engaging with and learning from one another, whether through in-class groups, collaborative projects, or online discussion boards. Moreover, I believe that course content should reflect a diverse range of perspectives and address issues relevant to students' lives and communities.
My life
I was born and raised in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, before moving to Nashville to study philosophy and audio engineering as an undergraduate at Belmont University. After completing my master's degree at Georgia State University in Atlanta, I made my way back up I-75 to Lexington, Kentucky, where I currently live.
I enjoy just about anything outdoors, whether it's hiking or gardening, and will usually be accompanied by one or both of our family's two dogs, Max and Monk. One of my favorite places in the world is Hisle Farm, a 280-acre farm turned public park just north of downtown Lexington. Fun fact: it's also the location of all the photos on this page.
