“The Hope of Integral Ecology”

Description:

What is integral ecology, and how can it bring about hope in troubled times? What can it offer to Catholics and to all people of good will? Integral ecology, introduced by Pope Francis in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, is a call to look holistically at the ecology of our common home and how best to care for it so that both natural and human ecology benefit. In a world in which there is so much dissonance in the voice of creation, integral ecology can be a beacon for hope and praise. In this lecture, Sister Damien Marie Savino, a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist and former Dean of Science and Sustainability at Aquinas College, will discuss her research on the principles and practices of integral ecology. This is the topic of her new book, to be published in 2025, and the focus of her current appointment as the Melchor Visiting Professor in the School of Engineering at University of Notre Dame, with a concurrent appointment at the McGrath Institute for Church Life.

Biography:

Sr. Damien Marie Savino is a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist and served as the Dean of Science and Sustainability at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her research interests include theology and science, ecology and theology, ecological restoration, and resilience theory.

Her scientific research focuses on environmental remediation of soil and groundwater contamination, the environmental impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and the application of resilience theory to ecosystem health. For the past ten years, she has become increasingly involved in interdisciplinary projects and has lectured and written widely on Laudato Si’ and integral ecology, as well as on science and faith, ecology and theology, and ecological restoration and health.

Savino’s Kellogg project “Educating for Laudato Si’: Engineering for Integral Ecology” is a book she is writing to address the urgent need to put into practice integral ecology as envisioned by Pope Francis in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si’, in conversation with the broader literature and practice of integral human development. It also seeks to propose principles and practices for revivifying engineering education in the spirit of integral ecology, as little literature currently exists in this area.

Savino holds a PhD in civil (environmental) engineering from The Catholic University of America, an MS in Soil and Plant Science from the University of Connecticut, and an MA in theology from The Catholic University of America.

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