Christopher J. Preston is an author, blogger, professor, and a research fellow at the Mansfield Ethics and Public Affairs Program at the University of Montana. He got his B.A. from the University of Durham (1990) in his native England. He received his Master’s degree in applied ethics from Colorado State University in Fort Collins (1993) and his PhD from the University of Oregon in Eugene (1998). A large part of his education into environmental thought took place on fishing boats in the waters off Alaska. After becoming bewitched by Missoula during a one year job there in the late 1990’s he worked hard to return to Montana and achieved that goal in 2005.

His writing examines the relationships between humans, nature, wildlife, technology, and society. In addition to being a key faculty member of UM’s Master’s degree in environmental philosophy, Christopher works across the disciplines with collaborators from Forestry, Geology, Environmental Studies, and other disciplines. He has secured support for his work from sources at both ends of the academic spectrum, from the National Science Foundation to Humanities Montana. He has recently enjoyed extended stays in the Netherlands, Italy, and Norway, travelling frequently across Europe in pursuit of stories connected to his interests. His writing at the moment focuses on rewilding, genetic technologies, and climate change. Many of his topics of interest appear in his blog at www.plastocene.com.

In his spare time, he and his wife tend their flower and vegetable gardens together, pick thousands of huckleberries in the local woods, mountain bike all summer, and cross-country ski all winter.

Twitter: @SyntheticAge Facebook: @ChristopherJPrestonAuthor