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Derek Halm, Ph.D.
I am a philosopher who mostly writes about environmental ethics and conservation, which means I think critically about what kinds of environments humans are collectively creating.​​ I also have broad interests in herpetology, including photographing herptiles.
My academic writing is on Google Scholar.
I wrote a book about the introduction and spread of bullfrogs in the American West and the lessons they offer for modern conservation. I am working on a history of the massasauga rattlesnake and its conservation in Michigan and a biography of Mary Dickerson (1866-1923).
I was a postdoc and am now a research affiliate at UC San Diego's Institute for Practical Ethics (2025-2026) and was an Aldo and Estelle Leopold Writing Fellow in 2025.
I am a naturalist and herpetologist. This includes, but is not limited to, fieldwork with rattlesnakes, five years of curatorial experience in herpetology at natural history museums, and leadership of scientific field studies.
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