Lucas F. Johnston
Wake Forest University
118 Wingate Hall
PO Box 7212
Winston-Salem, NC 27109
336-354-3130
luke@religionandnature.com
OVERVIEW
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Trained in religious and environmental ethics, sustainability studies, and cognitive
psychology
Interdisciplinary focus engaging the religious dimensions of contemporary social
movements, sustainability, philosophy of science, public expressions of normative
values, religion and nature, and popular culture
Entrepreneurial self-starter with experience in organizational development, event
planning and execution
Demonstrated aptitude for understanding and explaining complex ethical
dilemmas in contemporary culture
EDUCATION
PhD, Religion and Nature, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, August 2004-April 2009
 Concentrations: Religious Dimensions of Contemporary Social Movements,
Sustainability, Environmental Ethics, Contested Spaces
Graduate Certificate, Environmental Ethics, Graduate Environmental Ethics Program,
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, May 2004
 Concentrations: Environmental Dispute Resolution
Master of Arts, Theology, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA, May 2003
 Concentrations: Christian Environmental Ethics, Philosophy of Science
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC, May 1998
ADDITIONAL AREAS OF COMPETENCE
Environmental Policy, Ethics of Science and Technology
EXPERIENCE
Wake Forest University, Postdoctoral Fellow in Religion and Environmental Studies; Core
Faculty, Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability
Courses:
“Religion and Ecology” (spring 2011)
“Sustainability and Sustainable Development” (fall 2010)
“Introduction to Religion” (spring 2010, fall 2010)
“Environmental Issues” (fall 2009, spring 2011)
“Sustainability and Energy Policy” (spring 2010)
“Introduction to Buddhist Traditions” (fall 2009)
LENS Summer Program for High School Students, curriculum designer and core
faculty (summer 2010)
Lucas Johnston
Curriculum Vitae
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EXPERIENCE (continued)
University of Florida, Alumni Fellow
Courses:
“Cultural Diversity in the United States” (spring 2009)
“Religion, Nature and Ethics” (spring 2008)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Current
Assistant Editor/Book Reviews Editor, June 2008-present
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (JSRNC)
Board of Directors, Interdisciplinary At-Large Member, November 2009-present
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)
Steering Committee, Religion and Ecology Group, November 2009-present
American Academy of Religion
Advisory Board, Center for Religion and Public Engagement, Wake Forest University,
October 2010-present
Volunteer Coordinator, Wake Forest University Campus Garden, August 2010-present
Past
Manuscript Reviewer
Worldviews (2010), Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (2010),
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (2010), Religion Compass
(2009)
Associate Director, November 2006-November 2009
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
Member, Scientific Organizing Committee
“The Re-Enchantment of Nature across Disciplines: Critical Intersections of Science,
Ethics, and Metaphysics,” 2nd Conference of the International Society for the
Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Morelia, Mexico, 17-20 January 2008
Executive Director (Interim), January 2005-November 2006
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)
Conference Director and Coordinator, May 2006
“Exploring Religion, Nature and Culture,” first conference of the International
Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture (ISSRNC)
Master of Ceremonies, opening keynote. Speakers: Bobbie C. Billie (Independent
Traditional Seminole Nation), Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan (Gainesville), Bron Taylor
(keynote)
Book Reviews Coordinator, June 2006-August 2008
Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture
Invited Consultant, 2004 and 2005
Ethics and Sustainability Dialogue Group, Washington, DC
 Participated in discussion between chemical industry leaders and ethicists,
sponsored by the Chlorine Chemistry Council (CCC)
Assistant Development Director, August 2002-May 2003
Theological Roundtable for Ecological Ethics and Spirituality (TREES), Graduate
Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
Lucas Johnston
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RESEARCH SUBMITTED AND IN PROGRESS
The Religious Dimensions of Sustainability: Negotiating From an Ethic of Interpersonal
Risk, book manuscript in preparation.
Taking it to the Next Level: Strategies for Adaptation across the Curriculum, edited
book in preparation.
“Beyond the Mad Max Scenario: Civil Society and Security in the 21st Century,” in
preparation for CERES 21.
“Sustainability as a Global Faith: The Genesis and Globalization of its Religious
Dimensions,” in preparation (submitted to International Journal of Social Science,
July 2010).
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
Edited Volumes
Sands, Robert and Lucas F. Johnston (eds.) The Science of God: Natural Origins of
Religion in an Evolutionary Perspective: A Special Issue of the Journal for the
Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Vol. 3, No. 4 (January 2010).
Johnston, Lucas and Samuel Snyder. “Practically Natural: Religious Resources for
Environmental Pragmatism,” in Inherited Land (Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2010).
Journal Contributions
Johnston, Lucas F. “Editor’s Introduction,” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and
Culture, Vol. 4, No.3 (September 2010).
Johnston, Lucas F. “From Biophilia to Cosmophilia: the Role of Biological and Physical
Sciences in Promoting Sustainability,” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature
and Culture, Vol. 4, No. 1 (March 2010).
Johnston, Lucas F. “The Religious Dimensions of Sustainability: Institutional Religions, Civil
Society and International Politics since the Turn of the Twentieth Century,”
Religion Compass (January 2010).
Johnston, Lucas F. Review: Holthaus, Gary. Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional
Cultures Teach Us about Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality, for Journal of
Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (November 2009).
Van Horn, Gavin and Lucas F. Johnston. “Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta:
The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Subversive Function of Religious Parody,”
Golem: Journal of Religion and Monsters, Vol. 1, No. 2 (June 2007).
Johnston, Lucas F. “Whose Security?: The Abuse of National Security Rhetoric in
Resource Management,” Lisa Volkering, Dylan Wolfe, Emily Plec, William
Griswold, Kevin DeLuca (eds). Proceedings of the Conference on
Communication and the Environment. Athens: University of Georgia Press (June
2007).
Johnston, Lucas F. “Buddhism and Nature: A Survey of Themes and Works in an
Emerging Field,” Worldviews, Vol. 10, No. 1(May 2006).
Johnston, Lucas F. Review: Miller, James (ed.) Perspectives on an Evolving Creation, in
Ecotheology, Volume 10, No. 1 (April 2005).
Johnston, Lucas F. “Breaking with the Earth,” in Journal of Critical Sense, (Berkeley, CA
2003).
Lucas Johnston
Curriculum Vitae
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Reference Articles
“Indigenous and Traditional Resource Management,” (with Todd LeVasseur), in The
Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Press (2010).
“Nutrition/Diet,” (with Todd LeVasseur), in Global Resource on Environment, Energy
and Natural Resources (GREENR). Florence, KY: Gale Educational Publishing
(2010).
“International Commissions and Declarations,” in Willis Jenkins and Whitney Bauman
(eds.) The Encyclopedia of Sustainability. Great Barrington, MA: Berkshire Press
(2009).
“Sociobiology,” in The Encyclopedia of Environment and Society, Paul Robbins (ed.)
Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications (2007).
“Animal Reintroduction and Ecological Restoration,” in The Encyclopedia of HumanAnimal Relationships. Mark Bekoff (ed.) (September 2007).
“Humanness,” (with Anna Peterson), in The Encyclopedia of Human-Animal
Relationships. Marc Bekoff (ed.) (September 2007).
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS
“The Gospel of Efficiency, Spooky Action at a Distance, and the Hundredth Monkey:
How Biological and Physical Sciences Helped Manufacture the Myth of
Sustainability” Environmental History Association, Phoenix, AZ (upcoming April
2011).
Discussant: “Health and Healing: The Way of Traditional Chinese Medicine,” Health as
Metaphor and Reality in Asian Perspectives: East-West Conference, WinstonSalem, NC (October 2010).
“God Does Not Speak with Forked Tongue: Southern Evangelicals, Science, and
Sustainability Networks,” SECSOR, Religion and Ecology Consultation. Atlanta, GA
(March 2010).
“Selling Sustainability as a Sacred Duty: Cognitive Tools for Cultivating Sustainable
Alliances” American Academy of Religion, Religion and Ecology Group.
Montreal, Canada (November 2009)
“Resuscitating Relics and Taboos: Imagined Pasts and Sustainable Futures,”
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Amsterdam,
Netherlands (July 2009).
“We Are All Related: The Function of Myth in the Sustainability Movement,”
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Morelia,
Mexico (January 2008).
“Refining Definitions of Religion for a Global Community,” American Anthropological
Association, Washington, DC (November 2007).
“Pirates Can Predict the Weather: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Nature of
Truthiness,” American Academy of Religion, Religion and Popular Culture Group.
San Diego, CA (November 2007).
“Knee-Deep in the Muck: the Convergence of Theory and the Divergence of Practice
in the Everglades,” International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and
Culture, Gainesville, FL (April 2006).
Lucas Johnston
Curriculum Vitae
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ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS (continued)
“Scavenging the Savage Bones of Religion: Theorizing Religion and Nature,”
International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Gainesville, FL
(April 2006).
“Whose Security? The Abuse of National Security Rhetoric in Resource Management,”
Conference on Communication and the Environment, Jekyll Island, GA (June 2005).
“The Question of Purpose: The Use and Abuse of Evolution in Religion,” Southeastern
Conference of the American Academy of Religion, Religion and Science Group,
Winston-Salem, NC (March 2005).
“The Ethics of Restoration Ecology: Recovering the Value of Relationship,” American
Academy of Religion, Religion and Ecology Group. San Antonio, TX (November
2004).
INVITED LECTURES
“Sustainability and Pro Humanitate,” Wake Forest University Office of Admissions , Mock
Lecture for Prospective Students (upcoming November 2010).
“What’s Religion Got to Do With It?: Values, Ethics and Sustainable Futures,”
Explorations: WFU Faculty Research Talk, Winston-Salem, NC (October 2010).
“On Educating the Whole Person through Sustainability,” Wake Forest University Office
of Admissions , Mock Lecture for Prospective Students (March 2010).
“Religion, Science, and the Flying Spaghetti Monster,” Kalamzaoo College course
Science and Religion (May 2008).
“Evolutionary Controversy and a Side of Pasta: The Flying Spaghetti Monster and the
Subversive Function of Religious Parody,” Gator Freethought Presentation (April
2008).
“Ethics in Sustainability Discourse.” Invited Lecture for University of Florida Honors College
Sustainability Seminar (March 2006).
“Sustainability and Ethics.” Invited Lecture for University of Florida Honors College
Sustainability Seminar (March 2005).
HONORS AND AWARDS
Contributor and Consultant, Metanexus Institute, Global Network Initiative Continuation
Program Grant for “Religion, Science, & Nature: A Proposal for a Multi-Year
Forum and Research Initiative,” ($116,000) 2008-2013.
Metanexus Institute, Local Societies Initiative Grant, to create “FOREST,” The Florida
Organization on Religion, Environmental Science, and Technology” ($35,000)
2005/07.
Alumni Fellowship, University of Florida, 2004-2008
Student Leadership, Franciscan School of Theology 2002-2003
Graduate Theological Union Nominee, Datatel Scholarship, 2001
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS AND PERSONAL DATA
Member: American Academy of Religion, 2003-present
Lucas Johnston
Curriculum Vitae
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PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS AND PERSONAL DATA (continued)
Founding Member: International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture,
2005-present
Member: American Anthropological Association, 2007-present
Member: International Society for Environmental Ethics, 2008-present
Member: Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, 2008present
Member: Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences, 2009-present
Hobbies: backpacking, rock climbing, playing guitar, gardening
LANGUAGES
Proficient in reading and writing Spanish