Ethics
In response to many years researching and collaborating across disciplines, especially in biological sciences, on the theme of humans and the ways we think about the living world, Melanie became active in ethics. In particular, she contributes to bioethics, defined as novel ethical issues emerging from advances in biotechnologies and biological research.
She became a member of the UK’s Nuffield Council on Bioethics in 2019, and has served as Deputy Co-Chair since 2021.
She has also been a visiting scholar at the Hastings Center, the premier bioethics research centre in the US.
She collaborates on the steering committee and as a founding member of Animals in the Room, a group of scholars working on new methods of representing non-human animals in situations critical to their lives.
Melanie is a Vice President of the RSPCA, and supports their policy and advocacy work on the welfare and status of non-human animals.
Melanie is also a member of CEP, the Consortium of Environmental Philosophers, an organisation that aims to bring the environmental humanities to policy-makers and publics.