I am a PhD candidate in philosophy at the University of California, Riverside, specializing in ethics.

My current research focuses on moral status - or as I call it, the value of beings. On one end of the spectrum this means the value of persons and other human beings. On the other end it concerns the value of insentient entities such as plants, artifacts, and perhaps even collectives like corporations or ecosystems. Because I believe getting clear on the value of beings requires clarity on the nature of being, my work also intersects with issues in ontology, particularly essence and identity.  More about my research.