Research & Teaching

Research Focus

Megan’s interdisciplinary research examines our kinship with the living world across plant biology, social welfare, theology, and philosophy, focusing on:

• Ecotheology, Agapeology & Contemplative Ecology: Exploring divine love, grace, and somatic rootedness as material forces in interspecies reciprocity and community resilience; drawing on contemplative traditions — including the work of Simone Weil, Howard Thurman, Thomas Merton, and Thích Nhất Hạnh — to rethink the ethical foundations of ecological care.

• Elemental Philosophy, Phenomenology & Atmospheric Studies: Philosophical and creative investigations into the elements, affect, climate grief, and the lived phenomenology of landscapes; examining how weather, water, and ecological change shape human attention, memory, and moral imagination.

• Eco-Arts, Poetics & Multi-Genre Writing: Cross-genre scholarship in poetry, literary nonfiction, and lyric memoir as modes of environmental witness, deep place-centered inquiry, and plant studies; exploring the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of writing the more-than-human world.

• Biocentric Public Humanities & Civic Practice: Investigating how place-based art, community stewardship, and public ecological witness can build cross-cultural coalitions and foster collective resilience; developing theory and practice at the intersection of environmental humanities and civic life.

• Ecological Ethics & Values-Based Environmental Leadership: Scholarship examining how individuals and institutions cultivate the values — attention, reciprocity, care, and grace — that make genuine environmental stewardship and public service possible; informing pedagogy, organizational culture, and environmental policy.

• Institutional Leadership & Academic Administration: Drawing on scholarship in virtue ethics, agapeology, and contemplative practice, Kaminski approaches academic leadership as an extension of her intellectual commitments — cultivating institutional cultures of attention, care, and shared flourishing. Her administrative work spans faculty mentorship and professional development, program leadership, and institutional change management.

Forthcoming Projects

Her current creative cycle includes:

• Prairie Oracle (University Press of Kansas, forthcoming 2027): Science-grounded essays and a matching oracle deck on the tallgrass prairie.

• Blazing Star (Noemi Press, forthcoming 2028): Contemporary poetics and ecological witness.

• Tender Ground (In Progress): A lyric memoir combining personal narrative, natural history, and contemplative practice.

Pedagogy & Teaching Philosophy

Megan focuses on moral formation, ethical character, and bridging scientific data with human values. Her teaching spans Environmental Humanities and Arts, Science Communication, Virtue Ethics, and Place-Based Prairie Studies.

Note: As a primary humanities faculty member within an interdisciplinary earth and environmental sciences department, I design my courses to provide crucial ethical, creative, and moral training for future scientists, policy makers, and STEM leaders. By bridging scientific inquiry with the frameworks of environmental philosophy and virtue ethics, my pedagogy prepares students to navigate ecological complexity with strong character, civic responsibility, and clear public communication skills.