Richard Gunton has wide-ranging scientific research interests focusing on ecology, environmental policy evaluation, ethical value theory and philosophy of science. He holds a PhD from the University of Leeds and an MA from the University of Cambridge.
Richard is currently Lecturer in Statistics at the University of Winchester, where he also convenes taught courses in the Institute of Value Studies, taking a liberal-arts approach to questions of value and meaning in contemporary culture. He is also an Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL (London), where he works with Prof. Michael Reiss on ethics and philosophy of science. He is a trustee of the UK-based Thinking Faith Network and coordinator of its project Faith-in-Scholarship, as well as being one of the founders of Church Scientific, a creative place for scientific thinkers motivated by Christian faith to explore all kinds of ideas that influence their work and to develop fresh perspectives on the role of faith in the sciences. He is a member of the All of Life Redeemed committee coordinating its series of webinars.
Richard’s academic career started with internships at A Rocha Portugal, where he conducted vegetation surveys that later contributed to the successful legal campaign fought by A Rocha to protect the Alvor Estuary from development. His PhD at Leeds looked at spatial dynamics in a plant population, following which he held postdoctoral positions at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa), the Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (France), and the University of Leeds once again. During this period he also worked in Australia, with a period at Charles Darwin University and participation in a project of the Australian Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis.
Blogging
- Faith-in-Scholarship blog posts on Reformational perspectives in academic work: https://thinkfaith.net/author/richardgunton/
- Church Scientific articles on Reformational philosophy of science: http://churchscientific.org.uk/
Selected journal articles
Gunton, RM 2023. What is enlightened agriculture? A multi-normative approach to the nature and values of food production systems. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 7:979818 (doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2023.979818)
Gunton RM, Stafleu, MD, Reiss, MJ 2021. A general theory of objectivity: contributions from the Reformational philosophy tradition. Foundations of Science 27:941955, doi: 10.1007/s10699-021-09809-x
Gunton RM, Basden A, Hejnowicz AP, van Asperen E, Christie I, Hanson DR, Hartley SE 2023. Valuing beyond economics: A pluralistic evaluation framework for participatory policymaking. Ecological Economics 196: 107420. At: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107420
Gunton R. & Gilbert F. 2017. Laws in ecology: diverse modes of explanation for a holistic science? Zygon 52: 538-560
Gunton R.M., van Asperen E., Basden A., Bookless D., Araya Y., Hanson D.R., Goddard M.A., Otieno G., Jones G.O. 2017. Beyond ecosystem services: valuing the invaluable. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 32: 249-257
Gunton R.M., Firbank L.G., Inman A., Winter D.M. 2016. How scalable is sustainable intensification? Nature Plants doi:10.1038/nplants.2016.65
Book chapters
- Gunton R.M. & Gilbert F. 2019. Reintegrating biology: nothing in evolution makes sense except in the light of ecology. In: Rethinking Biology: Public Understandings (ed. Reiss M, Watts F, Wiseman H) World Scientific
- Gunton R.M. 2015. Fine-tuning arguments for the existence of God: a shot in the foot? In Laws of Nature, Laws of God? ed Spurway N. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Cambridge.
Book Reviews
- “What are Universities For?” by Stefan Collini
- “Theology in the Public Square: Church, Academy and Nation” (Gavin D’Costa).
- “Empowered! Finding Your Place in God’s Story” (Stuart Simpson)
Working papers
allofliferedeemed 