Catholic Environmental Stewardship
The environment is God's gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.
— Pope Benedict XVI
Sam Shephard, Ph.D.
Hailing from the Isle of Skye in the Scottish Highlands, Sam Shephard is an Associate Professor at Ave Maria University. With a lifelong passion for environmental stewardship, his work focuses on sustainable fishing, farming, and practices that connect people to nature. Dr. Shephard directs the Minor in Agriculture and Catholic Environmental Stewardship and oversees the AMU farm and garden, blending the theory and practice of sustainability in a commitment to caring for the Earth, our common home.
What I Write & Speak About
My popular writing links sustainability science to outdoor practice and Catholic Environmental Stewardship. I am concerned with embedded and sensory encounter with natural places – the Recovery of Experience!
I love to discuss topics around environmental stewardship, especially at the boundaries of sustainability science, ethics and theology. I engage overlapping Catholic and scientific insights on environmental stewardship to help people of all backgrounds to understand and articulate the importance of care for creation, and to make practical steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle.
Research
My scientific research considers sustainable social-ecological systems and the overarching issue of environmental stewardship.
My research program that has generated more than 75 international peer-reviewed publications on diverse topics including river hydromorphology, ecological indicators and data-limited fish stock assessment, as well as interweaving local ecological knowledge and skills into management. Recent work includes collaborations on Indigenous systems in Africa and South America.
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Wiley Online Library - Reviving the unique potential of recreational fishers as environmental stewards of aquatic ecosystems
Nature Sustainability - Recreational killing of wild animals can foster environmental stewardship
Writing
My popular writing links sustainability science to the formative experiences of outdoor practice. I am concerned with authentic multi-sensory encounter with natural places. This engagement helps build ecological knowledge and care as the foundations of environmental stewardship.
I just wrote a new Wisdom Paper for Ave Maria University. This essay is called ‘Stewardship and Harvest’.
My first full-length book, ‘Person, Place and Catholic Environmental Stewardship’ will be published by Eerdmans in 2025. This work is a collaboration with Dr Adam van Wart (Ave Maria University Theology).
I will also contribute a chapter to an upcoming book on the Catholic Land Movement, which will be published by Tan Books in early 2025.
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Killruddery House - Learning about Nature with Children
Church Life Journal | University of Notre Dame (nd.edu) - The Degree of Charity Required for an Ecologically Healthy Society
Media
I am always keen to discuss topics linked to environmental stewardship, especially at the boundaries of sustainability science, ethics and theology. I aim to explore the importance and practice of care for creation with people of faith, while also presenting the robust Catholic Environmental Stewardship model in broader public conversation.
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Earth Day and Catholicism
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The Catholic Calling to Environmental Stewardship
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There's Something about Killing Wild Animals
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Catholic Perspective on the Environment
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Does Killing Make You a Better Conservationist?
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Stewardship Through Hunting: Reconnecting with Nature's Balance
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Catholics and Caring for the Environment
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Hunting and Fishing Makes Us Better Environmental Stewards, Study Shows
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Earth Day needs Catholics’ full engagement and hopeful vision
The Pursuit of Wisdom
I have contributed to the Ave Maria University Pursuit of Wisdom series. My online course on Catholic Environmental Stewardship is titled ‘Stewarding the Environment’.
ACES Minor & the St. Isidore Farm
I am Director of a new minor in Agriculture and Catholic Environmental Stewardship (ACES) at Ave Maria University, that follows the call of St. John Paul II to “Harmonize the soul and the body, nature and grace, the social and the spiritual, the old and the new.”
The ACES minor combines studies in theology, small business and natural science with work on the new AMU Farm to learn practical skills of self-sufficiency and sustainable living. The new program has elicited a lot of excitement among Catholics with an interest in gardening, homesteading and more!
I have contributed talks to numerous scientific fora and been an enthusiastic national Delegate or Chair in diverse expert groups, especially at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (Copenhagen), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (Rome).
Talks & Symposia
More recently, I have been shifting my thinking to broader perspectives on environmental stewardship. A particular focus is the Recovery of Experience, or the importance of sensory engagement with the natural world as the starting point in care for creation. I presented a talk on Catholic Environmental Stewardship at Benedictine College in November 2024.