Professor of Biology

Education and Training

A.B.  Oberlin College, 1964

M.A. Wesleyan University, 1966

Ph.D. Wesleyan University, 1973

Postdoctoral Fellow, Yale University, 1973-1975 

Dr. McDaniel received his Ph.D. with Spencer J. Berry at Wesleyan University, did postdoctoral studies with Ian Sussex at Yale University, and joined Rensselaer in 1975.

Contact

E-mail: mcdanc@rpi.edu
Website: rpi.edu/~mcdanc
Tel: (518) 276-8421

Office: Science Center Rm. 2C38

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th Street
Troy, NY  12180-3590

Research Interests

Biological aspects of ecological economics and the fundamental conflict between economic growth and preservation of life support.  

For a little over three decades my research focused on development, first insects as a graduate student and then plants as a postdoctoral fellow and university professor. Over the past decade, I shifted my scholarly activity to consider the interface between biology and economics. I began scholarly research in ecological economics and have published several papers. My first book (co-authored with economist, John M. Gowdy)—Paradise for Sale: A Parable of Nature, University of California Press, 2000—is intended for the educated person as a means of highlighting and addressing the conflict between our currently dominant political-economic system and preserving biological diversity and providing for human well being.

I am involved in activities that advance the message of my second book, Wisdom for a Libable Planet: The Visionary Work of Terri Swearingen, Dave Foreman, Wes Jackson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Werner Fornos, Herman Daly, Stephen Schneider, and David Orr, Trinity University Press, 2005. This book “profiles the work and lives of eight visionaries who have dedicated their lives to our most critical environmental issues. Each of their stories provides a portrait of an individual’s valiant and inspiring campaign to improve the conditions for life on our planet.” Paradise for Sale and Wisdom for a Livable Planet, my recent articles, and the talks I give all focus on, and advocate for, the next great idea in Western civilization, now perhaps a century old—adopting and living an ecologically centered worldview.

I am in the process of writing a third book that builds upon the assessment provided by many thoughtful people as well as by my books: The likelihood of global civilization persisting for another century is essentially zero. Such dire straits call for true hopefulness—first recognizing odds are heavily against us, believing those odds, and then doing everything possible to beat them. My third book, True Hopefulness, employs three stories to illuminate exactly what it will take to achieve durable habitation for humanity.

Selected Publications

Gowdy, John M. and McDaniel, Carl N. 2008. The tragedy of Nauru: A microcosm of the conflict between increasing resource exploitation and sustainability. In: Small Economies and Global Economics, ed. J. Ram Pillarisetti. Nova, In Press.

McDaniel, Carl N. 2007. Biodiversity and ecosystem health—An overview. In: Frontiers in Ecological Economics Theory and Application, eds. Jon D. Erickson and John M. Gowdy. Edward Elgar, pp 93-97.

McDaniel, Carl N. 2006. Natural systems living. The Land Report 84: pp 3-7, Spring 2006.

McDaniel, Carl N. Wisdom for a Livable Planet: The Visionary Work of Terri Swearingen, Dave Foreman, Wes Jackson, Helena Norberg-Hodge, Werner Fornos, Herman Daly, Stephen Schneider, and David Orr. 2005. (San Antonio: Trinity University Press).

McDaniel, Carl N. and Borton, David N. 2002. Increased energy use causes biological diversity loss and undermines prospects for sustainability. BioScience 52:929-936.

McDaniel, Carl N. and Gowdy, John M. Paradise for Sale: A  Parable of Nature. 2000. (Berkeley: Univeristy of California Press).

McDaniel, Carl N.  1996. Developmental physiology of floral initiation in Nicotiana tabacum L.  J. Exp. Bot. 47:465-475 

Gowdy, John M. and McDaniel, Carl N. 1995. One world, one experiment:  Addressing the biodiversity-economics conflict.  Ecological Economics 15:181-192.

McDaniel, Carl N., Singer, Susan R., and Smith, Susan M.E. 1992. Developmental states associated with the floral transition. Dev. Biol.  153:59-69.

McDaniel, Carl N. 1992. Determination to Flower in Nicotiana. In Current Topics in Developmental Biology (Vol. 27), ed. R.A. Pederson. pp. 1-37.