Introduction
Alan Marshall is a New Zealand-born author and scholar working within the discipline of environmental studies. He has been noted as a key scholar in the field of environmental ethics. For his work in environmental scholarship, the University of Wollongong awarded Alan Marshall a doctorate degree. Marshall has undertaken projects for and within institutes all around Europe and in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, he's held fellowships at IAS-STS (Austria), Nizhni Novgorod State University (Russia), KUSTAR (Abu Dhabi), Masaryk University (Czech Republic), Prešov University (Slovakia), NIREX (UK), Curtin University (Australia), and AIT and Mahidol University (Thailand).
Major ideas
Alan Marshall developed a postmodern version of the Human–Nature relationship, one that throws into doubt the very concepts of 'Humanity' and 'Nature'. Marshall's approach is heavily influenced by the science of ecology but has been criticized as privileging one school of ecology, i.e., 'community ecology', over others such as ecosystems science, systems ecology, and the ecology of Gaia.
In 2006, Alan Marshall founded The Ecomimicry Project, which tries to meld the science of ecology with Green innovation, environmental art, and the ethics of sustainability. Examples of designs that emerged from this project include:
- a Hemp Sail Battle Cruiser for the Royal Australian Navy (in which a navy ship had its engines 'designed-out' and in their stead it is powered by sails made from eco-friendly hemp)
- a manure-powered swimming pool heating system (in which a luxury pool is heated by the composted body waste of the swimmers)
- a Peace Park on the Slovak-Ukrainian border which allows visa-free travel for migrant bears and wolves but not humans
These designs have been praised in ABC Radio National and by the Australian art press.
On 1 January 2013, Marshall started the intercontinental 'Ecotopia 2121' project, which details the 22nd century sustainable futures of 100 cities around the world. Ecotopia 2121 is a critical and creative response to the many mainstream 'Eco-city 2020' plans by various city governments around the world. In 2015, the master-class part of this project conducted at Mahidol University was awarded the 2015 'Kenneth M. Roemer Innovative Course Design Award' by the Society of Utopian Studies. Ecotopia 2121, the book of the project written by Marshall, has been included in Resurgence magazine's Books of the Year list and was also the winner of the 'Future Forecasts' category of the 2016 Green Book Festival.
In August 2016, Marshall began a new project in urban ecology called 'Frankencities: Our Unfolding Urban Horror Stories' which details the worst case scenarios of emerging environmental problems in 100 cities around the world (whilst comparing them to the insights offered by the Dr. Frankenstein story). With projects such as these, Marshall has often been asked if he is 'anti-science', in response to which he has explained he is not anti-science, he is a 'science critic' (in the same manner that film critics are not 'anti-film').
Marshall is also widely referred to as a critic of space exploration and the nuclear industry. His work in this area has been cited as insightful but usually regarded by scientists and engineers as being too radically 'environmental', especially his calls for the protection of the Martian landscape.
Fiction
Alan Marshall is an award-winning writer of fiction. His works of fiction include an historical novel, Lancewood, about an iconic New Zealand plant, and a science fiction radio drama called This Pointless Thing Called Life that was broadcast on NPR and XM Satellite Radio in the USA. In 2001 This Pointless Thing Called Life received the "Silver Award" from the Mark Time Awards by a panel that included Grammy-award winner Phil Proctor.
Along with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, This Pointless Thing Called Life was nominated for a Vogel Award in the category "Best Long Form dramatic science fiction and fantasy production made in New Zealand in the year 2002". Like his scholarly writings, Marshall's fiction explores the relationships between "humans and technology" and between "humans and nature".
The sequel to "This Pointless Thing Called Life" was another award-winning full-length radio feature broadcast in four parts on XM Satellite and by some NPR stations in 2003. This sequel was titled 'This Miserable Thing Called Life".
Books
- Alan Marshall (2016) Ecotopia 2121: A Vision of Our Future Green Utopia -- in 100 Cities, Arcade Publ: NY. ISBN 9781628726008
- Alan Marshall (2009) Wild Design: Ecofriendly Innovations Inspired by Nature, North Atlantic Books: Berkeley. ISBN 978-1-55643-790-8
- Alan Marshall (2006) Dangerous Dawn: The New Nuclear Age, BNI: Melbourne.
- Alan Marshall (2002) The Unity of Nature, Imperial College Press: London ISBN 1-86094-330-6
- Alan Marshall (1999) Lancewood, Indra Publishers: Melbourne. ISBN 0-9585805-1-0