2014: The Year We Make Contact – William R. Kramer Ph.D.

In 1978, Kramer was hired by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Endangered Species Program as a wildlife biologist in their Pacific Islands Office in Honolulu. After 15 years, he transferred back to Washington, D.C. where he was Chief of the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Branch of Endangered Species Consultation and Recovery. He retired from Federal service and returned to Honolulu where he has taught biology and bioethics at the Punahou Academy in Honolulu and at Hawaii Pacific University. Since 2001, he has been a contractor with the US Navy consulting on endangered species and other environmental policy issues.

Recognizing that the regulatory aspects of endangered species work is political and bureaucratic in nature, William received a Master degree in political science with an emphasis in environmental policy and a Graduate Certificate in public administration from the University of Hawaii in 1986. More recently, he became interested in astrobiology, especially NASA’s search for extraterrestrial life, and how a bureaucracy handles philosophical issues like bioethics and the definition of life. He returned to the University and worked under the guidance of Dr. Jim Dator at the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies. He was awarded a doctorate in political science for his dissertation, “Bioethical considerations and property rights issues associated with the discovery of extraterrestrial biological entities — Implications for political policy in the context of futures studies.” As part of that work, he spent several weeks in a Mars simulation habitat in the high desert of Utah, assisted with Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation project, and has presented seminars and workshops on bioethics and the search for extraterrestrial life at the International Space University in Strasbourg, France. He has just completed a paper evaluating the National Environmental Policy Act as a model for applying the environmental impact assessment process to extraterrestrial landscapes, such as Mars.

The host for this episode was John Sweeney.

The host for this episode was John Sweeney.

The host for this episode was John Sweeney.

The host for this episode was John Sweeney.