Integral Ecology
The Integral Ecology Program for Jesuits at Loyola University
The Integral Ecology Program at Loyola University Chicago engages young Jesuits in a multifaceted exploration of the current environmental crisis. The program draws inspiration from Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which calls on people to care for humanity and the natural world. This program is a new part of the Jesuits’ more general educational formation program called “First Studies.” Loyola is home to one of three First Studies communities in North America.
The Integral Ecology program launched in May 2024 with a week-long, intensive course on biodiversity held at the Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus (LUREC). The course was part one of a three-part series that will cover a different topic each year, exploring biodiversity, water and agriculture, and energy and climate change.
Faculty members in Loyola’s School of Environmental Sustainability (SES) serve as instructors for the course, which integrates field-based science, social philosophy, and theology.
Mark Mackey, SJ, MS, a Jesuit and a lecturer in SES, helped design the curriculum. He said that the program aims to help Jesuits in Formation:
- Understand (“see”) the environmental crisis from both scientific and social perspectives,
- Evaluate (“judge”) the ethical implications of environmental degradation that disproportionately impacts the poor and underrepresented,
- Contemplate (“reflect”) where the Spirit is moving in this crisis, and
- Respond (“act”) in a way that truly heals the Earth and the poor.
This year’s inaugural course covered the evolutionary origin of biodiversity, its function and importance, and the social and ecological consequences of biodiversity loss. Students explored different organismal groups (birds, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and mammals) to understand their natural history and ecosystem functions. Participants also learned about conservation measures that can help preserve the diversity of life.
The Jesuit students worked in classrooms and laboratories, took field trips to protected natural areas, and got hands-on experiences in nature through birding trips, sampling for amphibians and reptiles, recording mammal movements with night cameras, learning tree identification, and conducting wetland restoration work. The group also participated in daily reflections and discussions in the LUREC lounge and chapel and celebrated daily Mass together.
The Jesuit trainees in this year’s course said the program helped them develop a better understanding of environmental issues and fostered a deeper connection with the natural world.
-- Video by Michael Chopra
The Integral Ecology Program at Loyola University Chicago engages young Jesuits in a multifaceted exploration of the current environmental crisis. The program draws inspiration from Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, which calls on people to care for humanity and the natural world. This program is a new part of the Jesuits’ more general educational formation program called “First Studies.” Loyola is home to one of three First Studies communities in North America.
The Integral Ecology program launched in May 2024 with a week-long, intensive course on biodiversity held at the Loyola University Retreat and Ecology Campus (LUREC). The course was part one of a three-part series that will cover a different topic each year, exploring biodiversity, water and agriculture, and energy and climate change.
Faculty members in Loyola’s School of Environmental Sustainability (SES) serve as instructors for the course, which integrates field-based science, social philosophy, and theology.
Mark Mackey, SJ, MS, a Jesuit and a lecturer in SES, helped design the curriculum. He said that the program aims to help Jesuits in Formation:
- Understand (“see”) the environmental crisis from both scientific and social perspectives,
- Evaluate (“judge”) the ethical implications of environmental degradation that disproportionately impacts the poor and underrepresented,
- Contemplate (“reflect”) where the Spirit is moving in this crisis, and
- Respond (“act”) in a way that truly heals the Earth and the poor.
This year’s inaugural course covered the evolutionary origin of biodiversity, its function and importance, and the social and ecological consequences of biodiversity loss. Students explored different organismal groups (birds, reptiles, amphibians, plants, and mammals) to understand their natural history and ecosystem functions. Participants also learned about conservation measures that can help preserve the diversity of life.
The Jesuit students worked in classrooms and laboratories, took field trips to protected natural areas, and got hands-on experiences in nature through birding trips, sampling for amphibians and reptiles, recording mammal movements with night cameras, learning tree identification, and conducting wetland restoration work. The group also participated in daily reflections and discussions in the LUREC lounge and chapel and celebrated daily Mass together.
The Jesuit trainees in this year’s course said the program helped them develop a better understanding of environmental issues and fostered a deeper connection with the natural world.
-- Video by Michael Chopra