About our Dialogue speakers
Daniel Capper, Ph.D., is a recently-retired Professor from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he taught Asian religions, comparative religions, and research methods. Trained at the University of Chicago in the field of science and religion dialogue, his interdisciplinary studies explore environmental ethical interactions with the nonhuman natural world comparatively as well as among American Buddhists. Capper’s many publications include the books Learning Love from a Tiger: Religious Experiences with Nature, Roaming Free like a Deer: Buddhism and the Natural World, and Buddhist Ecological Protection of Space: A Guide for Sustainable Off-Earth Travel.
Rev. Susan Hendershot has served as president of Interfaith Power & Light since 2018. Rev. Hendershot went on to graduate school at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where she received her Master of Divinity degree from Candler School of Theology. After graduate school, she moved to Iowa, where she was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and served as a pastor in local congregations, focusing on social justice. Rev. Hendershot also led faith-based nonprofit organizations and served as the first Heartland Field Organizer for the ONE Campaign on global poverty. Just prior to her current role, she served as the executive director at Iowa Interfaith Power & Light, one of the state affiliates in the Interfaith Power & Light network. Rev. Hendershot believes that climate change is a moral issue, disproportionately impacting those who are most vulnerable in our world. She gets her motivation and inspiration from her two sons. Rev. Hendershot is based in Washington, DC.
Ibrahim Ozdemir is a professor of philosophy at Uskudar University, Istanbul, Turkey. He is the Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and is the founding President of Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep. His PhD dissertation was entitled: The Ethical Dimension of Human Attitude Towards Nature, which was the first dissertation by a Muslim philosopher on environmental philosophy and ethics. His books include Rumî and Confucius on Meaning of Life, The Ethical Dimension of Human Attitude Towards Nature, and Globalization, Ethics and Islam. His diverse background as a researcher and teacher includes environmental philosophy and ethics, ecology and religion, practical ethics, philosophical counseling, critical thinking, and Islamic philosophy. Ibrahim Ozdemir was a member of the drafting team of the Islamic Declaration for Global Climate Change. Presently, he was assigned as a member of the core and draft team to write and finalize Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth to be presented to the UN.
