Stephan Harding Explained

Stephan Harding
Birth Date:	1953 7, df=y
Birth Place:	Venezuela
Death Place:	United Kingdom
Nationality:	British
Occupation:	Zoologist
Education:	Durham University Oxford University

Stephan Harding (8 July 1953 – 2 September 2024) was a British zoologist and ecologist.^[1] He specialized in holism and the Gaia hypothesis and was a founding member of Schumacher College, where he coordinated the master's program in holistic sciences.^[2]

Biography

Born in Venezuela in 1953, Harding earned an undergraduate degree in zoology from Durham University and a doctorate in the behavioral ecology of muntjacs from Oxford University.^[3] While at Oxford, he conducted field research in Zimbabwe, Venezuela, and Costa Rica. After his studies, he was a founding member of Schumacher College and became close associates with James Lovelock.^[4] At the college, he researched deep ecology^[5] and led the holistic sciences master's program for twenty years.^[6]

During his career, Harding collaborated with various scientists. He most closely worked with Lovelock, whose Gaia hypothesis considered the Earth to be a living being, creating its own habitat. The pair worked on a model that would generate feedback between organisms and their environment.^[7]

Harding died in the United Kingdom on 2 September 2024.^[8]

Works

• Animate Earth: Science, Intuition and Gaia (2006)^[9]
• Gaia Alchemy: The Reuniting of Science, Psyche, and Soul (2022)^[10]

As editor

• Grow Small, Think Beautiful: Ideas for a Sustainable World from Schumacher College (2011)^[11]

As translator

• Courting the Dawn: Poems of Lorca (2019)

Notes and References

1. News: Dellinger. Drew. 5 September 2024. Schumacher College Closes Doors at Dartington as Legendary Professor, Stephan Harding, Passes.. Drew Dellinger. 7 September 2024.
2. Web site: Stephan Harding. Center for Humans & Nature.
3. Web site: Stephan Harding. Sophia Centre Press. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20220522102458/https://sophiacentrepress.com/contributor/stephan-harding/. 22 May 2022.
4. News: 28 June 2022. Dr Stephan Harding remembers James Lovelock. Dartington Trust. 7 September 2024.
5. Web site: Dr Stephan Harding. Dartington Trust.
6. Web site: Stephan Harding. Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona. Spanish.
7. News: Massó. Robert. 5 February 2022. El retorno de Gaia. Spanish. La Vanguardia. 7 September 2024.
8. News: Miotto. Karina. 5 September 2024. Stephan Harding e seu legado mais que planetário. Portuguese. ((oeco)). 7 September 2024.
9. Web site: Animate Earth: An interview with Stephan Harding. The Gaia Foundation.
10. News: Bollier. David. 1 June 2022. Dr. Stephan Harding on Gaia Alchemy and the Animate Earth. Think Resilience. 7 September 2024.
11. News: Fresneda. Carlos. 5 May 2012. Lo pequeño es hermoso. Spanish. El Mundo. 7 September 2024.