PROFESSOR STUART HURLBERT’S OTHER INTERESTS
Professor Stuart Hurlbert is deeply engaged in addressing the broader challenges facing humanity and the environment. His interests extend to the maintenance of strong ecological and population policy, as well as an abiding passion for philosophical inquiry, particularly the search for deeper understanding of human behavior and society. His involvement with the following organisations and social issues reflect a lifelong commitment to applying science, reason and open inquiry to some of the most pressing and complex issues of our time.
The Ecological Society of America (ESA)
Professor Hurlbert maintains a long-standing and influential relationship with the Ecological Society of America (ESA), one of the premier scientific organizations committed to the advancement of ecological knowledge and its application to pressing environmental challenges. As a dedicated member of the ESA, Hurlbert has not only contributed through participation but has played a pivotal role in shaping ecological thought and scientific standards within the society and the broader discipline.
Among his most notable contributions is, as has been noted, his seminal 1984 paper, ‘Pseudoreplication and the Design of Ecological Field Experiments’, published in Ecological Monographs, one of the ESA’s flagship journals. This work became a cornerstone in the field of ecology, sparking widespread discussion and reshaping how ecological experiments are conceptualized and interpreted. In it, Hurlbert introduced the now-fundamental term “pseudoreplication” to describe a critical flaw in experimental design – where statistical tests are improperly applied due to a lack of true replication or independence among samples. This concept has since become an essential consideration in ecological research and is frequently cited in both academic literature and textbooks as a cautionary standard for rigorous experimental methodology.
Significantly, as part of the society’s 100th anniversary commemoration in 2016, the ESA compiled a list of the most “notable papers” published in its journals and Hurlbert’s 1984 paper was included among the top 20 selected for the journal Ecological Monograph.
Beyond this landmark publication, Hurlbert’s involvement with ESA has included active engagement in its scholarly and professional initiatives, where he has consistently advocated for higher methodological standards and critical thinking in ecological research. His influence extends into ESA meetings, symposia, and editorial efforts, where his insights have helped refine the way ecologists approach experimental design, data interpretation, and the peer review process.
Hurlbert’s legacy within ESA reflects a broader commitment to scientific integrity and intellectual rigor – principles that continue to guide the society’s mission. His work exemplifies the vital role that critical analysis and methodological precision play in the evolution of ecological science, making him not just a participant in ESA’s activities but one of its most impactful contributors.
Scientists and Environmentalists for Population Stabilization (SEPS)
Professor Hurlbert is the founder and president of Scientists and Environmentalists for Population Stabilization, an organization he established to confront a challenging yet critical issue too often sidestepped in environmental discourse: the impact of human overpopulation on ecological sustainability. With decades of experience in ecology and environmental science, Hurlbert has long recognized that the scale of human population growth plays a fundamental role in driving habitat loss, resource depletion, biodiversity decline, and climate stress – yet it receives relatively little attention in mainstream scientific or policy circles.
SEPS was born out of a deep concern over what Hurlbert and fellow scientists saw as a growing reluctance – even censorship – within major scientific and environmental institutions to openly address population issues. This concern crystallized in response to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)’s decision to bar population-focused groups from hosting booths at its annual meetings, a move that highlighted, for Hurlbert, a troubling trend of political sensitivity overriding scientific openness. In contrast, SEPS was founded as a space where the environmental consequences of population growth could be discussed transparently, grounded in data and free from ideological intimidation.
Under Hurlbert’s leadership, SEPS champions open, science-based dialogue around population dynamics as a central pillar of environmental stewardship. The organization focuses particularly on the U.S., advocating for the stabilization of the national population and its gradual, voluntary reduction through humane, ethical, and non-coercive means. SEPS emphasizes that such strategies are not only compatible with human rights, but essential to achieving lasting ecological sustainability, economic stability, and quality of life.
Professor Hurlbert’s role in founding SEPS underscores his broader commitment to intellectual courage, scientific integrity, and ecological realism. By championing a topic many shy away from, he has helped sustain an important conversation – one that is indispensable for anyone serious about confronting the root causes of environmental degradation.
Campus Politics
Professor Hurlbert is a vocal opponent of what he sees as the growing politization of campuses across the United States. His central concern is that academic institutions are increasingly shaped by ideological conformity – whether under the banner of political correctness, diversity initiatives, or administrative orthodoxy. He argues that such forces risk compromising academic freedom, scientific inquiry and rational analysis. His criticisms stem from a belief that universities should foster open dialogue and evidence-based approaches, rather than be swayed by ideological narratives, or suppress dissent.
Hurlbert has written several opinion essays regarding this development, including discussions on affirmative action and racial preferences in academia, primarily for the National Association of Scholars, in one of its publications, Minding the Campus. The following are a sample:
‘North Carolinians and Allies Fight the Politicization and Racialization of Education’
‘Memorializing A Dragon-Slaying and A Civil Rights Movement Reborn’
‘Countering the Mob at SDSU’
And in this compelling video interview, Hurlbert draws upon his expertise in ecology and environmental science to address the ecological consequences of overpopulation. Hosted by the Center for Progressive Urban Politics, his remarks reflect his advocacy for evidence-based discussion around human population growth and conservation.
Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith’s breakthrough explanation of the human condition
Professor Stuart Hurlbert has emphasized his support for Jeremy Griffith’s work, which presents a transformative biological account of the human condition – the underlying problem in all human affairs. Former Canadian Psychiatric Association President Professor Harry Prosen has described this insight as “the holy grail of insight we have sought for the psychological rehabilitation of the human race.” The not-for-profit World Transformation Movement (www.humancondition.com) has been established to promote Griffith’s findings worldwide.
Griffith’s explanation of the human condition holds that when we humans developed a conscious mind some 2 million years ago, a battle unavoidably developed between it and our already established instincts. The result of this conflict between our instinct and intellect was that we became psychologically defensive, angry, alienated and egocentric – the upset state we refer to as the human condition. But now that we can explain and understand this conflict, all those insecure, defensive behaviors are obsoleted, brought to an end, and we free ourselves from the human condition.
Professor Stuart Hurlbert on Australian biologist Jeremy Griffith’s breakthrough explanation of the human condition
Hurlbert’s association with Griffith commenced in 2022 after Hurlbert viewed Craig Conway’s popular interview with Griffith that was broadcast in England. He contacted the World Transformation Movement and stated that “I am stunned and honored to have lived to see the coming of ‘Darwin II’.” He later amplified this comment to capture the extraordinary nature of Griffith’s accomplishment, which is definitively presented in Griffith’s book FREEDOM: The End Of The Human Condition:
“I am stunned and honored to have lived to see the coming of “Darwin II”. I say this because after Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection explained the variety of life, Jeremy Griffith has gone on to solve the other four main questions science had to answer about our world and place in it. They are: 1) the dilemma of the human condition, which his instinct vs intellect explanation in chapter 3 of his main, seminal book FREEDOM finally solves; 2) how we humans became fully conscious when other species haven’t, which he answers in chapter 7; 3) the origins of humans’ unique moral nature, which he answers in chapter 5, which it turns out American philosopher John Fiske had already explained in 1874 but mechanistic science had ignored; and 4) the truth of the Integrative Meaning of existence (which we have personified as ‘God’), in chapter 4, which only a rare few thinkers in history have been able to recognize. And having been able to solve those primary issues he has, in chapter 8, using first principle and fully accountable biological explanations been able to resolve all the secondary problems like: the polarized state of politics; the rift between men and women; the schism between science and religion; the conflict between individuals and between races (thus ending aggression and war at its source); and, above all, bring an end to the threat of terminal psychosis and our species’ extinction! A truly phenomenal, beyond description, scientific achievement!”