Biography

Laura Pustarfi, Ph.D., is adjunct faculty in Philosophy and Religion and Associate Director of the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research Certificate Program at CIIS. Her dissertation, Arboreality: Revisioning Trees in the Western Paradigm, examines trees and plants in Western thought with particular focus on philosophical literature in order to explore an arboreal and vegetal ontology and ethics that respects plants themselves. Her scholarly interests include plant studies, integral ecology, and environmental humanities, especially environmental philosophy, eco-phenomenology, and religion and ecology. Laura is the co-author with Sam Mickey and Adam Robbert of "The Quest for Integral Ecology," Integral Review 9, No. 3., and has presented at the several academic conferences including those of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy (IAEP), TORCH Oxford, and the Pacific Association for the Continental Tradition (PACT). 

As Certificate Program Director, she manages the Center for Psychedelic Assisted Therapies and Research’s communications, educational and technological administration, and certificate program operations. She has been with the Center since August 2019 and has extensive experience with the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research through her prior work in CIIS Public Programs. 

Education

M.A. with a concentration in Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness, CIIS

Ph.D. with a concentration in Ecology, Spirituality, and Religion, CIIS

Publications

The Quest for Integral Ecology  
Into a Quiet Within: Reflections on Arboreal Phenomenology