Brief biography of Mark Ryland
President
& Senior Fellow, Institute for the Study of Nature.
Mark is a technologist, lawyer, amateur philosopher, and student of science.
At the behest of various scholars and scientists, he
spearheaded the founding of the ISN in January 2007.
In the early 1990s Mark became interested in the modern
debate over evolution theory and "design" in nature. Searching for a broader context, he began with the help
of various mentors to study the history of early-modern science;
emergentism, essentialism, "anti-realism," and non-reductionism
in modern philosophy of science; and the resurgence of interest
in some of the core concepts of Aristotelian natural philosophy. The
scholars who mentored him encouraged him to create a forum for a different, more
classically-influenced and yet cutting-edge approach to science
and how its result are best understood. Together they founded the ISN.
In addition to his part-time work with the ISN, Mark works
for a large software company as a technical strategiest in the area of identity and
access managment.
