Biography:
Celia Deane-Drummond is Director of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute and Senior Research Fellow in theology at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. In 2026, she was awarded the title of Professor of Contemporary Catholic Theology by the University of Oxford through its 2026 Recognition of Distinction. Celia was Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame from 2011 to 2019 (together with teaching responsibilities in the College of Science), and before this was Professor of Theology and the Biosciences at the University of Chester from 2000-2011. From 2012-2024, she was Honorary Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University. She began her career with a degree in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge, followed by a doctorate and postdoctoral and teaching experience in plant physiology. She subsequently studied for a degree and doctorate in theology from the University of Manchester. She was Chair of the European Forum for the Study of Religion and Environment from 2011-2018, and is currently Vice President of the Science and Religion Forum of Great Britain. She also served as a trustee of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) until 2023.
From 2013-2023, she served as co-editor of Philosophy, Theology, and the Sciences. She has published hundreds of scholarly articles and book chapters and either edited or written as single author over twenty scholarly books. Her more recent publications include The Wisdom of the Liminal: Human Nature, Evolution and Other Animals (2014), Technofutures, Nature and the Sacred, ed. with Sigurd Bergmann and Bronislaw Szerszynski (2015), Ecology in Jürgen Moltmann’s Theology, 2nd edition, (2016), Religion in the Anthropocene, edited with Sigurd Bergmann and Markus Vogt (2017), Theology and Ecology Across the Disciplines: On Care for Our Common Home, edited with Rebecca Artinian-Kaiser (2018), Theological Ethics Through a Multispecies Lens: The Evolution of Wisdom Volume I: (2019), Shadow Sophia: The Evolution of Wisdom Volume II (2021), In Solidarity with the Earth: A Multi-Disciplinary Theological Engagement with Gender, Mining and Toxic Contamination, edited with Hilda Koster (2023), Morality’s Evolution and the Transcendent: The Evolution of Wisdom Volume III (2026), and Changing Climate, Changing Religion (2026).
Research Area(s):
Christian and Religious Ethics
Historical and Systematic Theology
Science and Religion
Research Interests:
My research to date has focused on the interface between theology and science, particularly systematic and moral theology informed by contemporary and historical Catholic sources (for example, Thomas Aquinas, Sergius Bulgakov, Hans Urs von Balthasar). Specific sciences include ecology, anthropology, evolution, animal studies, psychology, genetics. Specific ethical issues include bioethics, environmental ethics, genetics, animal ethics, global development, and transhumanism.
Large scale collaborative research projects (USA) supported by $5 million external grants include evolution of human wisdom; human distinctiveness; being human in an age of humans; developing virtues in the practice of science.
Present focus for the Laudato Si’ Research Institute (LSRI) is on different research elements relevant for Pope Francis’ call for an ‘integral ecology’, including building credible multidisciplinary hubs of research primarily with social scientists relevant for the pressing global ecological and environmental issues such as the Catholic church and mining.
Recent collaborative projects include a project with Manchester University on religion, theology, and climate change supported by the AHRC, and the ecumenical Feast of Creation in Christ project supported by donations.
Individual research focus is on the evolution of morality and pneumatology, with a book anticipated in 2027 in the T & T Clark Explorations in Theology, Gender and Ecology entitled A Sophianic Ecotheology of the Holy Spirit.
Research Centres & Projects:
Laudato Si’ Research Institute.
Editorships:
Elements Cambridge University Press Series in Religion and Ecology, lead co-editor, with Dr. Mark Scarlata (St. Mellitus Theological College) and Professor Kate Rigby (University of Cologne)
Links:
lsri.campion.ox.ac.uk
Publications & Research Outputs:
Celia Deane-Drummond and Agustín Fuentes, eds., Evolution of Human Wisdom (Lanhan: Lexington, 2017)
Celia Deane-Drummond and Rebecca Artinian Kaiser, eds., Theology and Ecology Across the Disciplines: On Care for Our Common Home (London: Bloomsbury, 2018).
Celia Deane-Drummond, Thomas Stapleford and Darcia Narvaez, eds., Virtues and the Practice of Science (CTSHF: Press Books, 2019),
https://virtueandthepracticeofscience.pressbooks.com/
Celia Deane-Drummond, Theological Ethics Through a Multispecies Lens: Evolution of Wisdom, Volume I (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019).
Celia Deane-Drummond and Agustín Fuentes, Theology and Evolutionary Anthropology: Dialogues in Wisdom, Humility and Grace (London: Routledge, 2020).
Celia Deane-Drummond, Shadow Sophia: The Evolution of Wisdom, Volume II (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021).
Hilda P. Koster, Celia Deane-Drummond, In Solidarity with the Earth: A Multi-disciplinary theological engagement with gender, mining and toxic contamination (London: Bloomsbury, 2023).
Celia Deane-Drummond, ‘Pope Francis's Integral Ecology Paradigm: An Exploration of its Theological Foundations and Ethical Implications’, Irish Theological Quarterly (2023).
Timothy Howles and Celia Deane-Drummond, ‘Celebrating Nicaea: The Idea of Creation in the Early Church and its Relevance for a Recent Ecumenical Initiative Towards a Feast of Creation’, Theological Studies, 86(3), 478-498 (2025).
Celia Deane-Drummond, Morality's Future and the Transcendent: The Evolution of Wisdom, Volume III (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026).
Peter Manley Scott, Celia Deane-Drummond, Gemma Edwards, Finlay Malcom, Changing Climate, Changing Religion (London: Routledge, 2026).
Maria Marloth, Celia Deane-Drummond, Philipp Kellmeyer, Marc Erich Latoschik, Jennifer A. Chandler, Gerben Meynen, Kai Vogeley, ‘Anticipation and Prevention of Real Risks of Virtual Environments in Psychiatry’, npj Digit. Med. 9, 164 (2026).
