Resources for Engineering and Science Ethics

Added08/15/2018

This case explores ethical issues in public engagement activities about issues of climate change mitigation. In particular, it presents hypothetical citizens’ forums in Phoenix and Yuma, Arizona, and, through discussion questions, identifies many of the issues for consideration these kinds of activities entail.

Added07/26/2018

This case explores ethical issues surrounding assisted migration of endangered species. In particular, it focuses on Torreya taxifolia, an evergreen conifer tree endemic to Florida, and an activist group, Torreya Guardians, that has been distributing trees to sites outside the endemic range, including in North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

Added07/26/2018

This case explores a variety of ethical issues concerning ecotourism. The setting is a fictitious lodge in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Mini-vignettes offer three perspectives. Nuru is a poor Botswanan who lives near the lodge and would like to be involved in its activities. Rachel, the lodge’s new manager, has just come to the position from working as a field biologist specializing in African elephants with Conservation International (CI), a non-profit dedicated to worldwide conservation of ecosystems. She must make decisions on how the lodge will pursue environmental and sustainability goals. Mahendra is a well-known expert in elephant behavior and social structures, as well as an avid traveler and photographer. He is coming to the delta to conduct research and must decide where he and his family will stay.

Added05/24/2018

Abstract: The Strategic Defense Initiative provides a context for exploring the ethical issues that arise when scientific research has a direct bearing on public policy. Students are asked to consider three different documents that were circulated during the first few years of the SDI program. ...

Added01/05/2018

In 2014, researchers and students at University of Bergen questioned the university's research cooperation with the nation’s oil industry, Statoil. The rector asked the Norwegian National Committee for Research Ethics in Science and Technology (NENT) for advice, which it provided in a public report.

Added12/15/2017

Three-page, script-style case. Social science (oral history) and interdisciplinary research. Issues include authorship, mentoring, collaborative research, miscommunication, and human subjects research.

Added11/28/2017

A software developer designs a software that screens the résumés of candidates applying for a job at her company. She later discovers that the software may be having a disparate impact on minority communities. She brings the issue up with her boss, who is reluctant to change the software.

Added11/28/2017

A tech company contracts Luminia, a healthcare information firm, to design an employee wellness program. The President of Luminia recommends that the company implement a secure messaging platform to protect employee’s private health information (PHI). The company’s vice president, however, thinks that the platform is too expensive and that the extra protection is unnecessary.

Added11/28/2017

A software engineer has concerns about a recommender system his firm is designing to sell to health and life insurance companies. In a meeting with the sales team leader, he brings up these concerns and argues for extending their development timelines to address them. The sales manager, however, wants to hit the market with their product as soon as possible.

Added11/27/2017

A computer scientist is faced with a tough decision about how to handle personally identifiable information.

Added06/28/2017

In this case, Armando, a Brazilian Federal Senator with a BS and MS in Biology, must confront ethical dilemmas concerning the Amazon forest. Topics for consideration include: 1) the biodiversity and ecosystem services associated with the forest, 2) the social and economic issues surrounding deforestation, and the 3) options available to Armando as he makes his recommendation on how to use the US funds. Finally, we will explore the role of Maria as a science advisor and address her responsibilities, as well as her mistake in addressing the press.

Added06/28/2017

A scientist working for an environmental advocacy group in Indonesia fights against the transfer of a portion of state owned native forest to a palm-oil plantation. The case raises ethical issues including how to establish the value of natural lands, environmental justice, and communicating science.

Added06/13/2017

An amateur birdwatcher contributes to eBird--a citizen science project. When conservation scientists begin tagging owls in the state park near his home and ask his neighbor for permission to conduct research on her property, he wonders whether the value of the knowledge created about endangered species through both studying migration and citizen science projects such as eBird justifies the impact these activities can have on individual birds and species.

Added06/13/2017

A neuroscientist studies brainwave technologies with the aim of developing brain-machine computer interfaces (BMCI) and biometric systems. In considering projects she might work on, such as developing a database system to identify individuals by EEG biosignatures or advancing the field of neuromarketing, she starts to wonder about the long-term social value of these emerging technologies.

Added06/13/2017

A computer science graduate has an opportunity to work managing large data sets from smartphone applications designed to track individuals’ personal health information. His father, an epidemiologist, encourages him to consider the project’s use of personal data, as well as the ability to design algorithms that could accurately predict and track outbreaks based on this kind of data.

Added06/13/2017

In 2013, Melissa Gymrek, Amy McGuire, David Golan, Eran Halperin, and Yaniv Erlich published an article describing how they re-identified almost 50 individuals from “anonymized” data in a genomic database from the 1000 Genomes Project. Their goal was to show the vulnerability of genomic databases to this sort of manipulation. The case opens discussion of sharing genomic data and protecting privacy.

Added04/19/2017

This historical case uses the April 2015 publication on editing the genomes of non-viable human embryos by Junjiu Huang et. al. to explore the ethical issues surrounding the development of gene editing technologies and application to humans.

Added04/18/2017

In this fictional case, a young neuroscientist decides whether to take a post-doctoral fellowship in a lab where her assignment would be explore whether deep brain stimulation can be used to modulate soldiers’ emotions to make them more effective in high-stress environments.

Added04/18/2017

In 2013, the Glowing Plant Project raised money to fund amateur biologists attempting to insert a firefly gene into a small flowering plant called Arabidopsis thaliana. This historical case explores ethical concerns with synthetic biology and the DIY Biology movement.

Added04/18/2017

In this fictional case, a bioengineer completing a postdoctoral fellowship in sustainability considers his options for future employment. He would like to work with advanced microalgae production of biofuels. However, he is offered industry job developing first-generation biofuels, especially increasing yield.