Shockley holds the Holmes Rolston III Chair in Environmental Ethics and Philosophy. His research interests are in the expression of environmental values in public policy, the ethical dimensions of climate policy, ecological restoration, and several problems in philosophical ethics. Currently, he is exploring the intersection of environmental ethics, climate ethics, and sustainable development. He has coedited several special journal issues on the ethical dimensions of climate change and climate policy. His work has appeared in such journals as Philosophical Studies, Environmental Ethics, Environmental Values, Ethics, Policy, and Environment, Journal of Social Philosophy, Philosophy of the Social Sciences, and Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly. He taught previously at the University at Buffalo, Barnard College, and the University of Malawi.