Curriculum Vitae

Areas of Specialization

  • Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy of Biology
  • Value Theory

Areas of Competence

  • Metaphysics
  • Philosophy of Probability
  • Philosophy of the Environment
  • Logic/Critical Thinking

Academic Employment

  • Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities–Missouri Western State University (May, 2021 – present)
  • Assistant Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Social Sciences and Humanities–Missouri Western State University (August, 2016 – May 2021)
  • Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program for History and Philosophy of Science–University of Notre Dame (August, 2014 – May, 2016)

Education

  • Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Maryland, College Park (2014)
    • Dissertation: Mechanism and Chance: Toward an Account of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences
    • Dissertation Committee: Lindley Darden (director), Aidan Lyon, Mathias Frisch, Peter Carruthers, Jessica Pfeifer
  • M.A. Philosophy, Western Michigan University (2008)
  • B.A. Philosophy, University of Puget Sound (2004)

Peer-Reviewed Publications

  • “Vindicating Metaethical Naturalism: A Case for Final Causes in the Life Sciences (2023) Southwest Philosophy Review (39): 175-182
  • “Causal Inference from Noise” with Nevin Climenhaga and Grant Ramsey (2021) Noûs 55 (1):152-170
  • “Natural Selection and Mechanistic Regularity” (2016) Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 57: 13-23
  • “Toward a Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences” (2015) Synthese. 192 (9):2921-2953.
  • “Against Regular and Irregular Characterizations of Mechanisms” (2011) Philosophy of Science 78 (5): 914-925.
  • “Sober and Elgin on Laws of Biology: A Critique” (2010) Biology and Philosophy 25:249-256.

Book Chapters

  • “Mechanisms in Evolutionary Biology” (2018) Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Mechanisms, Eds. Stuart Glennan and Phyllis Illari. 296-307.

Articles in Preparation

  • Paper on Modal Explanation (with Grant Ramsey)
  • Paper on Extending Evolutionary Individuality (with Caleb Hazelwood)
  • Paper on Final Causes in the Life Sciences

Selected Presentations

  • “Final Cause Explanations in Life Science” Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science Meeting, University of Alberta, Canada (May 2021)
  • “The Case for Final Causes in the Life Sciences” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Oslo, Norway (July 2019)
  • “Dismantling the Holobiont Problem for Evolutionary Individuality” Philosophy of Science Association Biannual Meeting: Poster Session, Seattle, Washington (Nov 2018)
  • “Extended Evolutionary Individuality: an Appeal to Multi-dimensional Heredity” Generalized Theory of Evolution Conference, University of Düsseldorf, Germany (Feb 2018)
  • “Noise Inference Methods” Perspectives on Scientific Error, Tilburg, Netherlands (June 2017)
  • Ethics of Data Tagging for Big Data Science: A Case-Study on Racial Identifiers” SciDataCon, Denver (September 2016)
  • “Natural Selection as a Mechanism: Process vs. Product Regularity” American Philosophical Association Central Division Meeting, Chicago (March 2016)
  • “Causal-Possibility Explanations” (with Grant Ramsey) European Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Düsseldorf, Germany (September 2015)
  • “On the Role of Unactualized Possibilities in Biological Explanation” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montreal, Canada (July 2015)
  • “Thinking about Stochastic Mechanisms” Invited Brown-bag Lecture, Program for the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame (November 2014)
  • “Toward a Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism for the Life Sciences” European Philosophy of Science Association, Helsinki, Finland (August 2013)
  • “Grounding Probabilistic Generalizations in the Life Sciences: A Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism,” International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montpellier, France (July 2013)
  • “Mechanism and Chance” University of Pittsburg/Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Conference (April 2013)
  • “A Propensity Interpretation of Stochastic Mechanism: Lessons from Fitness, Selection, and Drift”, DC History and Philosophy of Biology Meeting, (March 2013)
  • “Mechanism and Chance: Toward a Working Account of Stochastic Mechanism”, DC History and Philosophy of Biology Meeting, (June 2012)
  • “Mechanisms, Regularity, and Stochasticity”, Invited Distinguished Alumni Speaker, Western Michigan University Graduate Conference, (Winter 2011)
  • “Relocating Objectivity in Environment Ethics: an Appeal to Objective Reasons”; International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, (Summer 2011)
  • “Against Regular and Irregular Characterizations of Mechanisms”; Philosophy of Science Association Meeting, Montreal, Canada (Fall 2010)

Teaching Experience 

  • Missouri Western State University
    •  Ethics
    • Introduction to Philosophy
    • History and Philosophy of the Natural Sciences
    • Philosophy of Biology
    • Technology and Society
    • Advanced topics in Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology
    • Honors Colloquium on Free Will and Determinism
    • Honors Colloquium on Freedom, Identity, and the Self
    • Advanced topics in Ethical Theory: Metaethics
    • Advanced topics in Practical Ethics: Immigration
  • University of Notre Dame
    • Philosophy and Biology
    • Philosophy of Science
    • Philosophy of Science (Graduate Survey Course)
    • Mechanisms (Graduate Seminar)
  • University of Maryland, College Park
    • Metaphysics
    • Philosophy of the Environment
    • Philosophy of the Environment (Online Course)
  • Western Michigan University
    • Critical Reasoning
    • Introduction to Ethics

Honors and Awards

  • MWSU Award for Academic Advisor of the Year (2023)
  • MWSU Student Honors Association Award for Most Influential Professor (2023)
  • Alpha Chi Faculty Compass Award for Most Influential Professor (2019)
  • LAS Faculty Development Award, Missouri Western State University (2016)
  • Distinguished Graduate Student Teacher Award, University of Maryland, College Park (2014)
  • International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Student Travel Grant (2013)
  • International Conference Student Support Award, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
  • Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
  • Moreland Perkins Graduate Fellowship, University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
  • Brian Hull Award for the Best First Year Graduate Student (Co-recipient), University of Maryland, College Park (2011)
  • History of Science Society Travel Grant for PSA Montreal (2010)
  • Full-time Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Remission, University of Maryland, College Park (2009 – present)
  • Full-time Graduate Assistantship and Tuition Remission, Western Michigan University (2006-2008).
  • 2nd Place in Western Michigan University’s Annual Philosophy Essay Contest: “Defending Motivational Humeanism” (2008)
  • D.H. Harder Humanities Scholarship, University of Puget Sound (2000).
  • Dean’s Scholarship for Academic Merit, University of Puget Sound (2000).

Service

  • MWSU Bachelor of General Studies Degree Coordinator (Fall 2022- Present)
  • MWSU Ad Hoc Committee for General Studies Assessment (Fall 2019- Present)
  • MWSU Western Excellence Award Committee Member (Fall 2019- Present)
  • MWSU Academy for General Studies Assessment Participant (Fall 2018)
  • MWSU General Studies Committee Secretary (2018-2019)
  • Missouri Western Online Teaching Committee Member (2016)
  • Missouri Western Peer Review/Syllabi Committee Member (2016)
  • Notre Dame HPS Qualifying Paper Oral Examiner  (2015)
  • Philosophy Graduate Representative on the Advisory Panel for Arts and Humanities: Undergraduates Interested in Pursuing Graduate School (2012, 2013)
  • Graduate Student Representative on the Program Review Committee for the Department of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park (2013)
  • Representative to the Dean’s Graduate Advisory Board (2011 – 2013)
  • Committee Member, Referee, and Principal Organizer of the First Annual Western Michigan Graduate Student Philosophy Conference (2007).

Journal Refereeing

  • Philosophy Compass
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
  • Journal Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
  • Journal for General Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophical Psychology
  • Biology and Philosophy
  • Synthese

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