I work primarily in the philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, and feminist philosophy of science, while also drawing from philosophy of language, cognitive science, and metaphilosophy. My research examines how scientific concepts are constructed, used, and revised—and what happens when a single definition cannot adequately serve every scientific or social context.
My dissertation, Bridging the Towers of Babel: Pluralistic Approaches to Biological Sex, examined pluralistic and contextualist strategies for understanding biological sex. Rather than assuming that biological sex must correspond to one universal definition, I explored how different concepts of sex track different biological processes, explanatory aims, and domains of inquiry. This work also considers how scientific categories interact with social values, medical practices, and public policy. This was developed under the supervision of Roberta Millstein and James Griesemer.
More broadly, I am interested in conceptual pluralism, scientific explanation, classification, and the relationship between scientific knowledge and the contexts in which it is produced and applied. My current work extends these questions to biomedical research, policy, and other scientifically and socially contested categories.
I am a lecturer in philosophy at the University of California, Merced, where I teach courses in ethics and bioethics. My teaching emphasizes accessible philosophical reasoning, inclusive classroom participation, open source materials, and the application of philosophical ideas to contemporary problems.
Upcoming
PSA 2026: Exploring Pluralism as a Methodology: Cases from the Biological Sciences
I will be speaking in this symposium at the 30th Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association in San Diego.
Thursday, November 19, 2026
1:30–4:15 p.m.
With Roberta Millstein, Subrena Smith, and Melinda Fagan
Book Project
I am serving as co-editor (with Catherine Robb and Gah-Kai Leung) of a forthcoming volume on K-Pop and philosophy.
SSPP 2027
I am co-chairing with Danielle Williams, NYU) the Philosophy Program and speaking at the 118th Annual Meeting of the Southern Society for Philosophy and Psychology, February 18–20, 2027, in Atlanta.
