About Me
I'm a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science working with Samuel C. Fletcher on the NSF-funded project “A Modern Philosophy for Classical Statistical Testing and Estimation.” The project has two main goals: identifying the epistemological foundations of classical statistics and putting together an R package that will allow researchers to put the theoretical insights into actual practice.More generally, I'm a philosopher of science and epistemologist. I have what might generously be described as broad interests in both these areas and in neighboring parts of value theory, logic, and philosophy of language. (A less generous description would be “easily distracted.”) More narrowly, my research focuses on philosophical questions in climate science, testimony, and data science—and particularly on those questions that arise at the intersection of all three. You can read more about these questions over at my research tab; publications and presentations on these subjects can be found in the downloads tab.
Pedagogically, I tend to emphasize developing communication and reasoning skills through engagement with philosophical work on subjects close to lives of my students. I'm particularly enthusiastic about teaching philosophy in an interdisciplinary mode, with an emphasis on the connections and continuities with the sciences. Descriptions and reading lists for courses that I've taught and developed can be found in the teaching tab.
When not practicing or teaching philosophy, I enjoy spending time baking, running, climbing, and patting my cat, Indy. On the advice of my mother, I try to never be afraid to make a fool of myself.
Specialization
AOS: Philosophy of climate science, philosophy of data science, epistemologyAOC: Environmental ethics, general philosophy of science, philosophy of biology
Pronunciation
My last name is originally Belgian—great-grandad was from Liège—but it's been badly Americanized in the last century and we just pronounce it “Dah chair” like “the chair.”
My cat, Indy.