The University of Leeds

Graduate Student, Centre for History and Philosophy of Science

Centre for History and Philosophy of Science

About

I work on philosophy of biology at the University of Leeds in the centre for HPS within the Department of Philosophy.  I began my studies in Leeds during the autumn of 2011.  My supervisor is Dr. Gregory Radick.

My initial interests in the concept of the gene and the philosophical debates that surround the concept, have led me to focus more generally on the centrality of the gene concept for biology and, by extension, the theory/practice distinction in science (and philosophy of science).

I completed my Master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Guelph.  I wrote about genes and Personalized Genomics.  Some of that work is available in the 'papers' section of this page.

My MA work was supervised by Stefan Linquist, with whom I continue to research and write about Antonio Damasio's 'Somatic Marker Hypothesis'.  Our first paper on the subject, entitled 'Two Myths About Somatic Markers', is forthcoming in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science -- a late draft is available under 'papers'.

As a side project, I also have an interest in academic integrity.  Specifically, I am interested in pedagogical approaches to plagiarism prevention.  I am working on teaching materials aimed at helping instructors take new approaches to plagiarism prevention that are not grounded in threats of punishment. I'm happy to share these materials and hear about any similar projects. Feel free to contact me.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Windsor, in Ontario, Canada. 

Aside from academics, I've spent a lot of time working in and managing coffee shops.  I was also once a co-owner of a landscape design company.  I was born in Windsor, Ontario, and now split my time between Dublin, Ireland and Leeds, West Yorkshire.

Contact Information