I am an Instructor in Philosophy at Clovis Community College in Fresno, California.

I completed my PhD at the University of California, Irvine in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science where I was supervised by Jeremy Heis.  Before that, I earned BAs in Philosophy and History at the University of California, San Diego.

I primarily view myself as a teacher; as an academic philosopher, I aim to produce knowledge, but I strive to do so with the intent of sharing it with others.  As such, I take my teaching very seriously.  In the classroom, I offer student-centered, equity-minded instruction which incorporates novel teaching frameworks and extensive active learning.

On the research-side of things, I mostly focus on discussions of the relationship between religion and science.  This brings my work to the intersection of philosophy, history, and the social sciences (especially sociology and anthropology).  I'm interested in how methods originating in these fields intersect with different scholarly and public values which drive people to think about the relationship between religion and science in the first place.  My work has appeared in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science and Religion Compass.

I also have interests in the history and/of philosophy of science (HA/OPOS) and on topics that might fall more under the umbrella of science and technology studies (STS).  On the HOPOS side, I'm interested in the divergence of philosophy and science and the role of hypotheses in early modern scientific methodology (especially in figures like Newton, DuChatelet, and LeSage).  On the philosophy of science side, I think about ``pseudoscience" and what lessons can be extracted from debates over that label for general philosophy of science concerns (like realism-anti-realism).  Relatedly, in the realm of STS, I focus on the epistemic prestige attached to the label ``science" and how conceptions of science get used (and abused) throughout various parts of society, from STEM education to new religious movements (NRMs).  I also have research interests in religious studies, especially the methods used by scholars of religion and the study of NRMs.

Outside of academia, I enjoy hiking, reading, and cooking---especially seafood desserts.  I am always open to requests.

​I use he/him pronouns.

​You can contact me at [email protected].  I like goats.

Photo credit: Cailin O'Connor