courses i’m teaching This year
BIOSCI739: Dialogues in Biology (Semester 1 2026, co-taught with James Russell and Simon Greenhill)
PHIL105/105G: Critical Thinking (Semester 1 2026, co-taught with Patrick Girard and Andrew Withy)
PHIL260/360: Philosophy of Science (Semester 1 2026)
ASTRO200/200G: Astrobiology (Semester 2 2026; team-taught course led by Kathy Campbell)
courses i’m teaching NEXT year
BIOSCI739: Dialogues in Biology (Semester 1 2027)
PHIL105/105G: Critical Thinking (Semester 1 2027, co-taught with Patrick Girard and Andrew Withy)
PHIL750: Topics in Philosophy of Science (Semester 2 2027)
ASTRO200/200G: Astrobiology (Semester 2 2027; team-taught course led by Kathy Campbell)
supervision
I supervise theses and dissertations on a range of topics across the philosophy of biology and general philosophy of science, and sometimes beyond those areas as well. See below for some examples. I’m happy to hear from prospective PhD, MA or BA(Hons) students; please feel free to get in touch.
Current students:
Flynn Adams (Summer Research Scholar 2025–2026) —Localising the philosophy of biology.
James Macfarlane (MA in progress) — Epistemic authority: science and mātauranga Māori as knowledge systems.
Ana Shapiro (PhD in progress in Psychology; co-supervisor) — Understanding the global response to climate change through the cultural evolution of paradigms.
Hiva Sharebiani (PhD in progress) — HTLV-1 Oncogenesis as an exceptional example for investigating multi-level selection.
Sam Woolley (PhD in progress) — Evolution and morality: assessing the case against justifiable realism.
Former PhD students:
Sidney Carls-Diamante (PhD 2018) — Armed with information: cognition and consciousness and the octopus nervous system.
James Garner (PhD 2024 in Computer Science; co-supervisor) — An information theoretic approach to detecting interactional asymmetry in simulated robots.
David Kelley (PhD 2022) — Group agency and biological individuality.
James Mansell (PhD 2025; co-supervisor) — The information commons: building Blockchain-based information networks for shared social and economic value.
Fiona Miles (PhD 2025; co-supervisor) — Decision-making for critically ill children in Aotearoa NZ: review of current practice and a new mana-enhancing tikanga approach.
Most recently supervised Masters theses, BA(Hons) dissertations, and Summer Research Scholarship projects (you can find a complete list in my CV):
Ben Grobler-Kalinowski (Summer Research Scholar 2025–2026) — Localising the philosophy of biology.
Jiyoon Yeam (Summer Research Scholar 2025–2026) — Conceptualising knowledge systems.
Sam Bennett (BAHons 2025) — Addiction without dysfunction: an evolutionary mismatch account.
James Rowarth-Bell (MA 2025) — The cluster hierarchy framework: a methodology for working through the species problem.
Finn Zhou (MA 2024; co-supervisor) — Mātauranga Māori and science as evolving practices: a philosophical bricolage.
Natalie Sullivan (MA 2024) — Compassionate conservation and animal sentience: navigating ethical grounds in moral consideration and animal well-being.
Ethan McCormick & Grace Zhao (Summer Research Scholarship 2023–2024) — ‘Emergency’ framing in conservation.
André Alessi (MA 2023) — Partial recall: extended memory and personal identity.
Lauren Baal (MSc 2023 in Environmental Science; co-supervisor) — Do androids dream of transgenic sheep? An examination of the state of genetic engineering regulations in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Gabbi Courtenay (MA 2023) — Too hot to handle: the manhandling of gender in human attraction research.
Cealagh Taillon (Summer Research Scholarship 2022–2023) — Concepts and values in conservation and invasive species management.
Lysandra Zheng (BAHons 2022) — The value-laden ideal: an examination of roles for social values in science.