Ph.D., Philosophy with Minor in History of Science and Technology, August 1997
M.A., Philosophy, June 1993

A.B., Computer Science and Philosophy (Double Major), June 1988

Millstein, Roberta L. (2024), The Land Is Our Community: Aldo Leopold's Environmental Ethic for the New Millennium. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (open access; download for free).

Winther, Ramsus Grønfeldt, Millstein, Roberta L., and Nielsen, Rasmus (Eds.), Genomics and Philosophy of Race, special issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, vol. 52, pp. 1-76, 2015.

Chao, Hsiang-Ke, Chen, Szu-Ting, and Millstein, Roberta L. (Eds.), Mechanism and Causality in Biology and Economics, History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences, Vol. 3, Springer, 2013.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2024), “The coevolution of descriptive and evaluative beliefs in Aldo Leopold's thinking,” Philosophy of Science 91: 1415-1424.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2020), “Functions and Functioning in Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic and in Ecology,” Philosophy of Science 87: 1107-1118.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2020), “Defending a Leopoldian basis for biodiversity: a response to Newman, Varner, and Linquist,” Biology and Philosophy 35 (12).

Millstein, Roberta L. (2019), “Types of Experiments and Causal Process Tracing: What Happened on the Kaibab Plateau in the 1920s,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 78: 98-104.

Millstein, Roberta L, Dietrich, Michael, Skipper, Robert A. (2019), “History of Evolutionary Thought Since 1930” in D. Futuyma (ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Evolutionary Biology. New York: Oxford University Press.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2018), “Is Aldo Leopold's 'Land Community' an Individual?” in O. Bueno, R. Chen, and M. B. Fagan (eds.), Individuation, Process, and Scientific Practices, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 279-302.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2018), “Understanding Leopold's Concept of 'Interdependence' for Environmental Ethics and Conservation Biology,” Philosophy of Science 85: 1127-1139.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2018), “Debunking myths about Aldo Leopold's land ethic,” Biological Conservation 217: 391-396.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2017), “Evolution” in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Hicks, Daniel J., and Millstein, Roberta L. (2016), “GMOs: Non-Health Issues” in P.B. Thompson and D.M. Kaplan (eds.), Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics (Second Edition), Springer, 1-11.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2016), “Genetic Drift” in Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2016), “Probability in Biology: The Case of Fitness” in A. Hájek and C. R. Hitchcock (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Probability and Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 601-622.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2015), “Re-examining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic,” Ethics, Policy & Environment 18: 301-317.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2015), “Thinking About Populations and Races in Time,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 52: 5-11. Special issue on Genomics and Philosophy of Race, guest edited by R. G. Winther, R. L. Millstein, and R. Nielsen.

Winther, Ramsus Grønfeldt, Millstein, Roberta L., and Nielsen, Rasmus (2015), “Introduction: Genomics and philosophy of race,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 52: 1-4. Special issue on Genomics and Philosophy of Race, guest edited by R. G. Winther, R. L. Millstein, and R. Nielsen.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2015), “GMOs? Not So Fast,” The Common Reader: A Journal of the Essay 1: 33-46.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2014), “How the Concept of 'Population' Resolves Concepts of 'Environment,'” Philosophy of Science 81: 741-755.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2013), “Natural Selection and Causal Productivity” in H. Chao, S. Chen, and R. L. Millstein (eds.), Mechanism and Causality in Biology and Economics, Springer, 147-163.

Chao, Hsiang-Ke, Chen, Szu-Ting, and Millstein, Roberta L. (2013), “Towards the Methodological Turn in the Philosophy of Science” in H. Chao, S. Chen, and R. L. Millstein (eds.), Mechanism and Causality in Biology and Economics, Springer, 1-16.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2013), “Environmental Ethics” in K. Kampourakis (ed.), The Philosophy of Biology: A Companion for Educators in the series History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences 1, Springer, 723-743.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2013), “Exploring the Status of Population Genetics: The Role of Ecology,” Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution and Cognition (special thematic issue on “The Meaning of ‘Theory’ in Biology”) 7: 346-357.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2012), “Darwin's Explanation of Races by Means of Sexual Selection,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 43: 627-633.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2011), “Sex and sensibility: The role of social selection” (part of a co-authored roundtable; my portion distinguishes natural selection, sexual selection, and Joan Rougharden's social selection). Metascience 20: 258-264.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2011), “Chances and Causes in Evolutionary Biology: How Many Chances Become One Chance” in P. McKay Illari, F. Russo, and J. Williamson, (eds.), Causality in the Sciences, Oxford University Press, 425-444.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2010), “Should We Be Population Pluralists? A Reply to Stegenga”, Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution and Cognition 5(3): 271-276.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2010), “The Concepts of Population and Metapopulation in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology” in M. A. Bell, D. J. Futuyma, W. F. Eanes, and J. S. Levinton (eds.), Evolution Since Darwin: The First 150 Years, Sunderland, MA: Sinauer, 61-86.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2009), “Populations as Individuals,” Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution and Cognition: 4 (3): 267-273. Special issue on The Edges and Boundaries of Biological Objects, guest edited by M. Haber and J. Odenbaugh.

Millstein, Roberta L., Skipper, Robert A., and Dietrich, Michael R. (2009), “(Mis)interpreting Mathematical Models: Drift as a Physical Process,” Philosophy and Theory in Biology 1:e002.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2009), “Concepts of Drift and Selection in 'The Great Snail Debate' of the 1950s and Early 1960s” in Joe Cain and Michael Ruse (eds.), Descended from Darwin: Insights into the History of Evolutionary Studies, 1900-1970, Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 271-298.

Dietrich, Michael R. and Millstein, Roberta L. (2008), “The Role of Causal Processes in the Neutral and Nearly Neutral Theories,” Philosophy of Science 75 (5): 548-559.

Shavit, Ayelet and Millstein, Roberta L. (2008), “Group Selection is Dead! Long Live Group Selection?” BioScience 58 (7): 574-575.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2008), “Distinguishing Drift and Selection Empirically: 'The Great Snail Debate' of the 1950s,” Journal of the History of Biology 41: 339-367.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2007), “Hsp90-Induced Evolution: Adaptationist, Neutralist, and Developmentalist Scenarios,” Biological Theory: Integrating Development, Evolution and Cognition 2(4): 376-386.

Millstein, Roberta L. and Skipper, Robert A. (2007), “Population Genetics” in David Hull and Michael Ruse (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 22-43. (commissioned).

Millstein, Roberta L. (2006), “Discussion of Four Case Studies on Chance in Evolution: Philosophical Themes and Questions,” Philosophy of Science 73(5): 678-687.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2006), “Natural Selection as a Population-Level Causal Process,” The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 57(4): 627-653.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2005), “Selection vs. Drift: A Response to Brandon’s Reply,” Biology and Philosophy 20(1): 171-175.

Skipper, Robert A. and Millstein, Roberta L. (2005) “Thinking about Evolutionary Mechanisms: Natural Selection,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 36(2): 327-347. Special edition on Mechanisms in Biology, edited by C.F. Craver and L. Darden.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2003), “Interpretations of Probability in Evolutionary Theory,” Philosophy of Science 70(5): 1317-1328.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2003), “How Not to Argue for the Indeterminism of Evolution: A Look at Two Recent Attempts to Settle the Issue” in Andreas Hüttemann, (ed.), Determinism in Physics and Biology, Paderborn: Mentis, 91-107.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2002), “Evolution”, in Peter Machamer and Michael Silberstein (eds.), The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Science, Malden, MA: Blackwell, 227-251. (commissioned)

Millstein, Roberta L. (2002), “Are Random Drift and Natural Selection Conceptually Distinct?” Biology and Philosophy 17(1):33-53.

Millstein, Roberta L. (2000),“Chance and Macroevolution,” Philosophy of Science 67(4): 603-24.

Millstein, Roberta L. (1996), “Random Drift and the Omniscient Viewpoint,” Philosophy of Science 63(3 Suppl): S10-S18.

“Book review of Choosing Selection: The Revival of Natural Selection in Anglo-American Evolutionary Biology, 1930-1970, by Stephen G Brush.” Reports of the National Center for Science Education 30(6): 32, 2010 (commissioned).

“Book review of Biology's First Law: The Tendency for Diversity and Complexity to Increase in Evolutionary Systems, by Daniel W. McShea and Robert N. Brandon.” Science 330: 1048-9, 2010 (commissioned).

“Book review of Making Sense of Evolution: The Conceptual Foundations of Evolutionary Biology, by Massimo Pigliucci and Jonathan Kaplan.” Reports of the National Center for Science Education 28(3): 28-29, 2008 (commissioned).

“Book review of Reasoning in Biological Discoveries: Essays on Mechanisms, Interfield Relations, and Anomaly Resolution, by Lindley Darden.” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2007.07.08 (commissioned).

“Book review of Adaptationism and Optimality, edited by Steven Orzack and Elliott Sober.” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2002.05.06 (commissioned).

“Book Review of Biology and Epistemology, by Richard Creath and Jane Maienschein (Eds.).” Journal of the History of Biology 33: 411-14, 2000 (commissioned).

“Book Review of Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature by Larry Arnhart.” Ethics 110.3: 652, 2000 (commissioned).

A Sand County Almanac: Expert Livestream and Q&A, with Curt Meine and Buddy Huffaker, interviewed by Diana Plasker, Science Friday Book Club, November 19, 2024.

Interview concerning The Land Is Our Community: Aldo Leopold's Environmental Ethic for the New Millennium, interviewed by Carrie Figdor, New Books in Philosophy, October 10, 2024.

"Millstein offers book on land ethic," The Davis Enterprise, July 23, 2024.

SCI PHI Podcast, January 2017.

“The Land Is Our Community: Aldo Leopold's Environmental Ethic for the New Millennium.” Presented virtually for the Aldo Leopold Foundation speaker series, August 2024.

“A Plurality of Contingencies: A Reference Guide.” Presented for the 2024 ASU/MBL History of Biology Seminar: "That's Life: How Accidents Can Be Consequential," Woods Hole, WA, May 2024.

“Do we have ethical obligations to the land? Perspectives from Aldo Leopold.” Presented for the Foley Speaker Series in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, March 2024.

“Thinking about Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic: Conceptual and Ethical Issues.” Presented for the Potter Memorial Lecture Series in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, March 2024.

“Aldo Leopold and the Biodiversity-Stability Connection.” Presented for the Jean Thomas Lambert Lecture Series in the Goodwin-Niering Center for Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies, Connecticut College, New London, CT, October 2023.

“Thinking about Aldo Leopold: Reflections on interdisciplinarity and research questions.” Presented for the Research Center for Values in Emerging Science and Technology (RC-VEST), Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT, October 2023.

“Reflections on the week: Concepts of contingency and chance.” Presented at the 2023 History of Biology Seminar: Replaying Life's Tape: Historical Contingency in the Life Sciences, MBL/Woods Hole, May 2023.

“Thinking about Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic: Conceptual and Ethical Issues.” Presented to the Groupe de recherche en éthique environnementale et animale (GRÉEA) via Zoom, January 2021.

“Why you should care about Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the Philosophy of Biology at the Mountains (on Zoom) Workshop, hosted by the University of Utah, June 2020.

“Defending a Leopoldian Basis for Biodiversity: A Response to Newman, Varner, and Linquist. ” Presented at the International Society for Environmental Ethics session at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Vancouver, Canada, April 2019.

“Democratizing Science: Let's Stop Talking about the 'War on Science.'” Deliberating Promissory Technologies Symposium, UC Davis, Davis, CA, May 2018.

“Types of Experiments and Causal Process Tracing: What Happened on the Kaibab Plateau in the 1920s?” Keynote at the 7th Annual Calgary Graduate Philosophy Conference, Calgary, Canada, May 2018.

“Thinking Like a Red: A Consideration of the Ethics of Terraforming in Light of Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars.” Presented at the Social and Conceptual Issues in Astrobiology (SoCIA) workshop, Reno, NV, April 2018.

“Can a Community Concept Be Reconciled with an Ecosystem Concept?” Presented to the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Nevada, Reno, April 2018.

“Grey Wolves and the Endangered Species Act: Concordance All the Way Down.” Species in the Age of Discordance Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, March 2017.

“Rethinking Aldo Leopold’s Land Community Concept.” Keynote at the annual Texas Tech Philosophy Graduate Student Conference, Lubbock, TX, April 2016.

“Discussion of 'A War on Science? Vaccines, Climate Change, GMOs, and the Role of Science'.” Presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, D.C., February 2016.

“Rethinking Aldo Leopold’s Land Community Concept.” Presented at Simon Fraser University, Department of Philosophy Colloquium Series, Burnaby, B.C., November 2015.

“Genetically Modified Food: Feeding the World or Fouling the World?” Presented at the Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX, April 2014.

“Thinking about populations and races in time.” Presented at the "Genomics and Philosophy of Race" conference, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, April 2014.

“Re-examining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the University of Utah, Department of Philosophy's Rod P. Dixon Lecture, Salt Lake City, UT, December 2013.

“The Concepts of 'Population' and 'Metapopulation' in the Genomics of Race: Introduction and Questions.” Presented at the "Genomics and Philosophy of Race" workshop, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, November 2013.

“Re-examining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the University of California, Merced, inaugural event of the Philosophy Speaker Series, Merced, CA, October 2013.

“Reexamining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic; Rethinking the Relationship Between Science and Values.” Presented at the University of Cincinnati, Department of Philosophy Lecture Series, Cincinnati, OH, April 2013.

“Stability, Interdependence, and Leopold's Land Ethic” (part of the Invited Symposium, "The Influence of Norms and Values on Science"). Presented at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, San Francisco, CA, March 2013.

“Re-examining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the University of British Columbia, Department of Philosophy Colloquia Series, February 2013.

“Turning the Causal Arrow Around: A Salmonian Analysis of Gowaty's Adaptively Flexible Sex Role Model.” Presented at the Philosophical Perspectives on Causal Reasoning in Biology (PPCRB) Workshop, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, May 2012.

“Exploring the status of population genetics: The role of ecology.” Presented in the Science Studies Program Colloquium Series, University of California, San Diego, October 2011.

“Exploring the status of population genetics: The role of ecology.” Presented at the "The Meanings of Theory in Biology" workshop, Konrad Lorenz Institute, Vienna, Austria, July 2011.

“Natural Selection and Causal Productivity: A Reply to Glennan.” Presented at the Taiwan Conference on Philosophy of Economics and Biology, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, March 2011.

“The Concept of 'Population' and 'Metapopulation' in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at Washington University in St. Louis, History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine Seminar Series, April 2010.

“Obtaining Data on Natural Selection and Random Drift in the Wild: The Case of the Great Snail Debate.” Presented at the San Francisco State workshop, "The Experimental Side of Modeling", March 2010.

“The Causal Interactionist Concepts of 'Population' and 'Metapopulation'.” Presented at the University of Indiana, Department of History and Philosophy of Science Colloquium Series, February 2010.

“The Concept of 'Population' and 'Metapopulation' in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology.” Presented at the workshop "Darwin 2009 at Stony Brook," Stony Brook University, NY, November 2009 – couldn't present due to illness.

“Causal Processes and the Concept of "Population" in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at the workshop "Current Issues in Darwinian Theory," Halifax, NS, October 2009.

“Chance in Biology.” Presented at the Philosophy of Science Retreat, James Reserve, San Jacinto Mountains, CA, April 2009.

“Toward a Concept of 'Population' for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology.” Presented to the Bay Area Biosystematists (BABS), Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, April 2009.

“Toward a Concept of 'Population' for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology.” Presented as part of the Cincinnati Darwiniana Speaker Series at the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, April 2009.

“How Many Chances Become One Chance.” Presented at the Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et des Techniques (IHPST) at the Université Paris 1, Paris, France, June 2008.

“Thinking about the Concept of 'Population' in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at the Edges & Boundaries of Biological Objects Workshop, Department of Philosophy at the University of Utah, March 13-15 2008

“Seven Things You Should Believe About Drift and Selection.” Presented at a workshop sponsored by the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology (IHPST) at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, October 2007.

“Demonstrating Chance in Evolution: Lessons From an Early Drifter.” Presented at Duke University for the Center for Philosophy of Biology's 6th annual Conference in Philosophy & Biology: "Chance in Evolution," Durham, NC, April 2007.

“The Nearly Neutral Theory of Evo-Devo?” Presented at the 2007 CSU Northridge Philosophy of Biology Conference, Northridge, CA, March 2007.

“Finding the Causes in an Evolving Population: Lessons From an Early Drifter.” Presented to the Townsend Center Working Group in the History and Philosophy of Logic, Mathematics, and Science, University of California, Berkeley, December 2006.

“Philosophical Reflections on a Historical Case Study of Random Drift.” Presented at the Future Directions in Biology Studies (FDIBS) Workshop, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, July 2006.

“The Determinism/Indeterminism Question in the Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at UC Santa Cruz as part the Philosophy Department's Colloquia Series, Santa Cruz, CA, April 2006.

“The Determinism/Indeterminism Question in the Philosophy of Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at Dartmouth College as part of Sapientia Lecture Series, Hanover, NH, July 2005.

“Is Natural Selection a Mechanism?” (based on a paper co-authored with Robert A. Skipper). Presented at the University of Minnesota as part of the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science Lecture Series, Minneapolis, MN, January 2005.

“Is Natural Selection a Mechanism?” (based on a paper co-authored with Robert A. Skipper) Presented at the University of Pittsburgh as part of the Center for Philosophy of Science Lecture Series, Pittsburgh, PA, January 2005.

“Why Natural Selection Matters in the Debate Over Genetically Modified Food.” Presented for the University of Cincinnati Philosophy Lecture Series, Cincinnati, OH, April 2004.

“How Not to Argue for the Indeterminism of Evolution: A Look at Two Recent Attempts to Settle the Issue.” Workshop on Determinism in Physics and Biology, Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany, July 2002.

“Chance and Evolution.” Presented at the University of Maryland’s Committee on the History and Philosophy of Science Colloquium Series, College Park, MD, November 2001.

“The Ethics of Genetic Engineering: Should We Create Designer Babies?” Presented at the Department of Biological Science Seminar Series, California State University Hayward, Hayward, CA, May 2000.

“Determinism vs. Indeterminism in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at the California State University, Hayward, Faculty Development Workshop, Hayward, CA, November 1999.

“Should We Clone Humans?” Presented at the California State University, Hayward Conference on Cloning, Hayward, CA, April 1998.

“On Using the Golden Rule to Preserve Subspecies.” (with J. Ramsey). Presented at the Confluences conference, Newport, Oregon, May 1997.

“A Bottom-Up, Integrated History and Philosophy of Science Approach to Environmental Policy.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, New Orleans, LA, November 2024 (PSA 2024).

“Incorporating ecocentrism in conservation biology.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the North American Congress of Conservation Biology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, June 2024 (NACCB 2024).

“When surfing becomes drifting.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Toronto, Canada, July 2023 (ISHPSSB 2023).

“The coevolution of science and values in Aldo Leopold's thinking.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2022 (PSA 2022).

“Rethinking Leopold's Argument in Support of the Land Ethic.” Presented at the International Society for Environmental Ethics session at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Vancouver, Canada, April 2022.

“Aldo Leopold and the Biodiversity-Stability Connection” Presented (virtually) at the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Baltimore, MD, November 2021 (PSA 2020/2021).

“Aldo Leopold and the Biodiversity-Stability Connection” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, virtual meeting hosted by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, July 2021 (ISHPSSB 2021).

“Functions and Functioning in Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic and in Ecology.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Southern Oregon University, Ashland, OR, June 2019.

“Functions and Functioning in Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic and in Ecology.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Seattle, WA, November 2018 (PSA 2018).

“Types of Experiments and Causal Process Tracing: What Happened on the Kaibab Plateau in the 1920s?” Presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, CA, June 2018.

“Grey Wolves and the Endangered Species Act: Concordance All the Way Down.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Waimea, Big Island, Hawai`i, June 2017.

“Understanding Leopold's Concept of 'Interdependence' for Environmental Ethics and Conservation Biology.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Atlanta, GA, November 2016 (PSA 2016).

“Debunking Myths about Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the North American Congress for Conservation Biology, Madison, WI, July 2016 (NACCB 2016).

“Rethinking Aldo Leopold’s Land Community Concept.” Presented at the International Society for Environmental Ethics session at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, San Francisco, CA, April 2016.

“Is Aldo Leopold's 'Land Community' an Individual?” Presented at the biennial International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montreal, Canada, July 2015 (ISHPSSB 2015).

“Thinking about Populations and Races in Time.” Presented at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Vancouver, BC, April 2015.

“Types of Experiments and Causal Process Tracing: What Happened on the Kaibab Plateau in the 1920s?” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Chicago, IL, November 2014 (PSA 2014).

“Re-examining the Darwinian Basis for Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic.” Presented at the annual meeting of the International Association for Environmental Philosophy, Eugene, Oregon, October 2013.

“Ecological Experiments that Inform Evolution: A Typology.” Presented at the biennial International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Montpellier, France, July 2013 (ISHPSSB 2013).

“Populations in Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Environments.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, San Diego, CA, November 2012 (PSA 2012).

Commentary on Collin Rice's “Using Optimality Models to Explain Evolutionary Phenomena.” Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Seattle, WA, April 2012.

“Darwin's Explanation of Races by Means of Sexual Selection.” Presented at the biennial International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Meeting, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 2011 (ISHPSSB 2011).

“Darwin's Explanation of Races by Means of Sexual Selection.” Presented at the annual History of Science Society Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, November 2010 (HSS 2010).

“The Concept of ‘Population’ and ‘Metapopulation’ in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at the Philosophy of Biology at Madison (POBAM) workshop, Madison, WI, May 2010.

“Differentiating Natural Selection, Sexual Selection, and Social Selection ” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Brisbane, Australia, July 2009 (ISHPSSB 2009).

“(Mis)Interpreting Mathematical Models of Drift: Drift as a Physical Process” (with Robert A. Skipper and Michael R. Dietrich). Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Pittsburgh, PA, November 2008 (PSA 2008).

“The Nearly Neutral Theory of Evo-Devo?” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Exeter, UK, July 2007 (ISHPSSB 2007).

“The Role of Causal Processes in the Neutral and Nearly Neutral Theories” (with Michael R. Dietrich). Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Vancouver, BC, November 2006 (PSA 2006).

“Selection or Drift? Methodology in ‘The Great Snail Debate’, 1950s-1960s.” Presented at the annual meeting of the History of Science Society, Minneapolis, MN, November 2005 (HSS 2005).

“Neutralism vs. Selectionism: From Snails to Molecules.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Guelph, Ontario, July 2005 (ISHPSSB 2005).

“Discussion of 'Four Case Studies on Chance in Evolution': Philosophical Themes and Questions.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Austin, TX, November 2004 (PSA 2004).

“Natural Selection, Genetically Modified Food, and the Environment.” Presented at the International Society for Environmental Ethics session at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Washington, D.C., December 2003.

“Populations, Probability, and Natural Selection.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Vienna, Austria, July 2003.

“Interpretations of Probability in Evolutionary Theory.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Milwaukee, WI, November 2002 (PSA 2002).

Commentary on Mark Bedau’s “A New Defense of Adaptationism.” Presented at the 54th Annual Northwest Philosophy Conference, Portland, OR, October 2002.

“Interpretations of Probability in Evolutionary Theory.” Presented at the 54th Annual Northwest Philosophy Conference, Portland, OR, October 2002.

“On Using the Golden Rule to Preserve Subspecies” (with J. Ramsey). Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Hamden, CT, July 2001.

“Is the Evolutionary Process Deterministic or Indeterministic? An Argument for Agnosticism.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Vancouver, Canada, November 2000 (PSA 2000).

“The Directed Mutation Controversy: Who Needs a Mechanism If You Have Causality?” Presented at the Eastern Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Philadelphia, PA, December 1997.

“Determinism vs. Indeterminism: Either Way, Evolution Is Probabilistic.” Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Seattle, WA, July 1997.

“Chance and Explanation in Evolutionary Biology.” Presented at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, Berkeley, CA, March 1997.

“Random Drift and the Omniscient Viewpoint.” Presented at the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Cleveland, OH, November 1996 (PSA 1996).

Committee on Research Small Grant in Aid of Research, University of California, Davis: 2007-2009, 2009-2011, 2010-2012, 2012-2014, 2013-2015, 2014-2016, 2015-2017, 2016-2018, 2017-2019, 2018-2020, 2019-2021, 2020-2021, 2021-2022.

Academic Senate Research Travel Grant, University of California, Davis: Summer 2007, Fall 2008, Summer 2009, Summer 2011, Fall 2012, Summer 2013, Fall 2014, Summer 2015, Summer 2016, Fall 2018, Summer 2019.

Faculty Support Grant, California State University, Hayward: Fall 1999, Fall 2001, Fall 2004

Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota Graduate School: 1994-1995

Quarter Research Fellowship, Department of Philosophy, University of Minnesota: Spring 1992, Fall 1993

Sierra Club Yolano Management Committee, elected 2023-present

Commissioner Open Space and Habitat Commission, City of Davis, appointed for 10-05-2010 through 12-31-2020. Served as Chair during final year of term.

Program review for Philosophy at UC Merced, 2017

Member of the Board for the PhilSci Archive, Nov 2011-2013 as ex-officio member from the PSA Governing Board, 2014-2015 as a regular member and Promotions and Outreach Officer.

Referee for Acta Biotheoretica, Biology and Philosophy, BioScience, Biological Theory, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, Conservation Letters, Erkenntnis, Ethics & the Environment, European Journal for Philosophy of Science, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Journal of the History of Biology, Philosophers' Imprint, The Philosophical Quarterly, Philosophy of Science, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biology and Biomedical Sciences, Synthese, and the National Science Foundation Grant Program.

Public talk, "Is There a War on Science?" Science and Society Discussion Series, Woodland, CA, October 2018.

Organized session, "Philosophers of Biology Engaging the Biosciences", annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Pacific Division, University of San Diego, CA, June 2016.

On-campus UC Davis presentation at joint meeting of the Philosophy Club, u-POW, and Minorities and Philosophy, "Reflecting on the effect of experience on one's philosophical views and philosophical life," February 2016.

On-campus UC Davis presentation to the Philosophy Club, "GMOs: Pro-labeling, Pro-values, Pro-science," November 2015.

Co-organized and moderated the "Animal Philosophy" forum, UC Davis Interdisciplinary Animal Studies Group, UC Davis, May 2014.

Co-organized the UC Davis workshop for the Genomics and Philosophy of Race Research Cluster, March 2014.

Member of the Philosophy of Biology at Madison (POBAM) 2014 Program Selection Committee.

Participant in the Diversity in Philosophy Conference and Site Visit Workshop, Dayton, OH, May 29-June 1, 2013.

Participant in the 2013 MBL-ASU History of Biology Seminar, “History of Sustainability Science,” Woods Hole, MA, May 15-22, 2013.

Roundtable member, “The Humanism Question: A Roundtable Discussion with Frans de Waal,” sponsored by UC Davis Interdisciplinary Animal Studies Group, University of California, Davis, April 2013.

Faculty respondent, “John Muir: the Writer, Scientist, and Public Figure,” a lecture by Kim Stanley Robinson, sponsored by the John Muir Institute of the Environment and the Science and Technology Studies Program, University of California, Davis, February 2013.

Discussant, “Species, the arbitrary constructs of biodiversity: why it matters and what to do about it,” Sawyer seminar on “Speciesism and the Future of Humanity: Biology, Culture, and Sociopolitics”, University of California, Berkeley, April 2012.

Faculty participant, “Biology in the Desert: A Graduate Student & Faculty Workshop in Biology Studies at Arizona State University,” February 2011.

Faculty participant, “Biology by the Sea: A Graduate Student & Faculty Workshop in Biology Studies at the University of California, San Diego,” January 2010.

Member of the Ethics Committee for the Center for Elders Independence (CEI), 2006-2009.

Panel Discussion Chair, “Intellectual and Structural Boundaries: HPS, STS, and SSP” at the Southwest Colloquium for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences (SCHPLS), Davis, CA, April 2006.

Participant in the 2005 Dibner-MBL History of Biology Seminar, “Cosmic Evolution and Astrobiology,” Woods Hole, MA, May 15-22, 2005.

Roundtable discussant, “Models,” at the Future Directions in the History, Philosophy, and Society Studies of Biology Workshop, San Francisco, CA, September 2004.

Participant in the 2004 Dibner-MBL History of Biology Seminar, “Perspectives on Molecular Evolution,” Woods Hole, MA, May 19-26, 2004.

Chair of colloquium, “Progress and Realism in Science,” at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association, San Francisco, CA, March 2003.

Colloquium organizer and chair, “Science, Pseudoscience, and Creationism,” presented by Phil Gasper, March 2003.

Colloquium organizer and chair, “Chance,” at the biennial meeting of the International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Hamden, CT, July 2001.