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alisabokulich.bsky.social
Might need to organize a #PhiGeo Research Group field trip to see this talk at Harvard (& online) :
"Time’s Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, & a New Law of Nature”
Robert M. Hazen (Carnegie Science’s Earth & Planets Lab)
November 3, 2026 at 6:00 pm ET
hmsc.harvard.edu/calendar_eve...
#philsci ⚒️
Time’s Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature – Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
hmsc.harvard.edu
October 30, 2026 at 2:09 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Philosophy of Geosciences Interest Group Lunch at the upcoming Philosophy of Science Association meeting in San Diego #PSA26 on Nov 20th. Sign up here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
#PhiGeo #PhilSci
PSA 2026 Interest Group Lunches - Attendee
Please fill out this form if you are interested in attending an Interest Group Lunch.THE PSA IS NOT SUBSIDIZING THE MEALS, but simply helping to facilitate their organization. Each attendee at the mea...
docs.google.com
October 31, 2026 at 5:11 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Great work coming out from my former PhD student now TT faculty at U Calgary & #PhiGeo member @federicabocchi.bsky.social 💫
philsci-archive.bsky.social PhilSci-Archive @philsci-archive.bsky.social · 26d
New on the Archive:

Bocchi, Federica (2026) Operationalizing the CARE Principles in evidence synthesis1 for ecology, biodiversity science, and conservation. [Preprint]

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/31257/
October 9, 2026 at 6:58 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
I had a wonderful bus ride back from a geochron conference w/ Becky Flowers talking about Great Unconformity & her cool thermochronology work. I'm including discussion of it in my phigeo book (missing time & learning to measure what isnt there). I should plan a trip to see some of these GU sites!
September 30, 2026 at 5:54 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Got everyone #PhiGeo logo pint glasses in cute gift bags
A pint glass with custom decal & a geology-themed gift bag.
September 19, 2026 at 3:48 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Beautiful night for backyard #PhiGeo dinner party to celebrate Matt's successful dissert defense, welcome 2 new Phi-Geo 1st yrs Chloe Cobos & Arica Bauer, catch up w/ senior Phi-Geo members @kailynasmith.bsky.social & @leticiacastillo.bsky.social & welcome visiting hist geoscience grad Nanina Föhr
A long dinner table with blue & white checkered table & candles & a dozen people seated around. A long dinner table with blue & white checkered table & candles blue & a dozen people seated around from other end.
September 19, 2026 at 3:29 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
It's a traditionally neglected, but now rapidly growing, subfield of philosophy of science. I am currently writing a book on the philosophy of the geosciences that gives introduction, but in meantime I can recommend this survey paper by two members of my #PhiGeo research group
What is Philosophy of the Geosciences?
The philosophy of the geosciences is an emerging subfield in philosophy of science. Although past and present geoscientific disciplines differ substantially, we argue that they frequently face common...
compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
September 9, 2026 at 8:58 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Wooohooooo!!!! 🎉👩🏻‍🎓 So proud of all the amazing things you've accomplished hereat BU--it's truly been an honor to be your advisor & have you a part of our PhiGeo research group. Wishing you a wonderful next chapter in your academic adventure!!! 🌟💫
August 31, 2026 at 6:09 PM
miguelohn.bsky.social
#phigeo #phisci #histsci
March 4, 2025 at 4:59 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
After a year+ under review (no fault of @philscijournal.bsky.social) I am happy to finally share as forthc my paper "Peirce, Abduction, & Inverse Problems in the Geosciences"
doi.org/10.1017/psa....
(2/3 had to be cut to fit word limit, but is part of my ever in-progress book)
#HPS #phigeo #philsky
DOI: 10.1017/psa.2026.10263 This is a manuscript accepted for publication in Philosophy of Science. This version may be subject to change during the production process. Peirce, Abduction, and Inverse Problems in the Geosciences Alisa Bokulich Department of Philosophy, Boston University, Email: abokulic@bu.edu Abstract Charles Peirce's most well-known contribution to logic and scientific methodology is his account of abduction. However, what exactly Peirce meant by abduction is subject to perennial dispute. My aim in this paper is two-fold: First, I interpret Peirce's abduction through the lens of his research in geophysics and argue this supports interpreting it as a kind of inverse modeling. Second, I show that the methods Peirce outlined for managing the underdetermination of abductive inferences are the same as those deployed by geoscientists to manage the nonuniqueness of geophysical inversions. I conclude by emphasizing the value of reintegrating Peirce-the-Philosopher with Peirce-the-Geoscientist. Acknowledgement This paper is dedicated to the memory of George E. Smith (1938-2024)—a wonderful scholar, mentor, and friend whom we lost too soon. It was George's lecture on using seismology to probe the interior of the Earth that helped open up the new subfield of philosophy of seismology and that first inspired me to write this paper.
July 23, 2026 at 12:37 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
I am trying to cut down on my travel, so sorry to miss #SPSP as well this year (#HPS has so many valuable conferences!!), but happy @matildecarrera.bsky.social & @mattbrewer.bsky.social are there from our #PhiGeo research group--check out their awesome talks tomorrow 👇
Thursday 16 July 4B. Symposium: "Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Human Population Genetics" (Cormack Room, University Centre) Chair: Hannah Allen Celso Neto (symposium organizer), Signal and noise in human population genetics Yasmin Haddad, Adequacy-for-purpose and ancestry inference Matilde Carrera, Underdetermination in demographic inferences: The case of parameter unidentifiability Thursday 16 July 4G. Symposium: "Paleosciences Beyond Earth: Evidence, Narrative, and (the Limits of) Analogy" (Seminar Room 2, HPS Department) Chair: Matthew Lund Franziska Reinhard (symposium organizer), Martian-Leopard Spots, Iteration, and One-Shot Science Siyu Yao, From Hot Jupiter to Jupiter: Narratives, Knowledge-How, and Exoplanetary Science as Epistemic Resource Matthew Brewer, Classification, Analogical Reasoning, and Uniformitarian Assumptions in Planetary Science
July 15, 2026 at 12:34 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Great to see 2 of my former PhD students @federicabocchi.bsky.social & Katherine Valde here at MBL doing a brilliant job. #PhiGeo #philsci
3 women on blue sky day in front of a sun dial tower by the sea
May 16, 2026 at 2:47 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Happy International Geodiversity Day! ⚒️ 🧪 #PhiGeo

@geodiversityday.bsky.social

youtu.be/LtFzkDMsYtI?...

www.geodiversityday.org/what-is-geod...
Geodiversity: Biodiversity's Silent Partner
YouTube video by Oxford Geoheritage Virtual Conference
youtu.be
October 6, 2025 at 1:22 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Congratulations to @matildecarrera.bsky.social on her superb defense today of a fantastic dissertation prospectus! She is now officially ABD! 🎉
#philsci #phigeo
A woman smiling in front of ppt screen that reads "Philosophy of Paleoanthropology Data, Underdetermination and Evidence about Past Human Populations Prospectus Defense Matilde Carrera BU PHILOSOPHY OF THE GEOSCIENCES RESEARCH GROUP
August 7, 2025 at 8:37 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Join me TODAY at 5pm (*earlier time than orig schedule) for my talk
"Reconstructing Extinct Life: Analogues, Homologues, &
Biomechanical Models"
#ISHPSSB2025 #PhiGeo
#HPS ⚒️ #paleosky #paleobio
PPT slide photo of fossil tetrapod, reconstructed "real tetrapod, & biomechanical model tetrapod. Text reads: ISHPSSB Porto, Portugal 23 July 2025 Reconstructing Extinct Life: Analogues, Homologues, & Biomechanical Models BU PHILOSOPHY OF THE GEOSCIENCES RESEARCH GROUP ALISA BOKULICH PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT BOSTON UNIVERSITY
July 23, 2025 at 10:38 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
#phigeo #time
joycechaplin.bsky.social Joyce Chaplin @joycechaplin.bsky.social · Jul 22
You may not have noticed, but today is the second shortest day in history—if we get many more days like this, by 2029, atomic clocks may have to register a negative leap second www.space.com/astronomy/ea...
Earth will spin faster today to create 2nd-shortest day in history
Our planet has been rotating at its fastest since records began in 1973.
www.space.com
July 22, 2025 at 8:20 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Great talk by our #PhiGeo member @matildecarrera.bsky.social on "Ancestry & Populations: Clarifying concepts for inferences about human demographic histories" at @ishpssb2025.bsky.social
#philsci #ISHPSSB2025
ANCESTRY AND POPULATIONS Clarifying concepts for inferences about human demographic histories ROADMAP OF THE TALK 01 Latest developments about human origins (focus on genetic models) 02 Ancestry and Populations: scientific concepts and philosophical focus 03 Taxonomy of populations concepts 04 Application of the taxonomy CONCLUSIONS Concepts and research practices: "Ancestry" and "populations" need to be clearly defined. Expanding the philosophical analysis: A taxonomy of different population concepts in the modelling stages of population genetics Possible applications: model misspecification, model equifinality and ethical issues when inferring ancestry and population histories
July 21, 2025 at 3:04 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Excited to be heading to the International Society for the History, Philosophy, & Social Studies of Biology (aka ISH) conference in Porto (my 1st!). Check out the great program & these talks by members of our #PhiGeo research group ⬇️ #HPS #ISHPSSB2025

ishpssb2025.icbas.up.pt/wp-content/u...
Phi-Geo at ISH Porto Matilde Carrera Boston University, USA Defining Ancestry: Conceptual Clarity to Minimize Harms [Virtual] Organized: Conceptual Challenges in the Field of Human Evolution, 14:30-16:00 Monday, 21 July, 2025 Conceptual Challenges in the Field of Human Evolution Organized: Conceptual Challenges in the Field of Human Evolution, 14:30-16:00 Monday, 21 July, 2025 Federica Bocchi University of Copenhagen, Denmark Relationship-Building and the Limits of Participatory Science Organized: Participation in Conservation in Postcolonial and Settler Colonial Contexts — Session 1, 14:30-16:00 Monday, 21 July, 2025Organized: Participation in Conservation in Postcolonial and Settler Colonial Contexts — Session 2, 16:30-18:00 Monday, 21 July, 2025 Matthew Brewer Boston University, USA Classification, Uniqueness, and Analogical Reasoning: Lessons from Biology and Geology [Virtual] Individual: Classification, 11:00-12:30 Tuesday, 22 July. 2025 Aja Watkins University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA Criteria for Soil Classification Organized: How Does Dirt Become Soil? Categorizations of Soil in the Agricultural Sciences — Session 1. 14:30-16:00 Wednesday, 23 July, 2025Organized: How Does Dirt Become Soil? Categorizations of Soil in the Agricultural Sciences — Session 2, 16:30-18:00 Wednesday, 23 July, 2025 Alisa Bokulich Boston University, USA Reconstructing, Extinct Life: Analogues, Homologues, & Biomechanical Models Organized: Evolutionary Reconstruction and Explanation, 16:30-18:00 Wednesday, 23 July. 2025
July 19, 2025 at 4:44 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Special issue on Philosophy of Historical sciences!
Send ~500 word abstract to charles.pence@uclouvain.be & daniel.swaim@marquette.edu, by Oct 1, 2025. Authors will be contacted about their abstracts by January 1, 2026. Finished drafts of papers submitted by (flexibly) July 1, 2026. #phigeo #philsci
adrian-currie.bsky.social Adrian Currie @adrian-currie.bsky.social · Jul 9
Oooo Charles Pence & Daniel Swaim are putting together a special issue on the philosophy of the historical sciences (and you can publish in French!).

pencelab.be/en/events/rp...

#philsci
Call for Papers: Recent Work in the Philosophy of the Historical Sciences
pencelab.be
July 9, 2025 at 8:24 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
"the foundational concept of "geodiversity" defined as “the natural range of geological (rocks, minerals, fossils), geomorphological (landforms, topography, physical processes), soil & hydrological features. It includes their assemblages, structures, systems & contributions to landscapes” #phigeo
July 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Congratulations to #phigeo member Sarah Black on a fabulous defense of her @buearth.bsky.social PhD dissertation!!! 🎉🎉🎉 (Sarah was my undergrad student in Philosophy before returning to BU for grad school in Earth Sciences.) ⚒️
Powerpoint slide presentation with Sarah on right & slide with a historic map of Boston Harbor Islands & text "Past, Present, and Future Shoreline Change along a Paraglacial New England Coast Sarah Black PhD Defense 12 June 2025" Sarah & her slide Southern extent and chronology for the New England Laurentide Ice Sheet. Be- 10 Exposuro Ago C-14 (Bulk Sediment) C-14 (Macrofossils) - Varve chronologies Elevation (m) 1917 14.000 ут 8.P. Maine 14,500 yr B.P. New Hampshire New York Massachusetts. RI LGM Margin (Halsted et a (Kotef Sarah's acknowledgement slide where she sweetly included the Phi-Geo Research Group. 💕
June 12, 2025 at 3:34 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Castillo Brache @leticiacastillo.bsky.social on successfully defending her PhD dissertation this morning!!! Woo-hoo!!! 🙌🎓🌟 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Thank you to Profs. Samia Hesni, @rachelankeny.bsky.social, & @miguelohn.bsky.social for serving on her committee 🙏
#philsci #phigeo
Leticia smiling & giving brief overview of dissertation. Slide says Boston University | April 2025 HIDDEN NARRATIVES IN GEOSCIENTIFIC RESEARCH: TOWARD DEVELOPING MORE ETHICAL SCIENTIFIC PRACTICES Leticia A. Castillo Brache Dissertation Defense Alisa & Leticia smiling at successful conclusion of defense with a vase flowers & zoom screen with some remote audience & committee members.
April 7, 2025 at 5:40 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
This Friday Phi-Geo grad @leticiacastillo.bsky.social will be giving an invited lecture at Tufts University on "Hidden Narratives in Paleontology: Toward Ethical & Inclusive Practices". #philsci #STS #PhiGeo #philsky ⚒️
Leticia smiling in front of a museum didplay STS LUNCH SEMINAR Spring 2025, Fridays 12-1:15pm EST Science, Technology, and Society - Lunch Seminar Spring 2025 Schedule
March 31, 2025 at 10:32 AM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
A wonderful #HistGeo talk today by global historian Ben Goosen on "Inventing Earth: A New History of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year" followed by a lunch with him & our #PhiGeo reaearch group. #histsci
A man in board room with wood paneling giving a talk next to a screen with slide saying "Project Planet". Photo of Ben next to following text: Pardee Research Seminar Series WITH: Ben Goossen Assistant Professor of International History, Pardee School of Global Studies Inventing Earth: A New History of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year Knowledge of planet Earth as a set of interconnected environmental systems is fundamental to present-day efforts to address global environmental challenges, including climate change. Among the most consequential projects in the history of Earth science was the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY), a crash program to study the planet through worldwide collaboration. In the midst of the Cold War and global decolonization, tens of thousands of scientists and citizen volunteers from East and West, North and South, crossed political and ideological lines for the IGY. What they discovered shapes much of what we know about our common planetary home today. March 24, 2025 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM 121 Bay State Road Register here BU Boston University Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies
March 24, 2025 at 7:38 PM
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Apply to join us for this great workshop on philosophy & history of #geophysics at the Royal Institution London!
#phigeo #HPGeo #HPS ⚒️
miguelohn.bsky.social Miguel Ohnesorge @miguelohn.bsky.social · Mar 4
*3 days left* to apply for workshop on philosophy and history of geophysics at Royal Institution London on 12 May, featuring the fantastic @naomioreskes.bsky.social @alisabokulich.bsky.social @terumiyake.bsky.social & @geocosmohistory.bsky.social. For more info & application: shorturl.at/Lq9TX
March 4, 2025 at 4:57 PM