I am currently focused on three main case studies:
1) The controversy of the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, a sacred mountain in Hawaii. My current research examines the role notions of scientific objectivity played in the debate, as well as the attempts at inclusion or to democratize the decision-making process in this case.
2) Late 20th century and early 21st century literature on Buddhism and the cognitive sciences. I examine the arguments presented in this literature which attempt to demonstrate that Buddhism and the cognitive sciences are compatible and that Buddhism might help create revolutionary breakthroughs in our understanding of consciousness. I argue that one of the reasons why this literature has died out and also failed to synthesize Buddhism and the cognitive sciences is due to an underlying monist conception of knowledge. I further argue that a pluralist conception of knowledge provides a better framework to allow for productive interactions between knowledge systems like Buddhism and the cognitive sciences.
3) A group of Christian Reconstructionists based in the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. from the late 1970’s to the present, which is often classified as a science denialist group due to its rejection of evolution and climate change, its belief that the earth is less than 6,000 years old, and its anti-mask and anti-vax position during the 2020 pandemic. This group has its own, quickly expanding, education movement, with over 532 affiliated K-12 schools. My research centers around understanding the various factors in their rejection of these portions of the scientific consensus by examining the vast output of literature from this group on their beliefs around science, as well as the science curriculum they have published through their own publishing house. I am currently looking at this group's use of epistemic values, like consistency and empirical adequacy. Additionally, I am focusing on this group's distrust of social epistemology and how that factors into their skepticism of the consensus of the scientific community.