I am a historian and philosopher of science interested in a whole bunch of topics at the intersection of the earth and life sciences. Some of the things that get me up in the morning are: problematic fossils, obsolete tectonic theories, Stephen Jay Gould, nineteenth century America geology, "uniformitarianism," and studies of early animal evolution. Dislikes include snobbishness, the word "curated," and academic publishing companies.

Currently, I am a Visiting Assistant Professor at St. Olaf College (Environmental Studies) and a fellow at the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science. I also manage Extinct, the philosophy of paleontology blog, and write for the SPSP newsletter.

The artwork was created by Yoshinari Yoshida for the Extinct blog. If you don't get the gag, the things in my hand are crinoids (marine invertebrates known as "sea lilies").