On behalf of the Nominations Committee, welcome to the 2023 ISHPSSB elections of officers. Below you will find the slate of candidates for all officer roles, followed by their biographies and photos. In accordance with the Society’s by-laws, we solicited nominations from the membership at large. Those nominated by two or more members, or by the Nominations Committee, and who have expressed their willingness to serve now comprise the slate. Our sincere thanks to all who have agreed to be nominated.
The elections will be conducted electronically using a Qualtrics survey: All members actively subscribed on the Day of Record will be able to vote, during the month the ballots remain open. At the start of the balloting period, each will receive an email sent by Qualtrics in the name of the acting Past President, Gregory Radick; in that email is a unique link allowing that member to submit their votes (once), without needing their membership password. Please cast your vote by May 26th, and please do check your SPAM folder if you haven't received this email after the start of the elections!
Nominees
President-elect
Council
- W. Ford Doolittle
- Ageliki Lefkaditou
- Siobhan Guerrero McManus
- Pierre-Olivier Méthot
- Nicolas Rasmussen
- Ana Soto
Secretary
Treasurer
Program Co-Chairs
Nominee biographies
For President-elect:
Charbel Niño El-Hani
Charbel Niño El-Hani is a biologist with a doctoral degree in Education from the University of São Paulo (Brazil), who works with history and philosophy of biology and their intersections with biological education. He is Full Professor of History and Philosophy of Biology at the Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia (Brazil). His research covers the areas of philosophy of biology; history, philosophy, and biology teaching; ecology and conservation; and ethnobiology. He became an ISHPSSB member in 1997 and has served in the Education Committee (including as Co-Chair) and the Travel Advisory Committee, and has been Program Co-Chair of the 2017 Meeting. His view for ISHPSSB is that it continues to be as diverse, inviting and academically rich as it has always been. On a personal note, he is a keen nature traveller and birdwatcher, and has been engaged in the last four years with an educational project for providing people with more opportunities to engage in nature experiences.
Sabina Leonelli
Sabina Leonelli is a professor of philosophy and history of science and the director of the Centre for the Study of the Life Sciences (Egenis) at the University of Exeter (UK). Her research sits at the crossroad between philosophy, history and social studies of biology, including: the epistemology, history and governance of data-intensive research; modelling and integration across the biological, environmental and health sciences, including the use of model organisms and intersections with agriculture; and engagement with open science, diversity and inequity within research. Her work is intellectually and geographically hybrid: she was raised in Italy and Greece, studied in the UK and the Netherlands, held visiting positions in Belgium and Germany, and collaborate with researchers in Europe, USA, Brazil, Nigeria, Ghana and India. ISHPSSB has been 'home' since 2002, when she attended her first meeting in Vienna, and she is strongly committed to its continuing success in modelling transdisciplinary collaboration towards understanding and supporting life on our planet.
For Council (select up to three):
W. Ford Doolittle
W. Ford Doolittle attended Harvard (BA, 1963) and Stanford (PhD, 1969). After postdocs (Urbana and Denver), he took the job he still holds in the Biochemistry Department of Dalhousie University. In 2013 he received the Herzberg Gold Medal, Canada's top science prize, with an unrestricted million-dollar, five-year grant. Always most interested in the conceptual structure of his field, he has since employed eight postdoctoral fellows with PhDs in philosophy of biology, and published more than 30 papers and a book in that discipline: another book (Darwinizing Gaia) is in the works. He is cross-appointed in Dalhousie's Philosophy Department, on the editorial board of Biology and Philosophy, and has attended two ISHPSSB annual meetings. He also has a BFA in Photography from NSCAD University, and is a photographer.
Ageliki Lefkaditou
Ageliki Lefkaditou (Department of Community Medicine and Global Health, University of Oslo) is a historian of science working on the intersection between biological and human sciences after 1800. Her current research focuses on the history of intelligence testing, while she has previously studied the history of racial science. What she feels most passionate about is communicating academic work to broader publics as science museum curator and now as nature documentary producer. ISHPSSB was love at first sight from Vienna 2003. She has been involved in several committees (communications, education and site selection) and had the great pleasure of chairing the local organizing committee for the 2019 Oslo meeting. As a member of Council, she will work for strengthening transdisciplinary exchanges, diversity, accessibility, and our environmental profile.
Siobhan Guerrero McManus
Siobhan Guerrero McManus currently works as an Associate Professor at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Sciences and Humanities (CEIICH) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). She has a bachelor's degree in biology and holds a PhD in philosophy of science. Her areas of expertise are philosophy of biology (mechanisms and development), gender and science (with a focus on topics relevant for the transgender community) and epistemic injustices in the context of the Anthropocene. She is the author or coordinator of seven books, all of them in Spanish. Her first ISHPSSB was Exeter in 2007. Recently, she was part of the Membership Development Committee and the Programme Committee for Toronto's ISH.
Pierre-Olivier Méthot
Pierre-Olivier Méthot is a full professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at Laval University, where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Medical Humanities and History of Biological Thought. His research focuses on the history of disease ecology and on French philosophy of science in the twentieth century. Since 2021 he has served as an Associate Editor of History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences. In terms of past involvement with the ISHPSSB, he first attended the 2005 meeting in Guelph as a graduate student. He has since been a regular ISH attendee and served as a member of the Marjorie Grene and Werner Callebaut Prize Committee and of the Site Selection Committee. Pierre-Olivier would consider it an honor to serve as a Council Member of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology.
Nicolas Rasmussen
Nicolas Rasmussen has higher degrees in philosophy, history and philosophy of science, developmental biology, and public health. His research has dealt with the role of instrumentation in shaping scientific knowledge, molecular biology and its cultural and intellectual history, the history of drug abuse and pharmaceuticals in the United States since 1900, and the influence of industry sponsorship on biomedical research. Residing in Sydney, he has taught history of science for nearly 30 years and is currently co-Editor in Chief Journal of the History of Biology.
Ana Soto
Ana Soto is a theoretical and experimental biologist. She is a professor at Tufts University School of Medicine and a Fellow at the Centre Cavaillès, Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris (ENS). Her research interests include the control of cell proliferation, the developmental origins of adult disease, and theoretical and epistemological topics pertaining to biological autonomy and organization.
She is the recipient of several honors, including the Grand Vermeil Medal, the highest distinction from the City of Paris for her pioneering role in the discovery of endocrine disruptors. Since 2005 she has enthusiastically participated in the biennial ISHPSSB meetings and has served in the Program Committee. She looks forward to contributing to our Society goals as a Council Member.
For Secretary:
Lloyd Ackert
Lloyd Ackert's scholarly interests lie at the intersection of the history of microbiology, Russian and Soviet history, and the history of ecology, and are best represented by his scientific biography Sergei Winogradsky and the Cycle of Life (2012). He is currently investigating the life and work of Ruth Patrick, a limnologist and ecologist who made her career at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia from 1933-2000. He presented on this research at the ISH meeting Oslo, where he was inspired to teach courses on the urban microbiome. Over the past two years he has served as the ISH Listserve Moderator. His academic background includes degrees from the University of Minnesota (BA), Russian Academy of Sciences and Johns Hopkins University (PHD), Yale University (Post-doc), and Drexel University (2007 to present).
For Treasurer:
Don Opitz
Don Opitz is an historian of science with research interests in gender, sexuality, and biology in British imperial and postcolonial contexts. He is currently working on a book provisionally titled, Daughters of Ceres: The Scientific Advancement of Women in Horticulture, 1870–1920. He is Associate Professor and Director of Cannabis Studies at DePaul University, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
If re-elected as Treasurer, he would continue to partner in efforts to ensure the society remains a truly welcoming, inclusive, and international community, where interdisciplinary scholarship flourishes. In addition to number-crunching, he is excited to explore new ways to expand our sustainable practices, develop our membership, and grow the society's endowment.
For Program Co-chairs:
Kate MacCord
Kate MacCord is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the School of Life Sciences at Arizona State University and the Program Administrator of the McDonnell Initiative at the Marine Biological Laboratory where she also serves as the McDonnell Fellow. She specializes in the history and philosophy of biology, recently co-authored What is Regeneration? along with Jane Maienschein, and has an upcoming book with University of Chicago Press called How does Germline Regenerate?
Kate's first meeting in history and philosophy of science was the 2011 ISHPSSB in Salt Lake City. That meeting led her to a Fulbright in Finland and cemented for her the value of ISH as a hotbed of ideas and acceptance. Since then, Kate has run two ISH off-year workshops (2012 and 2018), and organized sessions for the Oslo and virtual meetings (2019, 2021).
and
Charles Pence
Charles H. Pence is Chargé de cours at the Université catholique de Louvain, in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, where he directs the Center for Philosophy of Science and Societies (CEFISES). He also serves as a co-editor of the journal Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology (PTPBio). His work centers on the philosophy and history of biology, with a focus on the introduction and contemporary use of chance and statistics in evolutionary theory. His lab is also one of the foremost groups integrating this work with methods of the digital humanities, and they are increasingly engaged in the ethical implications of biological science and technology. ISHPSSB has long been his professional home since his first meeting as a graduate student in Brisbane, and in the past he's served on both the Program Committee and the Off-Year Workshop Committee. He's thrilled to have the chance to help build another iteration of the best conference in the field!