Why do we care about biodiversity? What the heck is philosophy of science? What wisdom can it bestow on today’s most pressing global challenges, like the climate crisis and beyond? And how can it transform decision making at the intersection of science, society and policy?

This Earth Day, RCIScience sits down with Dr. Aleta Quinn, a history and philosophy of science researcher focussing on biodiversity and citizen science, to ask your questions about how we perceive science as a society. 

About the Speaker

Aleta Quinn, Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Science and Society, researches the relationships among science, social values, and objectivity. Views that separate the domains of science from social policy and social values are no longer tenable. New understandings are needed to clarify the ways in which value-questions relate to scientific questions. In particular, Quinn’s research focuses on the sciences that concern biodiversity, and on distinct forms of citizen science.