Kinley Gillette
PhD candidate
Department of Philosophy + STS
The University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver
xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Territory
About
I’m a PhD candidate in Philosophy, with a designated research specialization in Science and Technology Studies (STS), at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, where I’m also a Graduate Fellow in Applied Ethics at the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics.
Research
I work at the intersection of the social epistemology of science and political theory — that is, political epistemology. In other words, I study the science-politics relationship.
I focus on the following questions in particular:
- Can non-experts feasibly hold expert authorities democratically accountable without undermining the social-epistemic benefits of expert authorization?
- Are there apolitical means to depoliticize science?
I aim to address these questions primarily in the context of biodiversity conservation, where high-stakes political conflicts over the authority of science are widespread.
Beyond research
In my spare time, I enjoy bitter things, like amari, coffee, and dark chocolate.