History and Philosophy of Science

Jason Byron

University of Pittsburgh, 2006-present.

• Ph.D. student, History and Philosophy of Science, candidacy expected 2011.
• Dissertation: Making Sense of Microbial Evolution (in progress)
• Advisors: Kenneth Schaffner and James Lennox


• M.A., Bioethics, expected 2011.
• Thesis: Deciding for Infants: Parental Authority, Children's Interests, and Health Need for Disorders of Sexual Development
• Advisor: Lisa Parker


• M.A., History and Philosophy of Science, 2010.

Harvard University, 2008-2009.

• Visiting Fellow, Philosophy & Program in Ethics and Health.

University of Maryland.

• B.A. (Honors), Philosophy, 2004.
• Thesis: Speciation and Natural Selection: Does Darwin's Theory Explain the Origin of Species?
• Advisor: Lindley Darden.

Honors & Awards

• (2007): Whence Philosophy of Biology? British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 58, pp. 409-22. [pdf reprint] [supplemental material]


• (2006): Genetic Signatures of Intermediate Divergence: Population History of Old and New World Holarctic Ravens (Corvus corax) (with Kevin Omland and Jeff Peters), Molecular Ecology, 15, pp. 795-808. [pdf reprint]


• (2006): Canary Island Ravens (Corvus corax tingitanus) have Distinct mtDNA (with Kevin Omland), Ibis, 148, pp. 174-8. [pdf reprint]


• (2005): Sociobiology (with Harmon Holcomb), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward Zalta. [revisions currently in prep.]


• (2005): Adaptive Speciation: The Role of Natural Selection in Mechanisms of Geographic and Non-Geographic Speciation, Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 36, pp. 303-26. [pdf reprint]


• (2004): Recent Speciation between the Baltimore Oriole and the Black-Backed Oriole (with Kevin Omland and Beatrice Kondo), Condor, 106, pp. 674-80. [pdf reprint]


• (2003): Recent Speciation in the Orchard Oriole Group: Divergence of Icterus spurius spurius and Icterus spurius fuertesi (with Kevin Omland and others), Auk, 120, pp. 848-59. [pdf reprint] [“press” coverage: Birding]

Please Note: My surname changed from Baker to Byron in August 2006; publications prior to that date appear with my old name.

Other Publications

• (2011): "Modeling Bacterial Evolution," International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (University of Utah), 12 July.


• (2010): "Determining Health Needs for Children with Disorders of Sexual Development," Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, 10 May.


• (2009): "Phalloplastic Surgery and Health Need," Association for Practical and Professional Ethics (Cincinnati), 6 March.


• (2009): "Sciences of Sex in Interwar Europe: Contesting Nature-State Relations and Boundaries," International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (Brisbane, Australia), 15 July 2009.


• (2008): "Holism in Early Sexology: Biological and Philosophical Contexts," History of Science Society (Pittsburgh), 6-9 November.


• (2008): "Adaptation and Species Selection," Adaptations in Psychology and in Biology (Institut d'Histoire et de Philosophie des Sciences et Techniques, Paris), 4-5 June.


• (2007): "Holistic Medicine and the Rise of Sexology in the Weimar Republic," International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (University of Exeter, UK), 25-29 July.


• (2006): "The Place of Biology in Early Philosophy of Science: Pluralism, Unity, and Disciplinary Fragmentation," International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris), 14-18 June.


• (2005): "Historical and Mechanistic Species Concepts and the Goals of Biological Classification," International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology (Guelph University, Guelph, ON), 13-17 July


• (2004): Poster Presentation, North American Ornithological Conference (Universite Laval, Quebec, PQ), 16-21 August.


• (2003): Poster Presentation, North American Ornithological Conference (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), 6-9 August.


• (2003): Poster Presentation, Maryland Ornithological Society (William F. Bolger Center, Potomac, MD), 24-26 May.


• (2002): Poster Presentation, North American Ornithological Conference (Tulane University, New Orleans), 24-28 September.


• (2002): "Recent Speciation and Reciprocal Monophyly: Lessons from New World Orioles," Society for the Study of Evolution (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign), 29 June-2 July.


• (2002): Poster Presentation, Evolution: Understanding Life on Earth (American Institute of Biological Sciences, Arlington, VA), 22-24 March.


• (2002): Poster Presentation, Birds of Two Worlds (National Conservation Training Center, Shepherdstown, WV), 6-9 March.


• (2001): Poster Presentation, North American Ornithological Conference (University of Washington, Seattle), 15-18 August.

Professional Service

• Instructor, Principles of Scientific Reasoning, Fall 2011. [self-designed course]


• Teaching Assistant (for Paolo Palmieri), Magic, Medicine, and Science, Spring 2010. [four discussion sections]


• Teaching Assistant (for Sandra Mitchell), Morality and Medicine, Fall 2009. [four discussion sections]


• Instructor, Introduction to Scientific Reasoning, Spring 2006. [self-designed course]


• Teaching Assistant (for Sander Gliboff), Evolution, Religion, and Society, Fall 2005. [two discussion sections]

Clinical Experience