Shannon Sylvie Abelson Download C.V. here
Stanford University
McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
Doerr School of Sustainability
559 Nathan Abbott Way
Crown Building, 3rd Fl.
Stanford, CA 94305
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Current Affiliations
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Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University 2023-present
McCoy Center for Ethics in Society/
Doerr School for Sustainability
Associate Member, NANOGrav 2022-present
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Member, Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope 2023-present
History, Philosophy, and Culture Working Group
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Research Affiliate, Center for Space Governance 2023
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Education
PhD Philosophy Indiana University, Bloomington, 2023
Minor: History and Philosophy of Science
Graduate Certificate, Astronomy Swinburne University, 2021
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Master of Arts Philosophy Virginia Tech, 2015
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Bachelor of Arts Philosophy, German Stetson University, 2013
Magna Cum Laude
Minor in History
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AOS: Philosophy of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Space Environmentalism, Environmental Philosophy
AOC: Philosophy of Climate Science, General Philosophy of Science, Epistemology of Science
Publications
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Variety of Evidence in Multimessenger Astronomy (2022) Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
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Simulation and Experiment Revisited: The Importance of Temporal Data in Astronomical Simulation (2023). Philosophy of Astrophysics: Stars, Simulations, and the Struggle to Determine What is Out There, in Synthese Library - Studies in Epistemology, Logic, Methodology, and Philosophy of Science, Eds. Nora Boyd and Siska de Baerdemaeker)
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Awards and Grants:
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President’s Diversity Dissertation Fellowship 2021-2022
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Ewing Graduate Essay Prize 2021
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James B. Nelson Dissertation Fellowship 2019- 2020
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Bo and Lynn Clark Graduate Essay Prize 2017
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Academic Excellence Award, Indiana University 2016
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Phi Beta Kappa, National Academic Honor Society March 2014- present
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College of Arts and Sciences Fellowship, Indiana University Fall 2015- Spring 2016
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Marjorie Grene Prize in Philosophy, Virginia Tech 2015
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Ronald L. and Margaret Smith Hall Philosophy Award 2013
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Omicron Delta Kappa, National Leadership Honors Society 2013- present
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Presentations:
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American Philosophical Association- Pacific Division. March 20-23, 2024
Philosophy of Physics Society
Portland, OR
"Mechanistic Evidence and the NANOGrav 15-Year Dataset"
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10th Annual Space Traffic Management Conference February 27-28, 2024
Strauss Center, University of Texas, Austin
Austin, TX
"Quiet Skies and the Future of Satellite Constellations"
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Stanford University Political Theory Workshop October 6th, 2023
​ Stanford, CA
"Contractualism and Space Governance"​​
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9th Annual Space Traffic Management Conference March 1-2, 2023
University of Texas, Austin, Strauss Center
​"Attribution of Environmental Impact from Space Traffic: Challenges and
Lessons from Climate Change Attribution"
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PHEP 2022: Early Career Conference in Philosophy of March 26-27, 2022
Particle & High Energy Physics
Pittsburgh, PA
"Simulation and Experiment Revisted"
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der Deutschen Physikalischen Gesellschaft/ German March 21, 2022
Physical Society
AGPhil: Working Group in Philosophy of Physics
Heidelberg, Germany (online)
"Holistic Eliminative Reasoning for Astronomy and Astrophysics"
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Black Hole Initiative, Colloquium Series ​​ March 14, 2022
Harvard University, Boston, MA
"Eliminitive Reasoning in Astronomy and Astrophysics"
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2022 American Philosophical Association- Central Division February 23-26, 2022
Chicago, IL
"Simulation and Experiment Revisited: The Importance of Time in Astronomical Simulation"
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Indiana Philosophical Association November 13, 2021
“The Fate of Tensor-Vector-Scalar Alternative Gravity”
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Lichtenberg Group for History and Philosophy of Physics April 27, 2021
University of Bonn
“The Fate of Tensor-Vector-Scalar Alternative Gravity”
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2020/2021 Philosophy of Science Association Meeting November 2020/2021
Poster Forum, Baltimore, MD
“Reducing Uncertainty in Multimessenger Astronomy
Using Simulation”
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2020 Nelson Dissertation Fellowship Lecture September 18, 2020
Indiana University Bloomington
“Variety of Evidence in Multimessenger Astronomy”
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8th Integrated History and Philosophy of Science Conference (&HPS8)
Arlington, VA July 15-17, 2020
“Testing Modified Models of Gravity”
Moved to Asynchronous due to Covid-19
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Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, East Lansing, MI July 7-10, 2020
“Variety of Evidence in Multimessenger Astronomy”
Cancelled due to Covid-19
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American Association of Philosophy Teachers/ APA Central Meeting 2020
Teaching Hub Poster Forum February 28, 2020
“Teaching Climate Ethics Using a Model Climate Forum”
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IU History and Philosophy of Science Fall Forum
“Testing Modified Gravity Models” November 29, 2018
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History of Science Society Annual Meeting, Toronto, ON November 10, 2017
“Einstein And the Michelson-Morley Experiment:
The Context of Justification Revisited”
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Thirteenth Biennial History of Astronomy Workshop at Notre Dame July 8, 2017
“Explanation and Unification: A Closer Look at Aristotle’s
Astronomical Model”
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Arizona State University Graduate Philosophy Conference February 4, 2017
“Moritz Schlick on Confirmation, Observation, and Conceptual
Frameworks”
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Works in Progress​
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Eliminative Reasoning in Astronomy and Astrophysics (under review)
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Machine Learning for Data-Driven Astronomy (manuscript)
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Contractualism and Space Governance
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Mechanical Evidence and the NANOGrav 15-Year Dataset
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Why Space is an Environment
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All manuscripts available upon request.
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Professional Development and Professional Experience
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Representative, Philosophy Department Climate Committee 2021-2023
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Certificate, R Programming August 2020
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2020 Indiana Black Expo Education Conference July 14-16, 2020
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Referee, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics July 2019
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Chair, session on “Models in Science” November 5th, 2018
2019 Philosophy of Science Association Meeting
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Co-President, Virginia Tech Graduate Philosophy Club Fall 2014- Spring 2015
Planned and organized the department’s annual graduate conference.
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Commenter, Virginia Tech Graduate Conference on Pragmatism November 15th, 2014
Commentary given on “The Meaning Entitlement Connection
and the Problem of Slurs,” by Amanda McMullen.
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Philosophy Department Delegate
Virginia Tech Graduate Assembly Fall 2013- Spring 2014