Gregor Halfmann

Department: Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology
Discipline: Sociology and Philosophy
Research Centre/Unit: Egenis, the Centre for the Study of Life Sciences

Project Summary

Working title: "Plankton, seafarers, scientists: A study of data practices in oceanography"

I study the epistemology of data in ocean sciences on the basis of ethnographic case studies in biological oceanography and marine biology. The main philosophical themes I address are concerned with understandings and epistemological implications of materiality, the creation and processing of scientific data as representations, the balance between long-term continuity and dynamics of data practices in environmental sciences, and the constitutive roles and epistemological contributions of non-scientists in ocean science.