I am an Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Tufts University. I am also an affiliate member of the Black Hole Initiative (BHI) at Harvard University, and an associate member of the Lichtenberg Group for History and Philosophy of Physics at the University of Bonn.
My current research concerns the methodology and epistemology of large astrophysical experiments, especially those—including LIGO-Virgo and the EHT—that involve "observing" black holes. Much of my work concerns how models and simulations are embedded in experimental methods and what epistemic implications this has for making inferences about astrophysical target systems.
I am an active member of the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) Collaboration's History Philosophy and Culture (HPC) Working Group and a co-lead of it's Algorithms, Inference, and Visualization focus group (previously, I led the Foundations focus group, which holds a weekly seminar at the BHI). I am also a member of the ngEHT's Code of Conduct, Climate, and Conflict Resolution Task Force (3C Task Force).
I was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the BHI, and before that I was a Heinrich Hertz Fellow with the Lichtenberg Group at the University of Bonn. I completed my PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in the philosophy of physics and astrophysics. Before Notre Dame, I completed an MPhil in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and a BSc and BA(Hons) at the University of Canterbury.
Pronouns: they/them/theirs or she/her/hers
Contact me: jamee[dot]elder[at]tufts[dot]edu
My current research concerns the methodology and epistemology of large astrophysical experiments, especially those—including LIGO-Virgo and the EHT—that involve "observing" black holes. Much of my work concerns how models and simulations are embedded in experimental methods and what epistemic implications this has for making inferences about astrophysical target systems.
I am an active member of the Next Generation Event Horizon Telescope (ngEHT) Collaboration's History Philosophy and Culture (HPC) Working Group and a co-lead of it's Algorithms, Inference, and Visualization focus group (previously, I led the Foundations focus group, which holds a weekly seminar at the BHI). I am also a member of the ngEHT's Code of Conduct, Climate, and Conflict Resolution Task Force (3C Task Force).
I was previously a Postdoctoral Fellow at the BHI, and before that I was a Heinrich Hertz Fellow with the Lichtenberg Group at the University of Bonn. I completed my PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Notre Dame, specializing in the philosophy of physics and astrophysics. Before Notre Dame, I completed an MPhil in Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and a BSc and BA(Hons) at the University of Canterbury.
Pronouns: they/them/theirs or she/her/hers
Contact me: jamee[dot]elder[at]tufts[dot]edu