Dr. Teresa Y. Branch-Smith

Dr. Teresa Y. Branch-Smith
Address
Lange Laube 32
30159 Hannover
Building
Room
114
Address
Lange Laube 32
30159 Hannover
Building
Room
114
Position
Research Staff
Institute of Philosophy

Profile

Teresa Y. Branch-Smith, who publishes her academic works under 'T.Y. Branch', is a philosopher of science. She has studied biochemistry, the history and philosophy of science, and science communication. She completed her studies in Canada at the University of Ottawa, the University of Toronto, Laurentian University, and the University of Waterloo, where she obtained her PhD under the supervision of Heather Douglas. Her dissertation was titled 'Contextualizing Science for Value-Conscious Communication. The role of values in science and the impact they have on how science is communicated to non-experts is her area of interest.

Prior to being recruited to Leibniz Universität Hannover as the permanent postdoc of the SOCRATES project, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Cologne Center for Contemporary Epistemology and the Kantian Tradition (CONCEPT) working on "Moral obligation, epistemology and public health: the case of vaccine hesitancy”.  Before this she was a postdoctoral researcher at Institut Jean Nicod, for the EU Horizon 2020 project: Policy, Expertise and Trust in Action (PEriTiA).

 

Main Areas of Research and Teaching

  • Values in science
  • Science communication
  • Publications
    2022

    Branch, T.Y. & G. M. Duché (2022) Affective Labor in Integrative STS Research. Science, Technology, & Human Values. doi.org/10.1177/01622439221143804. [Open Access]

    2022

    Branch, T.Y. (2022) “Enhanced Epistemic Trust and The Value-Free Ideal as a Social Indicator of Trust.” Social Epistemology 36 (5): doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2022.2114114. [Open Access]

    2022

    Branch, T.Y. and Gloria Origgi (2022) “Social Indicators of Trust in the Age of Informational Chaos.” Social Epistemology 36(5): doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2022.2121622. [Free Access]

    2022

    Gundersen, Torbjørn, Donya Alinejad, T.Y. Branch, Bobby Duffy, Kirstie Hewlett, Cathrine Holst, Susan Owens, Folco Panizza, Silje Maria Tellmann, José van Dijck and Maria Baghramian (2022) A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 47:1. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909. [Open Access]

    2022

    Branch, T.Y., Gloria Origgi and Tiffany Morisseau (2022) Why Trust Raoult? How Social Indicators Inform the Reputations of Experts. Social Epistemology 36:3, 299-316. doi.org/10.1080/02691728.2022.2042421.

    2021

    Morisseau T., T.Y. Branch and Gloria Origgi (2021) Stakes of Knowing the Truth: A Motivational Perspective on the Popularity of a Controversial Scientific Theory. Front. Psychol 12:708751. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.708751. [Free Access]

     

  • Short CV
    since 2023

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    Leibniz University Hannover, DFG-funded Center for Advanced Studies

    Social Credibility and Trustworthiness of Expert Knowledge and Science-Based Information (SOCRATES)

    2022-2023

    Postdoctoral Fellow

    Universität zu Köln, Philosophisches Seminar

    Cologne Center for Contemporary Epistemology and the Kantian Tradition (CONCEPT)

    2020-2022

    Postdoctoral Researcher

    Institut Jean Nicod, DEC, Ecole Normale Supérieure - PSL

    EU Horizon 2020 project: Policy, Expertise and Trust in Action (PERITIA)

    2019

    Ph.D. in Philosophy (under full name: Teresa Yolande Branch-Smith)

    Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Canada

    “Contextualizing Science for Value-Conscious Communication”

    2018

    Graduate Certificate in University Teaching

    Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo, Canada

    “Creating Inclusive Classrooms amidst Discriminatory Content”

    2014

    M.A. in Philosophy

    Department of Philosophy, University of Waterloo, Canada

    “Reducing an Emergence of the Gaps: Computation for Weak Emergence”

    2013

    Graduate Diploma in Science Communication

    Graduate Studies, Laurentian University, Canada

    “Examining Factual Science on a Fictitious Frontier: A Qualitative Exploration of Science Content in the Videogame Mass Effect”

    2012

    M.A. in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Canada

    Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Toronto

    2010

    B.Sc. in Biochemistry, Honours. Specialization. Minor in Psychology

    Biochemistry Department, University of Ottawa, Canada