Lynn Chiu, PhD
philosophy, science, communications
I am a philosopher, a biologist, and a science communicator based in Vienna, Austria. In the past decade, I've worked in psychology, immunology, and evolutionary biology labs, publishing scientific work and public writings at the intersection of science and philosophy. As a philosopher-in-practice, my work is based on the principle that the philosophy, practice, and communication of science are all deeply intertwined components of science. Equipped with a philosopher's eye for logic and sensitivity towards nuance, my mission is to create and transfer interdisciplinary knowledge both within and beyond the scientific community.
I am on the editorial board of Philosophical Psychology and am currently serving on the APA non-academic careers committee.
Ongoing Projects
Public engagement of science at University of Vienna under INTERREG AT-CZ GJM200
As part of my current work in the philosophy of science communication, I am currently co-leading a history of science and public science engagement project at University of Vienna under the INTERREG AT-CZ project G. J. Mendel’s Legacy to Science, Culture, and Humanity. With Barbara Fischer, we created a scientific and science communication team to design three public-facing projects in collaboration with the brand new immersive science center "Deck 50" at the Natural History Museum of Vienna (NHM Wien), the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI), and the film director and science communicator Maria Pinto (of Sea & Me), respectively.
You can learn more about our programs here: mendel200-vienna.com.
Institutional science communication at the KLI
I am currently collaborating with the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research (KLI) as their Communications Consultant and Officer. My job is to develop communication products that can showcase the wide diversity of projects funded by the KLI-- A Home to Theory that Matters. These topics include conceptual work in the history and philosophy of the life sciences, empirical projects in medicine, bio-anthropology, cognitive science, and evolutionary developmental biology, and applied work in the sustainability sciences. I created a contact database to help the KLI diversify its recruitment and am carrying out communications strategies to maintain connections with the wider KLI community. These include the creation of the KLife Newsletter, the design and execution of strategic Twitter campaigns, and the creation of new content for the KLI website, e.g., essays, interviews, and reports.
You can learn more about my science communication work here.
Philosophy of the gut proto-mind with philosophers and scientists
My research is an extension of previous work with researchers at University of Bordeaux as well as the Explorers of Perception & Attention lab at National Taiwan University, Taiwan. With physiologist Jan-Pieter Konsman and a team of philosophers of biology and science, we are working on the "gut complex" as a source of proto-cognition. With psychologist Su-Ling Yeh and a team of philosophers of mind and psychology, we are working on developing the contours of a "psychology" of the gut proto-mind.
You can learn more about my research here.
