Federica
Bocchi
Research
Welcome! On this page, you can find information about my research areas and a short version of my Curriculum Vitae.
The main questions I ask as a philosopher of science concern how biodiversity is measured, how conservation decisions are made, and how both are shaped by scientific, ethical, and political viewpoints. Conservation and environmental justice are the values underpinning my scholarship.
Much of my work begins with the assumption that numbers and measures not only describe the world but also influence what we pay attention to, what we choose to protect, and whose perspectives are included in environmental decision-making. I use philosophy to understand how biodiversity metrics, conservation assessments, and evidence synthesis are developed, and how they might be improved to support more equitable and socially responsible conservation.
Although I am trained as a philosopher of science, my work is inter- and transdisciplinary, and relies on Feminist and Decolonial methodologies. I regularly collaborate with ecologists, conservation practitioners, computer scientists, social scientists, artists, and policymakers, combining practice-oriented and socially relevant philosophical analysis with qualitative research and perspectives from science and technology studies.
My current projects focus on biodiversity measurement, environmental justice, Indigenous data sovereignty, evidence synthesis, conservation institutions, and scientific expertise. More broadly, I would describe my research as striving toward understanding how quantification can support both reliable knowledge and more virtuous science and governance.
For a detailed account of my academic work, please refer to my Curriculum Vitae or my Institutional profile.
Academic CV
Current Position
Assistant Professor,
Department of Philosophy
University of Calgary, CA
I have just joined the University of Calgary as an Assistant Professor (Research) in Transdisciplinary Environmental Ethics. This position is hosted by the Department of Philosophy and is associated with the newly established Center for Transdisciplinary Scholarship.
Previously...
2023 - 2026
Postdoctoral Researcher,
Section For History and Philosophy of Science
University of Copenhagen
This position was part of Joeri Witteveen's research project, "Tackling the conservationist's dilemma: Towards a pluralist philosophy of taxonomy for species conservation policy."
Education
2018-2023
Ph.D. in Philosophy
Boston University (USA)
My doctoral dissertation, titled "Philosophy of Biodiversity: Conceptual and Practical Issues in Measurement, Data, and Conservation" investigates ontological, epistemological, and methodological issues in measuring and conserving biodiversity. My supervisor was Prof. Alisa Bokulich, and my dissertation committee included Prof. Rachell Powell and Sabina Leonelli.
2013-2016
Master Degree in Philosophy
Università di Parma (Italy)
My Master Dissertation, supervised by Prof. Fabrizio Amerini, investigates old and new problems in philosophy of biology in connection with Aristotle's Corpus Biologicus. I focus especially on characterizing Aristole's notion of eidos and Aristotelian essentialism.
2010-2013
Bachelor Degree
Università di Parma
My Bachelor dissertation, titled "Mind-Body Identity: Necessity or Contingency?", supervised by Marco Santambrogio, investigates modality in the body-mind debate, critically analyzing the arguments developed by Saul Kripke and David Lewis.
Publications
Forthcoming
Bocchi, F., & Currie, A, "Ecologies of the Past"
Forthcoming in Routledge Handbook for Philosophy of Ecology
2025
Bocchi, F., "Turning Biodiversity Data into Evidence: The Role of Protocols in the Epistemology of Evidence-Based Conservation."
Forthcoming in BioSocieties
2024
Bocchi, F., “Biodiversity Skepticism and Measurement Practices.” Biology & Philosophy 39, no. 6 (2024): 34.
2024
2024
Bokulich A., Bocchi, F “Kuhn’s ‘5th Law of Thermodynamics’: Measurement, Data, and Anomalies” in Kuhn’s ‘The Structure of Scientific Revolutions’ at 60 edited by Brad Wray, Cambridge University Press
2025
(in Italian)
Bocchi, F., “Alla Ricerca di una Nuova Sensibilità Ambientale. Prospettive Ecofemmiste e Indigene” .
2023 [2025]
Bocchi, F., Bokulich, A., Castillo Brache, L., Grandpierre, G., Watkins, A., “Are We in a Sixth Mass Extinction? The Challenges of Answering and Value of Asking.” British Journal for Philosophy of Science
Featured in:
2022
Bocchi, F., “Biodiversity vs. Paleodiversity Measurements: the Incommensurability Problem.” European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 12:64, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194- 022-00494-6
Featured in:
2022
Bokulich, A., Bocchi, F., (2022) “Following the Steps to The Scientific Method” in ISIS, A Journal of the History of Science Society, Vol.113, No.1.
2020
Latest Conference Presentations
"Virtues and Trade-offs in Selecting Biodiversity Metrics within a Global Institutional Framework"
Second Biennial Conference of the Society for the Study of Measurement
(University of Edinburgh, June 24-25)
“Open Data and Biodiversity Conservation”
FOR - Future of Open Research
(Munich, May 4-6)
"Democratizing measurement for Environmental Justice"
WESTERN CANADIAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION - 61ST ANNUAL MEETING
(Edmonton, Oct. 17-9)
"Threatened Beasts and Where to Find Them"
European Philosophy of Science Association -10th biennial conference
(Groningen, Aug. 26-30)
"Relationship-building and the limits of participatory science"
Biennial meeting of the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology. With Emily Parke
(Porto, Jul. 20-5)
Latest Invited Presentations
“Co-evolution of Life & Environment From Paleobiology to Geobiology: Paleoecology"
Marine Biological Lab Seminar
(Woods Hole, May 2026)
“When no one's an expert: scientific expertise and wicked problems" Philosophy and History of Science Colloquium, TUM School of Social Sciences and Technology
(Technical University of Munich, May 7th 2026)
"Quantifying the Biodiversity Crisis: measurement and scaling issues”
ScaM workshop: on scale and measurement in the sciences
Centre for Philosophy and the Sciences, University of Oslo
“A Philosophical Framework for Evidence-Based Conservation”
The Evidence Synthesis Toolkit: Perspectives from Biology and Philosophy
(Bielefeld University, Oct. 7-8, 2024)
“Two Senses of 'Evidence' in Evidence-Based Conservation”
Workshop on Environmental Philosophy
(University of Bern, Feb. 29, 2024)
"Evidence in EB Conservation"
Interdisciplinary workshop "Taming Complexity in Ecology" - Hi Knowledge Initiative
(Bad Blankenburg) Feb 27-29, 2024
“Non Epistemic Considerations and Performance Metrics in Biodiversity Conservation”
Facing the Anthropocene: Interdisciplinary Approaches workshop
(Stanford University Jan. 31, 2024)
Research Honours and Awards
2023
Bloom Dissertation Fellowship
Boston University Graduate School of Arts Sciences
This competitive Research Fellowship is designed to provide summer funding to GRS doctoral students in the social sciences and the humanities, who will be in their final summer prior to graduating, enabling them to focus on completing their dissertation.
Link: https://www.bu.edu/philo/2023/02/14/graduate-students-marie-le-blevennec-and-federica-bocchi-awarded-bloom- dissertation-fellowships/
Edwin S. and Ruth M. White Prize
Boston University Center for the Humanities
This competitive merit-based award is granted to graduate students doing excellent work in the humanities.
Link: https://www.bu.edu/humanities/2023/04/20/2023-buch-student-awards-recipients/
Women’s Guild award
Boston University
This competitive merit-based award is granted to outstanding graduate students at Boston University who identify as female.
Link: https://www.bu.edu/womensguild/scholarships-awards/scholarship-winners/
Dissertation Funding Award
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Philosophy
This selective research award provides economic support to graduate students to enhance their dissertations and conduct field research.
2022
Abner Shimony Prize in Philosophy of Science for the project “Philosophy of Biodiversity and Conservation”
Department of Philosophy, Boston University
This research prize is awarded annually to one student for an exemplary project or paper on an important issue in the philosophy of science and/or environmental philosophy and demonstrates the interdisciplinary thinking necessary to solve complex socio-economic impacts on the environment.
Dissertation Funding Award
Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Philosophy
This selective research award provides economic support to graduate students to enhance their dissertations. I used this award to visit Sabina Leonelli's Research Group at the University of Exeter
2021
Boston University Grad. Organization Research Grant
Graduate Student Organization (GSO) (Boston University)
This competitive research award helps graduate students at Boston University to advance their dissertation writing. I used this award to visit Sabina Leonelli's Research Group at the University of Exeter.
2019
Peter Diamandopoulos Fellowships Fund in Hellenic Studies
Stata Chair in the Department of Philosophy, Boston University [ 2019 ]
This generous research award is meant for students interested in pursuing research in Ancient Philosophy. I used this award to attend a Summer semester at Harvard University in the Department of Classics.
Academic Teaching
Instructor of Philosophy
2024, 2025, & 2026
Philosophy of Biology (Biologisk videnskabsteori)
History and Philosophy of Science Section & Biology Department, University of Copenhagen
2022
Environmental Philosophy and Environmental Ethics
Department of Philosophy, Boston University
2021
Reasoning and Argumentation: Why Trust Science?
Department of Philosophy, Boston University