Michigan State University Archives

Robert Pennock

Dr. Robert Pennock is University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University where he is on the faculty of Lyman Briggs College, the departments of philosophy, computer science, and engineering, and the ecology, evolution, and behavior program. He received a BA with honors in philosophy and biology from Earlham College in 1980 and a PhD in history and philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1991. His research involves both empirical and philosophical questions that relate to evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and the scientific character virtues. He was an expert witness in the Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board intelligent design creationism case. He also develops software to help students learn about evolution and the nature of science using digital organisms. He is a co-founder of BEACON, an NSF Center for the Study of Evolution in Action, and he also directs the Vocational Virtues Project. He is the principal investigator (PI) of the VERITIES Initiative, which aims to implement a virtue-based approach to RCR (responsible conduct of research) training at scale; he is also the PI of the largest national study of the scientific ethical mindset. Dr. Pennock is a senior fellow and a past president of Sigma Xi and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His book Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. His latest book is An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and the Moral Structure of Science.

In his Fulbright-Nehru project, Dr. Pennock is conducting a small-scale replication of his sociological/philosophical study of scientists’ views about the character virtues that are important for scientific research. These data will help gain an understanding about the scientific mindset and what scientific values are shared across cultures. Aspects of this idea of the scientific mindset were anticipated by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru’s notion of “scientific temper” and this project is exploring that connection philosophically and empirically. He is also giving talks and leading workshops on scientific virtue and responsible conduct of research for graduate students and faculty.

Phanikumar Mantha

Dr. Phanikumar Mantha is a professor of civil and environmental engineering (College of Engineering) and professor of MSU AgBioResearch (College of Agriculture & Natural Resources) at Michigan State University (MSU), East Lansing. He obtained his PhD in engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and worked as a scientist at the National Aerospace Laboratories, Bengaluru, where he developed models of estuarine and coastal ocean processes and received the Sir C.V. Raman Young Scientist Award for his work in 1996. His research interests encompass the scientific, technical, societal, and policy aspects of water involving water quantity, water quality, public health, and water–energy–food systems. As a faculty member at MSU for over 25 years, he has worked with students and colleagues to address societally relevant water issues. Examples include: the development of process-based, coupled, physical–chemical–biological models and their applications to understand and predict coastal water quality in the Great Lakes region of North America; quantifying the effects of droughts on crop yields in Kenya and in Cambodia in the Mekong River Basin; and integrated hydrologic modeling of watersheds in the U.S. and UK. He has published in journals like JGR Oceans, Limnology and Oceanography, Water Resources Research, and Journal of Hydrology. Prof. Mantha was also a Lilly Teaching Fellow at MSU.

Prof. Mantha’s research is funded by grants from agencies like the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the United States Department of the Interior. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the International Association for Great Lakes Research and a fellow of the Geological Society of America.

The ecological products and services of India’s coastal environments are increasingly being impacted by harmful algal blooms (HABs). Effective strategies for their mitigation call for an understanding of the key factors behind their formation. Prof. Mantha’s Fulbright-Nehru project is studying coastal water quality with a focus on HABs and the use of mathematical models and field observations to gain novel insights into important processes and drivers.