Kathryn (Katie) Plaisance (She/Her)

Katie received her B.Sc. in molecular biology and philosophy from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 2000 and earned her Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Minnesota in 2006. She went on to work as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Philosophy and Ethics of Science at Leibniz University in Hannover, Germany, before coming to Canada in 2009 to join the Knowledge Integration (KI) Program. Katie has played a pivotal role in helping to establish KI, an interdisciplinary honors degree that teaches students how to be critical thinkers, real-world problem solvers, and effective collaborators.

• Philosophy of science

• Interactional expertise

• Interdisciplinary collaboration

• Science of team science

• Scholarship of teaching and learning

Katie Plaisance serves as Principal Investigator and Lab Director of the CoLaboratory (aka CoLab). Originally trained as a philosopher of science, Katie studies, fosters, and engages in collaboration across disciplines. Her research examines the benefits, barriers, and ideal conditions for interdisciplinary collaboration, with an emphasis on facilitating knowledge exchange between philosophy of science and scientific domains. Her work uses philosophical and empirical research methods and has been published in diverse venues such as Philosophy of Science, Synthese, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, Philosophical Psychology, Behavior Genetics, Learning and Motivation, and Scientometrics.

• 2006, PhD, Philosophy, University of Minnesota

• 2000, BSc, Molecular Biology and Philosophy, University of Wisconsin

• 2022, Teaching Excellence Award, Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance

• 2021, Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo

• 2020-21, Teaching Award, Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA)

• 2016, Distinguished Teacher Award, University of Waterloo

• 2026-present, Vice-President, Academic and Provost (VPAP) nominating committee

• 2026-present, Associate Director, Knowledge Integration

• 2023-25, Chair, Department of Knowledge Integration

• 2022-present, Co-Director, International Consortium of Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (SRPoiSE)

• 2021-23, Board member, International Network of the Science of Team Science (INSciTS)

• 2019-20, University of Waterloo Interdisciplinary Task Force

• 2013-19, Associate Chair, Department of Knowledge Integration

• 2011-12, Faculty Association University of Waterloo Board Member (FAUW)

• Philosophy of Science Association (PSA)

• International Network for the Science of Team Science (INSciTS)

• Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S)

• Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice (SPSP)

• GSJ 271 - Special Topics in Gender and Social Justice
  • Taught in 2024, 2025
• INTEG 120 - The Art and Science of Learning
  • Taught in 2024, 2025
• INTEG 210 - Making Collaboration Work
  • Taught in 2022
• INTEG 220 - Nature of Scientific Knowledge
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2023
• INTEG 221 - The Social Nature of Knowledge
  • Taught in 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026
• INTEG 275 - Special Topics in Knowledge Integration
  • Taught in 2021
• INTEG 410 - Interdisciplinary Collaboration
  • Taught in 2022
• INTEG 475 - Special Topics in Knowledge Integration
  • Taught in 2021
• INTEG 499 - Independent Studies
  • Taught in 2025
• PHIL 291 - The Social Nature of Knowledge
  • Taught in 2026

* Only courses taught in the past 5 years are displayed.

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., and Sara Doody* (2026), “How philosophy of science can enhance research in science and engineering: The benefits, challenges, and ideal conditions for philosophy-STEM collaborations,” Synthese, 207: 159. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-026-05508-x

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., Sara Doody*, Chad Gonnerman, and Aaron M. McCright (2026), “Moving Beyond Anecdotes: Scientists’ and Engineers’ Views about and Engagement with Philosophy and Philosophers of Science,” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, 116: 102165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2026.102125

• Plaisance, Kathryn S. (2026), “Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science.” In The Routledge Handbook of the History of Philosophy of Science After Kant, by Flavia Padovani and Adam Tamas Tuboly, pp. 102-112. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003381051-11

• Doody, Sara*, and Kathryn S. Plaisance (2025), “What is ‘Good’ Science? How Disciplinary Norms and Expectations Hinder Broad Interdisciplinary Collaboration,” Perspectives on Science, 33(6): 685-721. https://doi.org/10.1162/POSC.a.566

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., Christine Logel, and Christopher Lok* (2024). “Making Collaboration Work: Fostering Positive Attitudes and Experiences around Psychological Safety, Diversity, and the Value of Teamwork,” Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.3.14531. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotlrcacea.2024.3.14531

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., and Kevin Elliott (2021). “A Framework for Analyzing Broadly Engaged Philosophy of Science,” Philosophy of Science, 88(4): 594-615. https://doi.org/10.1086/713891

• Plaisance, Kathryn S. Jay Michaud*, and McLevey, John (2021). “Pathways of Influence: Understanding the Impacts of Philosophy of Science in Scientific Domains,” Synthese, 199: 4865-4896. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-020-03007-1

• Plaisance, Kathryn S. (2020). “The Benefits of Acquiring Interactional Expertise: Why (Some) Philosophers of Science Should Engage Scientific Communities,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 83: 53-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2020.03.002

• Burgoyne, AP*; Carroll, S; Clark, DA; Hambrick, DZ; Plaisance, KS; Klump, KL; Burt, SA. (2020). “Can a Brief Intervention Alter Genetic and Environmental Influences on Psychological Traits? An Experimental Behavioral Genetics Approach,” Learning and Motivation, 72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lmot.2020.101683

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., Alexander V. Graham*, John McLevey, and Jay Michaud* (2019). “Show Me the Numbers: A Quantitative Portrait of the Attitudes, Experiences, and Values of Philosophers of Science Regarding Broadly Engaged Work,” Synthese, 198: 4603-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-019-02359-7

• Burt, S. Alex, Kathryn S. Plaisance, and Zach D. Hambrick (2019). “Understanding ‘What Could Be’: A Call for Experimental Behavioral Genetics,” Behavior Genetics, 49: 235-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10519-018-9918-y

• McLevey, John, Alexander V. Graham*, Reid McIlroy-Young*, Pierson Brown*, and Kathryn S. Plaisance (2018). “Interdisciplinarity and Insularity in the Diffusion of Knowledge: An Analysis of Disciplinary Boundaries Between Philosophy of Science and the Sciences,” Scientometrics, 117: 331-349. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-018-2866-8

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., and Eric B. Kennedy* (2014). “A Pluralistic Approach to Interactional Expertise,” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science Part A, 47: 60-68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsa.2014.07.001

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., Thomas A.C. Reydon, and Mehmet Elgin (2012). “Why the (Gene) Counting Argument Fails in the Massive Modularity Debate: The Need for Understanding Gene Concepts and Genotype-Phenotype Relationships,” Philosophical Psychology, 25(6). https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2011.616268

• Plaisance, Kathryn S., and Thomas A.C. Reydon (2012). In The Philosophy of Behavioral Biology, by Kathryn S. Plaisance and Thomas A.C. Reydon. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 282, pp. 3-24. Springer Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1951-4

• Fehr, Carla, and Kathryn S. Plaisance (2010). “Socially Relevant Philosophy of Science,” Synthese, 177(3): 301-316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-010-9855-7