Nina Kranke

Research interests and publications

My research as a doctoral student

As a philosopher of science I specialized in philosophy of biology with focus on evolutionary biology and evolutionary medicine. Ever since I was introduced to the mathematics behind phylogenetic trees, I was fascinated by tree diagrams and tree thinking in biology. Hence, several of my publications revolve around philosophical issues of phylogenies, but I am also interested in visual representations of scientific results and theories, more generally. Other areas of research that are close to my heart are feminist philosophy of science as well as animal and environmental ethics.

Ernst Haekel's "Stammbaum der Säugethiere mit Inbegriff des Menschen"
Ernst Haekel’s “Stammbaum der Säugethiere mit Inbegriff des Menschen” (source: Wikimedia Commons)
Circle tree of human oral mircobiome by Griffen et al. (2011) (original figure in color)
Circle tree of human oral mircobiome by Griffen et al. (2011) (original figure in color)
Marsupial tree by Nilsson et al. (2010)(original figure in colour)
Marsupial tree by Nilsson et al. (2010)(original figure in colour)

Research articles

  • Kranke, N. (2023): Explanatory integration and integrated explanations in Darwinian medicine and evolutionary medicine. Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 44: 1-20. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2022): Two kinds of historical explanation in Evolutionary Biology. Biology and Philosophy 37: 17. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2022): The Trees’ Tale: Filigreed Phylogenetic Trees and Integrated Narratives. In: Morgan, M.S., Hajek, K.M. & Berry, D.J. (eds.), Narrative Science: Reasoning, Representing and Knowing since 1800. Cambridge University Press, pp. 206-226. View article→
  • Desjardins, E., Kurtz, J., Kranke, N., Lindeza, A. & Richter, S.H. (2021): Beyond Standardization: Improving External Validity and Reproducibility in Experimental Evolution. BioScience 71: 5, 543-552. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2020): How the Suffering of Nonhuman Animals and Humans in Animal Research is Interconnected. Journal of Animal Ethics 10: 1, 41-48. View article→
  • Gross, F., Kranke, N. & Meunier, R. (2019): Pluralization through epistemic competition: Scientific change in times of data-intensive biology. History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 41:1. View article→
  • Böhnert, M. & Kranke, N. (2019): Riot Grrrl Primatology. “Über Forscherinnen, Feminismus und feministische Wissenschaften. In: Wunsch, Böhnert, M. & Köchy, K. (eds.) Philosophie der Tierforschung. Bd. 3: Milieus und Akteure. Freiburg/München, Karl Alber, pp. 325-374.

Other publications

  • Adamsone-Fiskovica, A., Mileiko, I., Usca, M., Kranke, N., Thompson, A., & Klein, A. (2024). RestPoll Gender Equality and Diversity Plan. 2nd draft. EU Horizon RestPoll Project, Grant agreement No. 101082102.
  • Klein, A.M. & Kranke, N. (2023): Some thoughts on transparency of the data and analysis behind the Highly Cited Researchers list. Scientometrics, 128, 6773–6780. View article→
  • Doronina, L. & Kranke, N. (2018): Das Verwandtschaftsnetz von Fledermaus, Pferd, Hund und Kuh. Biologie in Unserer Zeit 48:5, 287-288. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2019): Whose knowledge is represented on Wikipedia? The Eyebrow, 2:5. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2018): Inferiority complex, identity crisis, and unemployment: On the risks of being an interdisciplinary researcher. The Eyebrow, 1:4. View article→
  • Kranke, N. (2018): Philosophy in Science for the World. The Eyebrow, 1:3. View article→

Unpublished Texts

tree and sky with clouds
How phenograms and cladograms became molecular phylogenetic trees

Abstract: Tree diagrams are the prevailing form of visualization in biological classification and phylogenetics. Already during the time of the so called Systematist Wars from the mid-1960s until the 1980s most journal articles and textbooks published by systematists contained tree diagrams. Although this episode of systematics is well studied by historians and philosophers of biology, […]

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