Roberta Millstein is a philosopher of biology at the University of California, Davis, whose work centers on the philosophy of evolutionary biology and ecology. She is best known for defending the view that natural selection is a causal process rather than a mere statistical summary of lower-level events, and for her probabilistic reinterpretation of selection and drift. Her research also extends to the philosophy of ecology, including the metaphysics of populations and Aldo Leopold's land ethic.
Defended the causal efficacy of natural selection against statisticalist interpretations
Developed a probabilistic causal account distinguishing natural selection from random genetic drift
Contributed to the metaphysics of biological populations and what counts as a population
Advanced philosophical analysis of Aldo Leopold's land ethic within philosophy of ecology
Challenged received views on the cognitive and theoretical status of evolutionary theory