Dr. Dan Li

Dr. Dan Li is a philosopher of science studying how climate scientists make discoveries, particularly how they use big data, computer models, and artificial intelligence. Dr. Li’s current research aims to answer the question: how do we use algorithms responsibly in climate science? She teaches courses related to scientific reasoning, environmental issues, and philosophy of science. 

Dr. Li received her dual major Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science and Informatics from Indiana University and M.S. in Informatics from Indiana University.

Regarding climate research, Dr. Li has focused on examining how climate scientists use computational tools (including artificial intelligence, or AI) to study climatic processes. Specifically, she is interested in how climate scientists use algorithms to detect extreme events (e.g., extreme rainfalls or their drivers, atmospheric rivers) in big data and how they attribute these extreme events’ increased frequencies of intensities to climate change. As noted by Dr. Li, causal stories are always hard to tell in a complex system.