Dr Paola Castaño

I am a sociologist of knowledge and science, and my work engages with epistemology of the social sciences, institutional theory, valuation studies, and history and philosophy of science. I am a qualitative researcher and my empirical domain of research is science in the context of human spaceflight. I have a PhD and MA in sociology from the University of Chicago (United States), and undergraduate degrees in History and Political Science from Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia).

I am part of the UKRI-funded project MoonRISE: Re-imagining Space Environments that aims to contribute to safeguarding the Moon at a time of intensified exploration. In the project, I conduct sociological research engaging with key actors to identify ways to protect sites of scientific, cultural, and environmental importance on the Moon.

Before joining The Open University, I worked as a research fellow at the University of Exeter in the ERC-funded project Philosophy of Open Science for Diverse Research Environments where I led a study about the social organization and epistemic implications of data sharing in space biology, in collaboration with NASA’s Open Science Data Repository. I am also completing a book about scientific research on the International Space Station, examining NASA experiments in plant biology, biomedicine, and particle astrophysics alongside institutional assessments of the station’s value. The book is titled “Beyond the Lab: The Social Lives of Experiments on the International Space Station”, and develops a sociological approach to experimentation as a social process and to the institutional embeddedness of contemporary science. This work was funded by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, the Free University of Berlin, and the British Academy’s Newton International Fellowship.

In 2021 I worked (remotely from the UK) as a research associate with Western Sydney University in the project Australia a Space-faring Nation: Imaginaries and Practices of Space Futures, funded by the Australian Research Council.

Recent publications

 2026. Co-authored with Laura Ación, Laura Ascenzi, Alejandra Daniela Calero, Jesica Formoso, Patricia Loto, Paz Míguez, Francisco Palm, Nicolás Palopoli, Romina Pendino, Maria Angela Petrizzo Páez, Driselda Sánchez-Aguirre, Irene Vazano, and Verónica Xhardez. “More than a NASA Badge: MetaDocencia and Capacity Building for Open Science Communities in Latin America.” Social Epistemology 1-9.

2026. Co-authored with Sabina Leonelli and Rena Alcalay. “Openness and Inequity in Scientific Research”. Social Epistemology. 1-6.

2025. Co-authored with Sabina Leonelli “Understanding the ‘Spaceflight Treatment’ in Plant Space Biology: Experimental Practices, Metadata Workflows, and Data Re-analysis”. Studies in the History and Philosophy of Science, Volume 114, 102073.

2025. Co-authored Luke L. Fountain, Matthew Gilliham, Chiara Amitrano, Nafiou Arouna, Richard J. Barker, Maik Böhmer, Markus Braun, Nicolas J.B. Brereton, Rebecca L. Brocato, Jess M. Bunchek, Emma L.J. Canaday, Nicol Caplin, Paola Castaño, Christine Chamberlain, Mélanie Decourteix, Marta Del Bianco, Veronica De Micco, Colleen J. Doherty,Michel F. Franke, Sigfredo Fuentes, Simon Gilroy, Lynn Harrison, Karl H. Hasenstein, Jens Hauslage, Raul Herranz, Anjali Iyer-Pascuzzi, Dylan Shun Izuma, Kirima Junya, John Z. Kiss Valérie Legué, James P. B. Lloyd, Gioia D. Massa, Massimo E. Maffei, Alexander D. Meyers, Imara Y. Perera, Lucie Poulet, Suruchi Roychoudry, Giovanni Sena, Dorothy E. Shippen, Jared Stoochnoff, Hideyuki Takahashⁱ, Sarah E. Wyatt, and Elison B. Blancaflor. “Expanding Frontiers: Harnessing Plant Biology for Space exploration and Planetary Sustainability”. New Phytologist, Volume 249, Issue 2, p. 656-669.

2025. “Ciencia Abierta, Justicia Epistémica, y Redistibución” (Open Science, Epistemic Justice and Redistribution). Revista Intercambios, National Quilmes University.

2023. “Plant Biologists and the International Space Station: Institutionalising a Scientific Community” in: Salazar, Juan Francisco and Gorman, Alice (Editors). Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space. London: Routledge, p. 427-440.

2023. Co-authored with Álvaro Santana-Acuña. “Sociological Approaches to Outer Space” in: Salazar, Juan Francisco and Gorman, Alice (Editors).Routledge Handbook of Social Studies of Outer Space. London: Routledge, p. 96-107.

2022. “Representations of the Uncertain: Art, Astronomy and Dark Matter” in: Santana Acuña, Álvaro and Rodriguez Morato, Arturo (Editors). Sociology of the Arts in Action. London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 165-187.

2022. Co-authored with Justin Walsh and Alice Gorman. “Postorbital discard and chain of custody: The processing of artifacts returning to Earth from the International Space Station” in: Acta Astronautica, Volume 195, p. 513-531.

2021. “From Value to Valuation: Pragmatist and Hermeneutic Orientations for Assessing Science on the International Space Station” in: The American Sociologist, Volume 52, Issue 4, p. 671-701.

2020. “Incertidumbre e Investigación Científica en la Estación Espacial Internacional” (Uncertainty and Scientific Research on the International Space Station) in: Ramos Torre, Ramón and García Selgas, Fernando (Editors). Incertidumbres en las Sociedades Contemporáneas. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, p. 229-244.

2020. “«Somebody’s Noises are Another Person’s Signal:» Art, Neuroscience, and Radio Astronomy” in: Artnodes, Issue 25, p. 1-9.

Reports

2025. Expanding the Space Biology Community: NASA Open Science Data Repository’s Analysis Working Groups. Survey Report.

2024. Co-authored with Louise Bezuidenhout, Sabina Leonelli, Ismael Rafols, and Andrea Vargiu. “Introducing Case Studies in Monitoring Open Science”. Contribution to the UNESCO's Global Consultation on the Draft Principles of Open Science Monitoring.

2022. Co-authored with Juan Francisco Salazar. Framing the Futures of Australia in Space: Insights from Key Stakeholders. Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University.

Reviews

2021. “Constellations of Inequality: Space, Race and Utopia in Brazil by Sean Mitchell”. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 27 (1): 212-213.

Work in Press

2026. “International Space Station” in: A.R.E. Taylor (Editor). Keywords for Social Studies of Outer Space. Palgrave Macmillan.

2027. “The Scales of Plant Experimentation in Low Earth Orbit” in: Pitrou, Perig; Praet, Istvan; Jeevendrampillai, David; and Buchli, Victor (Editors). Off Earth Atlas. Intellect Books.