Jim Griesemer founded the Lab as a way to foster collaboration and community among the philosophers of biology at UC Davis. When Roberta Millstein joined the UCD Philosophy Department in Fall 2006, she joined the Lab, and it became the Griesemer/Millstein Philosophy of Biology Lab.

The Lab is a community of faculty, graduate students, and visitors interested in philosophy of biology and related subjects. We meet once a week during the regular school year to read and discuss our works-in-progress, share ideas for new projects, make presentations and provide feedback on them, read topics of common interest, and engage with visiting scholars. One of the main goals of the Lab is to support graduate students in the various stages of their careers; to that end, topics related to presenting at conferences, publishing in journals, etc., are frequently discussed.