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The Impact of Large, Manipulated Rainfall Events on Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes Is Mediated by Warming, Spatial Heterogeneity and Hurricane Disturbance Recovery in a Puerto Rican Wet Tropical Forest
Full text linkSubstantial uncertainty surrounds how terrestrial ecosystems may respond to the interaction of multiple global change drivers, especially the interaction of atmospheric warming and more frequent or severe extreme weather events. Climate models suggest that the Caribbean may experience more frequent and/or heavier rainfalls under future climate, which is likely to also interact with increased atmospheric temperatures. In this thesis, I investigate how long-term (“press”) soil moisture and temperature conditions interact with acute (“pulse”) extreme precipitation events to influence CO₂ fluxes, labile carbon, and microbial carbon in a wet tropical forest in Puerto Rico. I conducted a fully-factorial soil incubation experiment manipulating antecedent moisture and temperature before applying a simulated extreme rainfall event. I found that drier, warmer antecedent conditions led to the largest post-wet-up CO₂ pulses, while saturated soils consistently showed suppressed CO₂ flux regardless of temperature, reflecting oxygen limitation. I also conducted a field rainfall manipulation across a topographic gradient to test how ecosystem heterogeneity influences flux responses. CO₂ fluxes varied by both rainfall treatment and plot, suggesting that underlying moisture and disturbance history shaped ecosystem responses. Together, these results show that antecedent conditions and spatial heterogeneity mediate soil carbon dynamics under interacting global change drivers. This highlights the need to incorporate ecosystem variability into predictions of tropical forest carbon balance under climate change, with implications for climate mitigation and ecosystem management
Estimating the Gender Wage Gap: A Comparative Analysis of Different Estimators
Full text linkThe gender wage gap between males and females has been well studied by labor economists. We take a multi-prong approach to evaluate three estimators —a regression-imputation estimator, a weighting estimator, and a doubly robust estimator—in estimating the gender wage gap. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we conduct an empirical study of the estimators’ performances. In a simulation study, we evaluate the properties of estimators and study whether bootstrapping is an appropriate measure of the uncertainty of each estimator. The findings show that while the estimators provide different results, the doubly robust estimator provides reliable and consistent results under model misspecification
Vesicle Analysis of the 1973 Eldfell (Iceland) Tephra: Comparison of the Opening Fissure and Late-Stage Cone
No full textLong manifested as a fissure swarm, Iceland’s Vestmannaeyjar volcanic system is slowly evolving into a central volcano. This study quantified tephra density, vesicularity, and vesicle volume distribution (via 2D image analysis) from the most recent Vestmannaeyjar eruption (Eldfell, 1973) to assess both pre- and syn-eruptive magma dynamics. Tephra from the late-stage cinder cone is dominated by bubble coalescence textures, consistent with the observed shift to a Strombolian eruptive style later in the Eldfell eruption. Tephra from the opening fissure preserves evidence of bubble ripening, which requires long term magma residence at shallow depths, a characteristic of central volcanoes
Complexities of White Feminism in the Music Industry: From Dolly Parton to Taylor Swift
Full text linkIn the landscape of the contemporary entertainment industry, Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton stand out as iconic figures with enduring influence and widespread acclaim. This paper explores the parallel trajectories of these two white, blonde, Christian, and country-rooted female artists, each known for their advocacy in women\u27s issues in addition to their careers as influential musicians. They each attempt to project an apolitical image in their work to maintain broad appeal, but lack a commitment to more nuanced and intersectional concerns. I will utilize a variety of media sources coupled with academic texts that center feminism to critically discuss a few key aspects of the careers of Parton and Swift. I explore their respective rises to fame, philanthropic works, political actions (and inactions), portrayals in the media, and romantic relationships. This exploration of white feminism through the lens of Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton\u27s careers illuminates a nuanced narrative of successes, challenges, and the intricacies of their feminism, urging a critical examination of influence, responsibility, and the evolving dynamics of popular feminist narratives
Abolish r(ICE): (Dis)ability, Immigration, and Asian American Resistance
Full text linkIn 2021, Minneapolis-based Khmer artist, Kat Eng designed the “Abolish r(ICE)” t-shirt as part of a fundraiser for Southeast Asians and their families experiencing deportation. Inspired by the iconic Three Ladies Brand jasmine rice bag, Eng re-imagined the three ladies as freedom fighters in response to heightened immigration policing and detention of Southeast Asian communities. In this paper, I unpack and contextualize the Abolish r(ICE) t-shirt campaign within immigration debates, the contemporary abolitionist movement, and Asian American resistance. The Abolish r(ICE) shirts also function as a form of political education and an invitation specifically to Asian American youth to learn more about Southeast Asian issues and the larger movements towards abolition. Through a reading of the Abolish r(ICE) campaign I show how Kat Eng along with their collaborator Stephanie Shih draw upon food imagery and branding as part of their larger work to link Asian American cultural formations and urgent political issues. In doing so, the artists unapologetically center Southeast Asian American aesthetics, imagery, and voices as part of amplifying the Asian American community organizing against deportation. The design and imagery of the logo centers Southeast Asian and Asian American experiences and histories within the larger contemporary movement towards abolition and continued debates around immigration and detention policies within the United States.
Applying a disability justice framework, I unpack how we might understand (dis)ability not just as an object of study but as an analytic. Drawing upon feminist-of-color disability studies, I argue for a disability justice approach to unpack immigration, deportation, and imperialism as discourses of state violence. What does disability justice reveal to us about “the refugee”, immigration and the carceral system? How are young contemporary Asian American artists using iconic household goods and foods as a critique of the U.S. Empire? Why does the model minority myth overlook Southeast Asian refugees? How do we understand state violence against Southeast Asians through immigration and detention as an issue of disability justice? In this paper, I explore these questions and make connections around Asian American abolitionists organizing across both national and local scales connecting the Twin Cities. Overall, I argue that by using a feminist-of-color disability studies analysis of the Abolish r(ICE) campaign we can further deepen our understanding of power and resistance that moves us beyond a liberal project of inclusion and representational politics
Partisan Perspectives on Inflation: Exploring Bias in Economic Expectations
Full text linkInflation expectations are important determinants of future inflation and individual consumer behavior. Recent attention has been devoted to individual-level heterogeneity in inflation expectations. I consider political partisanship as a source of heterogeneity and question whether expectations are biased by partisanship. I find that they are, i.e., that individuals from the president\u27s political party expect lower inflation relative to members of the opposing party (this difference is statistically insignificant during the Bush presidency), and that this result cannot be explained by additional sources of heterogeneity. I also examine whether belonging to the president\u27s political party affects the rationality of expectations and find, first, that individuals from the president\u27s political party base their expectations more closely on CPI relative to the opposing party (although this difference is too small to be statistically distinguishable during the Bush and Biden administrations), and second, that members of the president\u27s party have more accurate expectations
“Embracing Existence: Exploring Mexican-American Identity, Agency, and Resistance”
Full text linkAbstract:
This research investigates Mexican-American identity, agency, and resistance, contextualizing them within the socio-political landscape of the United States. Drawing from existing scholarship, the study employs qualitative interviews to explore how Mexican-American college students assert their ethnic identities as resistance against societal pressures to assimilate and institutions that marginalize them. The findings reveal the pervasive influence of racialization and marginalization experienced by Mexican-Americans, shaping their sense of belonging and connection to their Mexican heritage. Drawing upon Telles and Sue\u27s (2019) concept of the ethnic core, participants deepen their ties to their Mexican identities through familial and social networks, cultural practices, language, religion, and geographical context. This robust framework enables them to resist attempts to erase or diminish their cultural identities.
Moreover, extended periods abroad, particularly in Latin America, contribute to their cultural rediscovery and appreciation, further solidifying their Mexican identity. Unlike previous generations, participants exhibit a disconnection from their American identity, in part due to historical events such as the Trump presidency and the racial reckoning following George Floyd\u27s murder. Nevertheless, they acknowledge the privileges of U.S. citizenship but prioritize their Mexican heritage as a means of resistance. My research underscores the complexity of Mexican-American identity formation and resistance, highlighting the importance of individual agency in navigating societal structures and asserting cultural identity
Sankofa in Action: Reclaiming Our Future
Full text linkPan-Africanism has been one of the responses to the systematic and brutal efforts by colonial powers to negate the worth and humanity of African peoples. Emerging in the Caribbean and the United States in the 19th-century, it flowered with the independence movements of the 20th. Historian Kwame Anthony Appiah defines Pan-Africanism as “a political project calling for the unification of all Africans into a single African state to which those in the African diaspora can return” (Appiah 1992, 174).
Pan-Africanism sought to heal the catastrophic ruptures of slavery, throw off the shackles of colonialism, and to fight the racist ideologies that underpinned both. The leaders who shaped this movement were brilliant in their vision and determined in their execution, even as they came up against formidable, entrenched obstacles built up over resistance and oppression
It\u27s in the Weeds : \u27Pesky\u27 Plants as Teachers in Imagining Decolonial Futures
Full text linkAs a category of plant species, “weeds” are often thought of as ‘pesky’ nuisances and treated with absolute disdain. But what are “weeds” and how did they become “pests” that homeowners, gardeners, and conservationists alike seek to control and/or eliminate? My inquiry into “weeds” reveals that the designation of “weeds” is not scientific so much as it is socially and culturally constructed. The categorization of “weeds,” shaped by evolving notions of place, space, and belonging, provides a window into underlying social and cultural norms that structure our relationships with one another and the more-than-human world. Situated within settler colonial contexts, the perception and treatment of “weeds” is intertwined with biopolitical notions of life and death– who is worthy of life, who can self-determine, who is out of place, who is disposable, etc. From Turtle Island to Palestine, I explore how these principles are enforced by the settler state and reproduced through dominant values, ideologies, and narratives. Settler colonial ideologies declare that some beings have the right to live at the expense of others. But, how can “weeds,” resilient beings in a world cracking at its seams, teach us ways of being and relating to one another that aid our imagining of sustainable and just futures for people and land, interconnected? In pursuing a counter-narrative of “weeds,” I conduct a case study of four “weeds” that explores these plants’ evolution within the cultural imagination and further, suggests the resistant and liberatory potential encoded within these plants often written off as “pests.
Developing a novel assay for quantifying allelopathy tolerance in soybeans to pennycress glucosinolates in a controlled environment
Full text linkIn a pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) and soybean (Glycine max L.) relay-cropping system, one concern for farmers is the effects of pennycress allelochemicals on soybean growth and yield. Pennycress root exudates are known to contain sinigrin, a glucosinolate which hydrolyzes to form the harmful compound allyl isothiocyanate (AITC). In addition to serving as defense against herbivory, glucosinolates are also known to have allelopathic effects on surrounding plants by possibly affecting traits like germination, biomass accumulation, nutrient uptake, mycorrhizal symbioses, and nitrogen fixation. This is not ideal in a relay cropping system, where the presence of pennycress can decrease soybean yields by nearly half after only 6 to 8 weeks of resource competition. It may be possible to develop soybeans that are more tolerant to this system if researchers can identify the genetic architecture of this allelopathy tolerance. Here I demonstrate the efficacy of using an aqueous solution of sinigrin or AITC to assess juvenile allelopathy tolerance of different soybean genotypes, while also determining phenotypes potentially impacted by glucosinolate presence. I found that biomass accumulation and chlorophyll were significantly negatively affected by treatments, whereas height, internode distances, and developmental stages were not consistently affected. By determining which phenotypes are most affected by treatment, researchers can use this protocol to breed soybeans that are tolerant to these allelochemicals