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Human factors matter: the intersection of cybersecurity governance, and culture in risk management of critical infrastructure
Get PDFIn the 21st century, cybersecurity threats have evolved into pressing socio-technical issues, with significant implications for the safety and stability of global critical infrastructure. This dissertation explores the intersection of cybersecurity governance and culture in risk management of national critical infrastructures, defined as essential systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, that are vital to the security, public health, safety, economy, or any combination thereof, and the disruption of which would have a debilitating impact on a nation. The study delves into how human factors like organizational culture and governance mechanisms interplay to influence cybersecurity outcomes. The research adopts a qualitative approach, leveraging in-depth interviews with key stakeholders across various critical infrastructure sectors, including Chief Information Security Officers, Chief Information Officers, and other cybersecurity professionals involved in safeguarding critical infrastructures. The findings highlight the complexities and challenges of balancing stringent security measures with operational efficiency, the importance of fostering a cybersecurity-aware culture, and the role of governance in shaping cybersecurity strategies. This study contributes to the understanding of how human factors and organizational dynamics affect cybersecurity risk management, providing insights into the practical challenges faced by organizations. There is a need for comprehensive governance frameworks that integrate technological defenses with human-centric approaches to effectively manage cyber-risks for critical infrastructures. I propose strategies to enhance cybersecurity resilience
Stranger Disputes: When Artificial Intelligence Turns Arbitration Upside Down
Get PDFArbitration agreements are everywhere in the United States. These agreements already block access to courts in a troubling manner, and pursuant to these agreements, parties must resolve their disputes before a private, human arbitrator with broad, virtually unreviewable powers. However, with the growth of AI, companies could easily redraft their contracts to require arbitration before non-human bots or AI arbitrators instead of a human arbitrator. Based on the history, values, policy, and text of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), this Article concludes that the FAA would govern and support the use of an AI arbitrator. As a result, a pre-dispute agreement to arbitrate before an AI arbitrator and an award from an AI arbitrator should be binding and final under the FAA. However, even though AI arbitration would be lawful under the FAA, the use of an AI arbitrator is not appropriate for all types of disputes, such as consumer and workplace disputes. Exploring the use of AI in arbitration also raises fundamental questions about the meaning of arbitration, which the FAA does not define, and this examination of AI arbitration brings into focus a special, often overlooked dynamic and relationship between courts and arbitration and how arbitration can serve broader society
Strategic military readiness: navigating knowledge management in the United States Army
Get PDFThis was a qualitative phenomenological study of knowledge management (KM) in the U.S. Army. The study explored the KM phenomenon by interviewing retired highly experienced field-grade Army commissioned and non-commissioned officers (NCOs), with varying backgrounds in combat, combat support, and combat service support branches. The research sought to address the problem of a discernable gap in the understanding among Army leaders regarding the effective utilization of KM staff for their units to employ the KM process effectively. This study\u27s two central research questions (RQ) were RQ1: What targeted strategies can be developed for Army leaders and their subordinate units to employ KM staff and processes more effectively? RQ2: How do the Army’s organizational culture and leadership influence the adoption and implementation of KM practices across different command levels of the organization? The findings indicated that in RQ1: The Army Headquarters Command should target a strategy towards improving the message of its priorities and vision of KM in its long-term strategy; Army Subordinate Command leaders should adopt a strategy of executing their senior leader’s objectives for KM into their operational planning; and, incorporate long-term KM objectives into all relevant KM policies, directives, instructions, publications, and technical manuals into KM processes; the finding for RQ2: The Army senior leader\u27s lack of communicating their objectives, goals, priority, and direction for KM contributes greatly to a deficit in the organizational culture at all levels of the Army. Recommendations for future study should be areas of further investigation from those personnel directly responsible for planning, executing, and governance of KM in the US armed services
Exploring adaptive university president narratives to generate growth and sustainability
Get PDFThis mixed-methods study explores how university presidents leverage adaptive leadership principles and learning organization frameworks to generate institutional growth and sustainability in higher education. Through analysis of presidential narratives, the research examines the intersection of Heifetz et al.’s (2009) adaptive leadership theory and Senge’s (2006) five disciplines of learning organizations, revealing patterns in leadership communication that drive change. The study analyzed narratives from eight university presidents who demonstrated success through their institutions’ minimum 30% endowment growth over five years. Using thematic analysis and frequency counts, the research identified 198 references to learning organization disciplines, 90 adaptive leadership phases, and 100 adaptive leadership behaviors in presidential communications. Findings reveal that effective university presidents heavily emphasize shared vision (33% of learning organization references) and systems thinking (24%) while focusing less on mental models (12%). Within adaptive leadership, presidents prioritize mobilizing the system (52% of phase references) and direct intervention (51% of behavior references), with significantly less attention to seeing themselves as systems (7%) or interpretation (16%). The research concludes that successful presidential narratives unite institutions around compelling shared visions, position universities within larger interconnected systems, and focus on mobilizing collective action through strategic interventions. Effective academic leaders harmonize aspirational goals with concrete implementation strategies. This research helps bridge theoretical leadership frameworks with practical application in organizational transformation by identifying narrative patterns that create growth and sustainability
Black adolescents\u27 mental health and identity formation: the role of discrimination and racial socialization - a systematic review
Get PDFThis systematic review examines the impact of racial discrimination on mental health and racial identity development among Black adolescents, focusing on anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and identity formation, as well as the protective role of racial socialization. Analysis of 19 qualitative and quantitative studies revealed that Black adolescents frequently experience discrimination across various settings, including schools, public spaces, and online platforms, with significant effects on mental health and self-concept. Gendered patterns were evident, with females more likely to internalize stress as anxiety and depression, while males showed externalizing behaviors such as aggression. Racial socialization, especially cultural pride messages, emerged as a key protective factor, buffering against adverse outcomes. However, racial socialization varied by timing, context, and delivery. Preparation-for-bias strategies offered mixed results, highlighting the need for nuanced approaches. Strong family and community support enhanced resilience and positive identity development, emphasizing the importance of family-based interventions. The findings call for multi-level interventions, including culturally responsive mental health care, school-based anti-discrimination initiatives, and policies addressing systemic inequities. These strategies aim to foster resilience and promote mental health equity for Black youth in the face of pervasive systemic challenges
Art for All: Art Exhibition Programming for Visitors with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Get PDFAs the art world strives to invite more of the general population into a more reachable experience of art, it is imperative to include the disabled population in that invitation. Given the numerous benefits of participation in art-centered activities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs), it is necessary for centers for the arts to create programming that makes their services more accessible and engaging for disabled individuals. While organizations have made efforts to elevate the work of disabled artists, there has been a less consistent movement toward more accessible art museum programs. A key aspect of encouraging engagement in the arts among individuals with IDDs is the use of tactile supplements to art exhibitions. The following essay assesses the benefits of artistic engagement for individuals with IDDs, previous efforts to include these populations in artistic activities, and recent programs that incorporated tactile components as a way to enhance accessible participation. I propose that by working with exhibiting artists to provide tactile components to exhibitions, art museums can become accessible spaces that foster more engaging experiences for visitors with IDDs. A project hosted at the Weisman Museum at Pepperdine introduced texture samples created by the exhibiting artist Cameron Harvey specifically for visitors with IDDs. Visitors with low vision and visitors with limited interest in looking at the art actively engaged with the texture samples. The program led to the attendance of over 50 participants, parents, and caretakers, thus increasing visibility for the museum and the artist
Strange Behavior of a Midday Discrete Dayside Auroral Arc
No full textObservations of dayside aurora close to magnetic noon in Longyearbyen, Svalbard have been reported for several decades. One of the most common type of auroral activity are Poleward-Moving Auroral Forms (PMAFs), which are thought to be ionospheric signatures of dayside magnetic reconnection. PMAFs originate when the dayside auroral oval brightens, after which they move away from the dayside auroral oval and propagate anti-sunward until they fade from view.On 3 January 2020, at ~08:15 UT, the dayside auroral brightens and an auroral form begins to move anti-sunward. Instead of fading from view as it moved into the polar cap, the auroral form displayed a continuous flow of enhanced periodic brightening for ~30 minutes. This presentation reports on the evolution of this midday auroral feature and the associated solar wind parameters. The images for this auroral event are from the Boreal Aurora Camera Constellation (BACC) from the Kjell Henrikson Observatory (KHO) in Longyearbyen, Svalbard (GEO: 78.148°N, 16.043°E; AACGM: 75.24°N,111.21°E). for auroral event
New ticks on the block: Diversity and composition of the lone star tick microbiome in areas of recent range expansion
No full textThe lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is an aggressive tick found in the eastern United States, but it is expanding its geographic range both westward and northward. The lone star tick carries a variety of pathogenic bacteria that affect humans, including Ehrlichia which causes ehrlichiosis and Rickettsia which causes tick-borne spotted fever. Characterizing the microbiome of lone star ticks in areas of recent range expansion is crucial to mitigating the spread of tick-borne diseases. We collected wild ticks from Oklahoma, New York, and New Jersey near the boundary of the lone star tick’s current range. We extracted DNA from adult wild ticks as well as from adult ticks reared in a captive colony maintained at Oklahoma State University. We used Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA bacterial gene to characterize the diversity and composition of the lone star tick microbiome. Analyses of beta diversity show that there is significant clustering by region and by site. Analyses of alpha diversity show that ticks in older populations have a significantly more diverse microbiome than ticks in areas where they are more recently established, both in Oklahoma and New York. Additionally, wild ticks in Oklahoma have a significantly more diverse microbiome than colony-reared ticks. Coxiella is the most abundant bacteria found in ticks from all sites, including the colony. Borrelia, Rickettsia, and Ehrlichia are more prevalent in ticks from New York and New Jersey than ticks from Oklahoma. Further work will evaluate how microbiome diversity affects pathogen prevalence
Profiles of Collaboration and Rescue in Vichy France
No full textMy research contributed to the development of character profiles for a Reacting to the Past (RTTP), an educational roleplaying game. This particular gamebook, Rescue and Resistance in Vichy France, is being created by Dr. Darlene Rivas and focuses on exploring the complex moral choices made by real people involved in resistance, rescue, and collaboration in southern France in the late years of World War II. This research has focused on the particular case of Chambon-sur-Lignon, a village that was unique for its expansive rescue efforts.
My additions to this project have included the creation of role sheets for Tracy Strong and Christian de La Mazière. Strong was an American humanitarian who played an integral part in rescue in the Chambon region at the time and offers a unique international perspective to the game. De La Mazière was a Frenchman who collaborated with the Nazi regime, and while in real life he did not have strong ties to the Chambon region, the inclusion of his character in this game was important to create a balance between collaborationists and rescuers that would have been more realistic historically. This research highlights the importance of historical role play in fostering engagement with ethical dilemmas faced by real people during one of France’s darkest historical period