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The Challenge of Indigenous Worldviews in Environmental Activism
No full textThis work of qualitative, phenomenological anthropological research investigates
the challenges that environmental activists (both Native and Mestizo, which is defined in
this study as a continuum, not a dichotomy), who are operating from nature-centric,
Indigenous worldviews have experienced in communicating those worldviews to those
who grew up within a Western worldview. How are Indigenous and Mestizo
environmental activists attempting to engage the political, corporate and institutional
decision makers in productive dialog during this period of climate crisis and species
extinction?
While Indigenous worldviews are simple to verbalize (i.e., "animals are our
relatives", "we must protect our Earth Mother", and so on), these worldviews have proven
very difficult for many non-Indigenous people to grasp and take to heart.
This profound cognitive disconnect has been identified by others (Deloria Jr.
2006, xxv), but I realized during the research that the truly fundamental question is: what
is the precise source of this disconnect? My interviews with environmental activists
indicate that the disconnect is real, but is not merely based on linguistic, textual, cultural,
conceptual, ideological, or prevailing received bodies of knowledge propagated via
Western economic, political and educational systems. It is deeper than that.
For this paper, I interviewed 18 Indigenous and Mestizo environmental activists
in the U.S. Southwest (northern New Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas), and
British Columbia, Canada. All operate from a nature-centric worldview and have
received pushback, from people "politely turning away", to being labeled in the media by
politicians as an "extremist" or "ecoterrorist". This reception to the worldviews they are
trying to convey can be baffling and discouraging for them, despite years of working to
communicate effectively and developing thick skins. While some activists continue to
reach out, others will no longer waste their time. Some are educators, some write, speak,
engage in public policy, practice law or engage in protests, some simply do their personal
life work, (particularly agriculture), while sharing their knowledge according to their
personal values of respect for the land and life. All have expressed different levels of
frustration at being held back by the barriers they have encountered in communicating
their views—which, to them, are reasonable, rational, and based in empirical
observation—to those in the dominant Western culture who find these viewpoints to be
totally alien, and in some cases, threatening. All describe progress in their environmental
work as "slow".
It is my intention to contribute to a deeper understanding of the communication
challenges that environmental activists who operate from an Indigenous worldview face
in their work and to explore potential avenues to reach those who are deeply disconnected
from nature. Time is short for those attempting to convey an Indigenous longue durée
value system to non-native political, corporate and institutional decision makers who do
not value Indigenous land-based histories, knowledge or points of view. This gap is
seemingly intractable. Can this problem be improved upon or solved? Is this
communication breakdown conceptual, based in cognition and cultural norms, or is it a
manifestation of something else? Can this disconnect be bridged to avert climate
catastrophe and collectively build a better future for all life on earth?Extension Studie
A neural control system promoting vigorous tracking behavior
No full textTo track or pursue a moving visual object, the brain needs to generate motor commands that continuously steer the object toward the midline of the visual field via feedback control. In any feedback system, low feedback gain produces slow error correction, but high feedback gain risks instability; thus, the choice of feedback gain should ideally adapt to current circumstances1–6. Here we investigate mechanisms that produce adaptive feedback gain, focusing on the visual-locomotor pursuit system that flies use to chase one another7–12. As predicted by classic behavioral observations in houseflies7, we show that the Drosophila pursuit system is divided into two main parallel pathways, which are recruited in response to small and large errors, respectively. Arousal onset preferentially recruits the small-error pathway, and we show this pathway selectively corrects for object motion near the midline. The small-error pathway is specialized for lower gain, higher direction selectivity, and higher sensitivity to the fly’s forward speed. Modeling shows how the different specializations of these two pathways can improve performance: while the large-error pathway enables fast correction of large errors, the small-error pathway avoids oscillations that can result from over-correction of small errors. Together, these results show how specialized parallel pathways for driving the same action can produce adaptive control in neural systems.Medical Science
More Choices, Less Extremism: The Effect of Ranked-Choice Voting on Political Extremism in Maine
No full textPolitical polarization and extremism have been intensifying in the United States for decades and are reaching generational highs, posing a threat to foundational democratic norms and institutions. This paper examines the impact of ranked-choice voting (RCV) adoption in Maine on the political extremism of candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. Utilizing a text-based analysis of candidate campaign platforms from 2006 through 2024, the research quantifies candidate extremism and employs synthetic control matching and difference-in-difference analysis to assess the causal effect of Maine's 2018 RCV implementation. Whereas previous studies have found scant support for the moderating effect of ranked-choice voting, this study's findings indicate that RCV led to a significant decline in political extremism of candidate platforms in Maine. The synthetic control method estimates a 19.8% reduction, while the fixed effects model suggests a 20.5% decrease in rhetorical extremism following RCV adoption. These results suggest that the incentives inherent in RCV, such as the need to secure broader voter appeal, may contribute to a more moderate political environment. The study contributes to the literature on electoral reform and elite-driven polarization and has important policy implications for mitigating political division in the United States.Applied Mathematic
Identifying therapeutic vulnerabilities in RAS pathway–driven melanoma
No full textCutaneous melanoma is a malignancy that arises from melanocytes within the skin. Over 100,000 new diagnoses of melanoma are predicted within the United States in 2024, and incidence rates of melanoma have continued to increase, despite public health efforts to enhance melanoma prevention and management. While immune checkpoint blockade has revolutionized the standard of care and clinical outcome for advanced melanoma, many tumors are intrinsically resistant or often become resistant to immunotherapy over time, highlighting the urgent need to identify and develop novel therapeutic strategies to provide clinical benefit for patients with melanoma. The majority of melanomas are characterized by oncogenic driver mutations in genes within the RAS–MAPK signaling pathway, including BRAF, NRAS, and NF1, and may respond to targeted inhibition of this pathway. Indeed, combined inhibition of BRAF and MEK has been approved for the treatment of BRAFV600-mutant melanoma, although disease progression is common. Moreover, MEK inhibitors are not effective as single agents in NRAS-mutant melanoma and no other targeted therapies have been approved for these malignancies. To this end, this dissertation describes a genome-scale investigation of genetic pathways that sensitize RAS pathway–mutant melanoma to RAS pathway inhibition, leading to the development of two distinct approaches to induce melanoma cell death. Through the analysis of a genome-scale CRISPR–Cas9 knockout screen in NRAS-mutant melanoma cells, we identified the deubiquitinating enzyme USP7 as a target that elicits potent antitumor effects in vitro and in vivo when co-suppressed along with MEK inhibition. Integration of functional genetic approaches with epigenetic and transcriptomic analyses revealed that inhibition of USP7 in the context of RAS pathway inhibition influenced melanoma cell state in some settings and led to the upregulation of multiple transcriptional programs that contributed to melanoma cell death in NRAS-mutant as well as BRAF-mutant melanomas. This dissertation also describes the identification of the E3 ubiquitin ligase MARCH5 as a distinct vulnerability in NRAS-mutant melanoma that may be targeted in combination with MEK inhibition to promote melanoma cell death, likely by converging on a process of mitochondrial morphology and homeostasis. This dissertation concludes with a comprehensive overview of preclinical and clinical literature and categorizes combinatorial strategies that may be effective in RAS pathway–driven tumors of other tissues of origin. In summary, we have identified two distinct therapeutic vulnerabilities in RAS pathway–mutant melanoma and have provided a conceptual framework for future development of combination therapies in the treatment of melanoma and other RAS pathway–driven tumors.Medical Science
Simulations of Judicial Pretrial Decisions to Explore Risk Assessment Validation
No full textThe pretrial phase in criminal cases is critical in determining the trajectory of a defendant’s case, particularly during the first appearance hearing when a judge decides whether to release or detain the defendant. Traditionally, judges made these decisions at their own discretion, but in recent years, data-driven risk assessment tools have emerged to guide these judgments. This thesis builds upon the growing body of research exploring the effectiveness of such tools, specifically focusing on the Public Safety Assessment, a widely-used pretrial risk assessment tool. Drawing from data sets from randomized controlled trials conducted by the Access to Justice Lab at Harvard Law School, I developed simulation code to explore the effects of risk assessment tools on judicial decisions and pretrial outcomes. This work provides researchers with a unique approach that uses simulations to examine how unobserved factors and missing data can influence the assumptions underlying risk assessment models.Applied Mathematic
Exploring Nondual Awareness: Understanding the Experience and Factors Contributing to Its Development
No full textNondual awareness is a state of awareness focusing on a sense of unity and
oneness and free from subject-object fragmentation. Existing research on this type of
awareness reveals that it can be cultivated through various meditative, mindful or
psychedelic practices and can have significant effects on one’s mental wellbeing.
However, studies on this topic are still very limited. There is little understanding on the
direct experience of nondual awareness phenomenologically. Similarly, existing studies
lack exploration on nondual awareness’s effects on one’s sense of self.
In this study, I conducted a mixed method research study exploring the direct
experience and contributing factors of nondual awareness. Through analyzing
quantitative survey data, I discovered a significant positive correlation between one’s
level of nondual awareness and self-compassion. And through qualitative interviews, key
themes around the experience of nondual awareness are discovered such as initial
disorientation, peace and oneness, shedding control and agency, and improved mental
wellbeing. These study results help provide deeper clarity into the nature and experience
of nondual awareness and its potential effects on mental wellbeing. By understanding its
positive influence on self-compassion, peace and happiness and getting qualitative
insights on how it can be induced through meditation and various life experiences, we
can expand future studies and potentially develop new forms of mental health
treatment/meditation programs.Extension Studie
Chemical Occupations: Anti-Colonial Reactions in the Desert
No full text“Chemical Occupations” examines how landscape architects can disassemble traditional ecological principles of growth, succession, and restoration to reconfigure landscape through chemical agency. It positions toxic landscapes, not merely as disturbed sites awaiting an idyllic fix, but rather as uncontained, reactive, and existing through multiple states of matter. In Fayoum, an oasis in the Sahara Desert, layers of occupation have toxified the landscape far beyond the presence of its original colonial agents. Here, ecology is co-opted as the final act of the colonial “exquisite corpse,” as a device to delineate and falsely restore through the foreign typology of the national park. Sets of chemical chromatograms, prioritized over Cartesian ecological tools, serve as a methodology to unveil, dissolve, and reconfigure the toxic residues of the former park. “Chemical Occupations” advances the “anti-park,” myths of reactive sovereignty, actualized through new rituals, markers, and stewardship practices, whereby Fayoumis reclaim toxicity toward new futures.Department of Landscape Architectur
Learning from high-dimensional measurements
No full textThis thesis considers the problems of distilling and quantifying information in high-dimensional measurements, with a focus on applications in biology. First, we explore the idea that underlying low-dimensional structure in high-dimensional data can be exploited to circumvent the curse of dimensionality in mutual information estimation. We develop a method that we call latent MI (LMI) approximation, which applies a nonparametric MI estimator to low-dimensional representations learned by a simple, theoretically-motivated model architecture. Using several benchmarks, we show that unlike existing techniques, LMI can approximate MI well for variables with dimensions when their dependence structure has low intrinsic dimensionality. Second, we study how measurement noise in data affects the quality of representation learning models. Using an information-theoretic metric of representation quality, we show that model performance scales predictably with molecular undersampling noise in single-cell genomic data. We show that the form of this relationship can be recovered from a simple Gaussian noise model, which provides an intuitive interpretation of the law. Finally, we show that the same scaling relationship emerges in image classification problems, suggesting that noise scaling may be a general phenomenon.Systems Biolog
Essays on the Social Origins of Economic and Political Behavior
No full textThe first chapter asks why people rarely move to places where they can earn higher incomes. We use individual-level data from Facebook to find that social ties play a crucial role in explaining this puzzle: social ties are concentrated locally and shape migration decisions. On average, individuals live within 100 miles of nearly 80% of their friends, with less-educated individuals having even more concentrated social networks. To establish a causal link between the location of one's friends and migration, we exploit plausibly exogenous variation in the timing of friends' moves around individuals' college graduation. Having one more friend in a given commuting zone at the time of graduation increases one's likelihood of living there by 0.3 percentage points, which is comparable in magnitude to the effect of a $470 increase in annual wages. We incorporate these findings into a spatial equilibrium model and show that the magnitude of social network effects can explain why people stay in poorer places and why less-educated people are much less responsive to economic shocks. Overall, this study shows that social networks play a first-order role --- as important or more important than canonical economic factors such as wages and rents --- in determining residential choice at the individual and aggregate level.
The second chapter asks how childhood environment shapes political behavior. We measure young voters’ participation and party affiliation in nationally comprehensive voter files and reconstruct their childhood location histories based on their parents’ addresses. We compare outcomes of individuals who moved between the same origin and destination counties but at different ages. Those who spend more time in the destination are more influenced by it: Growing up in a county where their peers are 10 percentage points more likely to become Republicans makes them 4.7 percentage points more likely to become Republican themselves upon entering the electorate. The effects are of similar magnitude for Democratic partisanship and turnout. These exposure effects are primarily driven by teenage years, and they persist but decay after the first election. They reflect both state-level factors and factors varying at a smaller scale such as peer effects.
The third chapter uses friendship data from Facebook to study the social integration of Syrian migrants in Germany. Our analysis establishes five key findings: (1) Places differ substantially in their propensities to socially integrate migrants. This regional variation in integration outcomes largely reflects causal place-based effects. (2) Spatial variation in migrants' social integration can be decomposed into the rate at which Germans befriend their neighbors in general and the particular rate at which they befriend migrants versus other Germans. We follow the friending behavior of Germans that move across locations to show that both forces are more affected by local institutions and policies than by persistent individual characteristics or preferences of local natives. (3) Integration courses causally affect place-specific equilibrium integration levels by increasing the rate at which Germans befriend Syrian migrants. (4) Social integration helps migrants obtain help from natives across a range of settings such as finding jobs and housing. (5) Natives quasi-randomly exposed to a migrant in high school are more likely to befriend other migrants later in life.Political Economy and Governmen
Eminent demesnes – A proposal to co-habit 6,000 gardens
No full textThis thesis tackles Ireland’s national housing crisis through the redesign of the lakeside demesne of Glenade House in the Northwest of Ireland. The project subverts the inherited picturesque landscape, while blurring the boundaries of landscape and architecture through inhabiting a communal garden. Demesnes were untenanted pleasure grounds retained by the aristocratic landowning class during the English plantation of Ireland from the 17th to the 20th century. Responding to the demesnes’ legacy of land confiscation and propriety, a compulsory purchase order will be served on the 6,000 demesne parklands. These demesnes will function as a network at a local and national scale, promoting local food production, sustainable building practices, and rural recreation. By concentrating dwelling on designated ‘sub-rural’ sites, the proliferation of urban sprawl into green belts can be halted, while meeting the cultural desire to live in the countryside. In short, this project institutes a housing cooperative rooted in communal landscape practices.Department of Landscape Architectur