Beth Connors

One of the most interesting components of the global carbon cycle is the movement of carbon from the atmosphere to the deep ocean, where it is deposited as particulates, a process called the Biological Carbon Pump (BCP). The BCP combines physical oceanography and biology, as the majority of the carbon dioxide that is pulled from the atmosphere into our oceans for biological processes in the photic zone, and then moves from the surface to the deep ocean as zooplankton excrement. Using robotic devices to monitor this chemical and biological cycle, […]

Dylan Bush

Woven into the intricate fabric of Oaklands Latinx population is a community of Maya immigrants. Many arrived as refugees, escaping genocide during the Guatemalan Civil War, and in part because of this traumatic history and their indigenous identity, Maya individuals face unique challenges in accessing health care. While both Latinx and Mayan populations may perceive a lack of access, no existing research analyzes how these perceptions differ, allowing for the assumption that both groups face the same challenges. My research investigates the distinct challenges that the Maya perceive in accessing […]

Megan Merrick

How does the act of schooling impact childrens moral development? More specifically, do children equate academic intelligence to virtuous attributes? During my study, I will explore if and how 7 and 8 year olds associate high academic performance through test scores and effort level, to increased popularity, positive reviews from authority, and potential future success. Schooling reinforces the notion that intelligence for its own sake is an inherently good attribute, leading to success in other domains outside of academics. I am looking to further explore how children in San Diego, […]

Beth Hightower

The story of genocide has largely been taken up by its victims: their testimony takes on a reparative significance, counteracting their previous erasure. Jonathan Littells 2006 novel Les Bienveillantes, however, depicts World War II through the eyes of a Nazi official, who speaks to the reader as both an intellectual and historical actor. The narrators intellectualism authenticates him, makes him relatable, places him in a French literary tradition, and facilitates his crimes. This intellectual bent allows the narrator to take an administrative position within the regime, granting him access to […]

Easun Arunachalam

Interplay between spatial organization and interconversion of different molecules leads to complex pattern formation in simple chemical systems. Some have suggested implications for biological systems, especially in the context of embryonic development. However, unlike idealized chemical systems, biological systems are characterized by complex and dynamic environments. Nevertheless, biological pattern formation appears to be largely stable. This stands in stark contrast to current theories, which predict extreme sensitivity to fluctuations and initial conditions in systems with feedback delays – delays in the response of a system to a stimulus. A comprehensive […]

Jeremy Goodwin

On May 18, 1935, amidst great fanfare, the National Housing Exposition opened at the newly constructed Pan Pacific Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. Organized under the auspices of the nascent Federal Housing Administration (FHA), the exposition featured numerous exhibits, ranging from model homes to a so-called Fountain of Fabric. Historians have long been aware of the critical importance of the FHA. By working with banks to guarantee long-term, amortized mortgages for homebuyers, the FHA was central to postwar processes of suburbanization (including the racially discriminatory practice of redlining). However, little […]

Michelle Tong

Homeless individuals experience increased risk for violence and victimization on the streets and in shelters, as well as by spouses, partners and acquaintances. Older homeless adults suffer from even higher rates of violent attacks, although research is limited with regards to risk factors associated with violence and victimization. With half of single homeless adults in the U.S. aged 50 and older and the rising median age of single homeless adults population, understanding the prevalence and nature of violence in this sub-population is crucial to direct future targeted interventions targeting. This […]

Stacey Dojiri

Many strains of Chlamydia suis, a bacteria that infects the intestinal tracts of pigs, are resistant to an antibiotic called tetracycline. My project studies whether the gene conferring tetracycline resistance can be transferred from Chlamydia suis to a different species – for example, Chlamydia trachomatis. C. trachomatis is the leading cause of bacterial sexually transmitted diseases and preventable blindness (or trachoma) in the world today, and tetracycline is one of the main antibiotics used to treat those infections. Because C. suis is genetically similar to C. trachomatis and both can […]

Elizabeth Juster

My research concerns El Lissitzky’s Proun artworks produced in the 1920s. Lissitzky was working in a very politically charged time amidst the Russian Revolution, and hoped to use art as the foundation for a new and better society. Purely geometric, evoking three-dimensionality, and in some instances architecture, the Proun artworks represent Lissitzky’s attempts to express new ideas, such as the fourth dimension and abstraction, through art. I hope to gain insight into Lissitzky’s own theoretical understandings of how space, time, and the viewer interact through the medium of artwork in […]

Moira Peckham

I am seeking to explore the intersection between water management techniques and structures (called acequias) and community identity in Abiqui, New Mexico. I’m taking a multifaceted approach to engage with this question. I am looking at the physical irrigation structures (constructed during the Spanish occupation of New Mexico) and their connection to other structures that are important to the community, archival and literary research, and oral histories regarding shared history and water use. Another important aspect of this project is that it is community engaged archaeological scholarship, meaning that there […]