Science Policy Workshop with Deborah Stine

Posted on November 21, 2021     Leave a Comment

I am looking forward to inviting Dr. Deborah Stine to Princeton for this half-day workshop. Princeton Citizen Scientists will be hosting this event in conjunction with GradFutures – it promises to be a great day for all interested in pursuing policy after Princeton.

USAEE Case Competition

Posted on November 11, 2021     Leave a Comment

Proud of our team for placing second in this year’s United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) case competition. This year’s prompt meant analyzing the fairest and most feasible means of allocating carbon direct removal (CDR) efforts internationally.

I am admittedly wary of conversations that revolve around CDR, as they can divert attention from the critical emissions mitigation efforts that should come first. CDR is useful if we rely on it to reverse historical emissions; it should not be wielded to delay divestment from fossil fuels. Despite this hesitation, I did enjoy the opportunity to do a deep-dive on the ethics and geographic potential of international CDR efforts. This was a great chance for me to think deeply about fair solutions to international collaboration. And I was thrilled to be able to team up with these colleagues (fellow students) whom I so deeply respect.

Most of my portion of our prize money will go to The Conservation Fund. The Conservation Fund protects America’s natural resources to ‘promote climate resiliency’. This is one of my preferred charitable organizations; it gets an ‘A+’ rating from CharityWatch for its transparent and efficient use of donations.

Wintersession Class

Posted on October 29, 2021     Leave a Comment

I am proud to have been accepted to teach a Princeton Wintersession class on Science Communication. We formed our curriculum in collaboration with Princeton Insights, an organization that aggregates and summarizes important research coming out of the university. In our class, we will be exploring how to conduct and explain research in order to maximize its public impact and political relevance.

Ethical, fact-based public policy is a core passion of mine. Writing this mini-course has been a great exploration in policy and the research that justifies and underpins it.

USAEE Case Competition

Posted on October 17, 2021     Leave a Comment

Proud to be advancing to the final round of the 2021 United States Association for Energy Economics (USAEE) case competition. This year’s prompt had competitors do a deep-dive on the ethics and technologies associated with carbon direct removal (CDR) as a means of mitigating international emissions.

Our team was comprised of five members of the ZERO Lab at Princeton. We considered equity, capability, and cost-effectiveness in order to propose a framework for fair and efficient allocation of international CDR responsibility. Our team will present alongside one other finalist team on November 8th.

ZERO Lab – In Person!

Posted on September 1, 2021     Leave a Comment

After a year and a half of working remotely with this wonderful cohort, we recently finally assembled in person for the first time. I have been fortunate to work with such driven and accomplished colleagues; I am thrilled that the time has come to continue that work (safely!) face-to-[masked]-face.

Princeton Citizen Scientists

Posted on July 19, 2021     Leave a Comment

I was recently elected the president of Princeton Citizen Scientists for the 2021 – 2022 school year. This coming year, our group aims to:

  • Lead a Wintersession course on science communication for Princeton undergraduates. This class would be a collaboration with Princeton Insights.
  • Resume our annual trip to Washington DC, where PCS members discuss science advocacy issues of interest with representatives on Capitol Hill.
  • Host a seminar session with colleagues from Germany and abroad, comparing climate movements across the globe.
  • Continue the efforts of the PCS RISE taskforce, which was funded for a survey on the sources of systemic injustice in science and academia.
  • Work with science advocates at Rutgers University in order to establish a firm local intercollegiate advocacy network.

This past year, PCS has taught me so much about science advocacy. I eagerly anticipate the ability for PCS to gather in person post-pandemic, and look forward to seeing what comes from our work over the upcoming academic year.

PECS and STEP

Posted on May 4, 2021     Leave a Comment

I am thrilled and honored to have been awarded two fellowships yesterday.

The first is through the High Meadows Environmental Institute’s Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy program (HMEI-STEP). I was awarded the fellowship for my proposed STEP thesis project, Examining Reforestation Potential of Agricultural Land in the Continental United States. I will be advised by professor David Wilcove, and will be using this thesis as an opportunity to think more deeply about the political and economic implications of placing biological carbon sinks on farmland in the US.

The second fellowship is a two-year position with Princeton Energy and Climate Scholars (PECS). This fellowship will be an opportunity to meet monthly with a suite of peers and professors to discuss our work and current progress in the field. PECS will also involve community outreach, and will be a fantastic opportunity for enhanced discourse on and off campus.

I have been working towards these programs for a few years now, as they seemed like the perfect opportunity to get involved with climate policy. I eagerly await the chance to work with many respected colleagues through both of these awards.

QCB Colloquium

Posted on April 8, 2021     Leave a Comment

When my cohort was asked to sit in on Quantitative and Computational Biology (QCB) colloquium talks upon arrival on campus, my primary reaction was abject terror: I was a nervous public speaker, and I couldn’t imagine getting to a place in my research where I could speak calmly and confidently like the second-years were doing for all of us. My colloquium talk yesterday felt extremely full-circle, and was exciting evidence of the progress I have made during this pandemic. It has been inordinately rewarding to see the strides my classmates have made in exploring research topics that interest them. An interdisciplinary field certainly promotes great diversity in problems explored.

Princeton Citizen Scientists General Interest Meeting

Posted on March 29, 2021     Leave a Comment

PCS will be hosting a GIM on April 14th, 2021. We will be discussing projects / events completed this academic year, as well as plans for the future and upcoming PCS elections. Please reach out to me by the morning of April 14th for information on accessing the virtual meeting. More information available on the PCS announcements page.

Tufts Students in Biological Computation

Posted on February 16, 2021     Leave a Comment

It was exciting to speak yesterday to current Tufts students interested in computational biology! It is always a joy to hear from colleagues researching a wide array of vital questions. CompBio is a particularly interdisciplinary field – in my experience, this tends to breed healthy cooperation and collaboration in the community.

Glad to see clubs are popping up to address this field! No organizations like this existed when I was a Jumbo.