Coastal Capital: Dominican Republic: Case Studies on the Economic Value of Coastal Ecosystems in the Dominican Republic

Illustrates the benefits coralline beaches, reefs, and mangroves in various parts of the country offer, including providing protection against beach erosion, habitats for fisheries, potential tourism growth in protected marine areas, and local tourism

The Implications of Venus in the Interwar Oeuvre of James Guy

American Social Surrealist James Guy was a Communist proletarian artist who created works of art that depicted the social inequities he witnessed and experienced during the Great Depression. As a working-class artist, Guy painted images of daily life with recognizable and accessible iconography that allowed his fellow manual laborers to relate to the depicted scene. Guy distorted commonplace experiences through the filter of Surrealism to create absurd, illogical, and nightmarish environments to critique contemporary society. Guy worked to spark the realization of the viewer that they were subjected to the same injustices as the figures in his paintings. In this manner, the political beliefs of the artist directed his production, providing the ideological framework that allowed him to develop the class consciousness that facilitated the recognition of his mistreatment and the disadvantaged position of proletarian women due to their intersectional identities. This thesis will argue that the 1937 painting Venus on Sixth Avenue (Cinderella) by James Guy is a visual example of the Communist beliefs of the artist. This piece was created to reveal the negative treatment of proletarian women and the apathy of the upper-class women who established and reinforced the social hierarchy present in this painting. Guy employed the motif of the goddess Venus to demonstrate the opposite experiences of working-class and wealthy women. Guy relied on Venus’ associated attributes of sexuality and fertility to build the image of a wealthy, elegant, idealized, 1930s woman. The goddess is placed on a pedestal with a deferential admirer below, while a gagged female telephone operator occupies the foreground and a picketing woman marches along the left border. Venus is indifferent to the violence and danger that the working women experience, representing the lack of concern of the moneyed classes for the visible struggle of the working class. Guy used Venus in two other works, The Evening of the Ball and The Sailors Farewell, both were likely created in 1937. The repetition of this figure establishes a link between the three compositions. In each instance, Venus is the foil to the proletarian women, serving to highlight the discrepancy in beauty, status, social treatment, and prescribed cultural roles

Empathy Heals: The Effects of Patient-Centered Communication on Women Oncology Patients in Gender-Discordant Dyads

Patient-centered communication (PCC) is an important component of healthcare. It is defined as a version of healthcare that is both respectful and responsive to the patient’s needs, values, and preferences while encouraging shared clinical decision-making between a patient and their physician. PCC has numerous benefits for the patient, including but not limited to increases in trust, social support, self-care skills, emotional management, and reduced suffering. However, there are populations that face substantially reduced quality of PCC, such as cancer patients. This may be due to circumstances unique to cancer diagnoses, such as the nature of the disease itself, particular difficulty establishing trust, and disruptions in the physician’s desire to practice good communication skills. The quality of PCC is further limited when factors such as gender are considered, particularly in gender-discordant dyads. Research demonstrates that the worst quality of PCC is found between a female patient and a male physician. In the context of cancer, this is likely exacerbated by specific struggles that women face as a result of cancer and communication styles of male physicians. These factors in combination with each other suggest that PCC quality is substantially worse between a female cancer patient and male physician while being the most needed

Coastal Capital -- Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs in Tobago and St. Lucia

Presents findings on the economic benefits of coral reefs to the local economies of Tobago and St. Lucia, using a new, broadly applicable methodology that focuses on benefits to tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Includes policy applications

Walking Towards the Horizon: Understanding the Impact of Latin American Organizations

This paper will discuss the outcomes of Social Movement Organizations (SMOs) working in an organizational field of Latin American immigrant-based organizations. Data on the strategies and outcomes of these SMOs were collected from a general field survey as well as interviews with six leaders of SMOs serving Latin American immigrant populations, spanning New York State. A qualitative analysis of their responses will be used to better understand what the impact of organizing strategy looks like for organizations working on behalf of Latin American immigrant communities in different community contexts. The report will place examples of contemporary organizations in a model of professionally operated SMO outcomes based on multi-institutional systems and social movement theories, and using a historical backdrop to better understand what system of institutions the sample set of SMOs and their beneficiary populations emerges from

An estimation of potential salmonid habitat capacity in the upper mainstem Eel River, California

In Northern California’s Eel River watershed, the two dams that make up the Potter Valley Project (PVP) restrict the distribution and production of anadromous salmonids, and current populations of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead trout (O. mykiss) in the upper mainstem Eel River are in need of recovery. In anticipation of the upcoming FERC relicensing of the PVP, this project provides an estimation of the extent of potential salmonid habitat and its capacity for steelhead trout and Chinook Salmon in the upper mainstem Eel River watershed above the impassable Scott Dam. Using three fish passage scenarios, potential Chinook Salmon habitat was estimated between 89-127 km (55-79 mi) for spawning and rearing; potential steelhead trout habitat was estimated between 318-463 km (198-288 mi) for spawning and between 179-291 km (111-181 mi) for rearing. Rearing habitat capacity was modeled with the Unit Characteristic Method, which used surrogate fish density values specific to habitat units (i.e. pools, riffles, runs) that were adjusted by measured habitat conditions. Redd capacity was modeled and resulted in up to ten times the number of spawners compared to those recruited from parr capacity estimates using life stage-specific survival rates. Capacity for rearing juveniles was suggested to be most limiting to production for both Chinook Salmon and steelhead trout, although more accurate survival rates for all life stages for each species is needed. Ample potential spawning habitat, however, suggests an opportunity for spawners to saturate the stream seedbank for egg recruits, and as rearing capacity is reached in the streams above Scott Dam, subsequent juveniles may then emigrate to non-natal habitat downstream of Scott Dam

Gender Representation in the Vision Sciences: A Longitudinal Study

Understanding the current status and historical trends of gender representation within a research field is an important component of fostering a diverse and inclusive scientific community. Here, we report on the gender representation of a large sample of the vision science research community—the attendees of the Annual Meeting of the Vision Sciences Society (VSS). Our analysis shows that the majority of scientists at all career levels in our sample are male. This imbalance is most pronounced for the senior scientists, whereas predoctoral students are nearly balanced between the genders. Historically, the gender imbalance was larger than it is at present, and it has followed a slow-but-steady trend toward gender parity over the past decade. A longitudinal analysis based on tracking individual attendees shows a larger dropout rate for female than male predoctoral trainees. However, among the trainees who continue in the vision science field after graduate school, evidence suggests that career advancement is quite similar between the genders. In an additional analysis, we found that the VSS Young Investigator awardees and the abstract review committee members reflect substantial gender imbalances, suggesting that these recognitions have yet to catch up with the greater gender balance of the rising generation of junior vision scientists. We hope that this report will encourage awareness of issues of diversity in the scientific community and further promote the development of a research field in which all talented scientists are supported to succeed