A Study of the Feasibility of a Transfer of Development Rights Program in Lewiston, Maine

This project was conducted in collaboration with David Hedinger in Lewiston’s City Planning Office in order to assess the feasibility of a Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) Program in Lewiston. The overall aim of this project was to apply scholarly literature, findings from case studies, and input from experienced professionals to determine what successful TDR programs look like, the factors they possess, and the conditions present. The primary problem that TDR programs seek to address is urban sprawl, or the slow spread of development outside of the urban centers into the rural fringes. Urban sprawl has two chief components: 1) it leads to the loss of valuable environmental assets, open space, and potential agricultural land to development; and 2) it pulls money and investment outside of urban centers and leaves them economically depressed and sometimes even blighted (Bruegmann 2005, 160). In terms of Lewiston, while on a smaller scale than many other cities across the country, the problems of urban sprawl are still being felt. A TDR program, which allows a landowner to voluntarily relinquish their right to develop on their rural land and sell that right to a developer looking to increase density in the urban or suburban growth zones, has been a proven to be a reasonable and cost effective way to mitigate the problems of sprawl. A successful TDR program, however, requires certain conditions and factors to be present. Many TDR programs across the country and even in Maine have failed because they were either improperly designed or under-stimulated by market conditions. The leading cause of failure in a TDR program is a lack of demand for high density development (Pruetz & Standridge 2009, 80). Without this necessary demand there is no driving force that will spur a TDR program into motion. Additionally, we found that the most effective TDR programs at preserving land are those administered at the county, regional, or state level (King County 2014; Montgomery County 2008; Pinelands 2009). Our primary findings show that there are many factors that lead to successful TDR programs. And while Lewiston may possess the physical makeup of a successful TDR program: designated urban growth zones and large tracts of rural and agricultural land, it still lacks many factors that may be difficult to stimulate in the short term. We conclude with these remarks and offer a few alternatives to traditional TDR programs that could also be used to preserve land and promote smart growth

Apocalyptic Simplification as Human Renewal: Examining the Tropes of Hope found in Post-Apocalyptic American Literature of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries

An examination of six novels spanning one century of American post-apocalyptic anxiety-- The Scarlet Plague, by Jack London; Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart; Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank; The Postman by David Brin; and the World Made By Hand series, by James Howard Kunstler. Through close readings, the author establishes the thesis that post-apocalyptic American literature is ultimately a genre of hope. The themes of food, manly agency, and symbolism are explored, and the trope of simplification as renewal and salvation is identified

Expanded phenotypic spectrum of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorder Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome with 38 additional individuals.

Bryant-Li-Bhoj syndrome (BLBS), which became OMIM-classified in 2022 (OMIM: 619720, 619721), is caused by germline variants in the two genes that encode histone H3.3 (H3-3A/H3F3A and H3-3B/H3F3B) [1-4]. This syndrome is characterized by developmental delay/intellectual disability, craniofacial anomalies, hyper/hypotonia, and abnormal neuroimaging [1, 5]. BLBS was initially categorized as a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome caused by de novo heterozygous variants in either H3-3A or H3-3B [1-4]. Here, we analyze the data of the 58 previously published individuals along 38 unpublished, unrelated individuals. In this larger cohort of 96 people, we identify causative missense, synonymous, and stop-loss variants. We also expand upon the phenotypic characterization by elaborating on the neurodevelopmental component of BLBS. Notably, phenotypic heterogeneity was present even amongst individuals harboring the same variant. To explore the complex phenotypic variation in this expanded cohort, the relationships between syndromic phenotypes with three variables of interest were interrogated: sex, gene containing the causative variant, and variant location in the H3.3 protein. While specific genotype-phenotype correlations have not been conclusively delineated, the results presented here suggest that the location of the variants within the H3.3 protein and the affected gene (H3-3A or H3-3B) contribute more to the severity of distinct phenotypes than sex. Since these variables do not account for all BLBS phenotypic variability, these findings suggest that additional factors may play a role in modifying the phenotypes of affected individuals. Histones are poised at the interface of genetics and epigenetics, highlighting the potential role for gene-environment interactions and the importance of future research