The People’s Cloud: Manifesting community- and eco-led digital spaces

For Branch Magazine’s The Open Climate Issue (20m audio essay, transcript below) We were told that the Internet would “de-materialise” society and decrease energy use. Instead the opposite is true: the internet has quickly become one of the most carbon intensive information processing systems. The solution isn’t as simple...

Nov 2022

STEM Connector

A summer fellowship at theLSI prepares Michigan under grads for the next leg of their STEM journey. This piece was written for UMich's 2022 magazine. Read the full thing here! Jacquelyn Roberts knows firsthand the power of authentic research opportunities for young scientists. “It only takes a single experience to start building your...

Jun 2022

AMELANCHIER

“Sure, but what’s the latin name,” Heather asks about the tree that’s starting to bloom in small white blushed blossoms around the property.  Heather’s boyfriend knows it as juneberry, but she insists that it is serviceberry, hence going back to the scientific jargon to properly identify and name the plant beyond the regional nicknames. They...

Jun 2022

Lost Connection: what we lose when we’re plugged in

Recently, I was asked to write a piece describing the “beauty of the Metaverse,” the augmented world through virtual reality. It’s arguably the next chapter of the internet and promises a new way to socialize and communicate with people around the world in a unique digital sphere. It’s made to be boundless, persistent, and immersive. It promises to...

Apr 2022

The Cancer Microbiome

In 2016, a group of scientists publishing in PLOS Biology estimated that our bodies contain not the commonly accepted 10 human cells for every one microorganism, but something closer to a 1-to-1 ratio — with these tiny counterparts collectively weighing 4 or 5 pounds. This “other half” of us plays a vital role in human health, with symbiont communities...

Jan 2022

Assumptions and Expectations when Communicating with the Unknown: Alien Listening Book Prompt

Book description: In 1977 NASA shot a mixtape into outer space, The Golden Record aboard the Voyager spacecraft contained world music and sounds of Earth to represent humanity to any extraterrestrial civilizations. To date, the Golden Record is the only home-made object to have left the solar system. Alien Listening asks the big questions that the Golden...

Dec 2021

Take Caution: Dangers of Heuristics and Headlines

A year into the pandemic, much more is known about the coronavirus. In any study, especially scientific ones, it takes time to collect data, it takes time to collect samples, it takes time to run experiments, and it takes time to find the right and diverse sample size to have meaningful and representative data. However, subsequent changes in public...

Nov 2021

Metaphors and Meaning: Light in the Darkness Book Prompt

This year, I’ve been hosting podcasts — a shocking thing to any of you who know that I hate public speaking and conversations with strangers — with the New Books Network. Luckily, once I finish their book, the authors no longer feel like strangers since I’ve spent time with their thoughts, their tone, their ideas for at least a few weeks. These interviews...

Oct 2021

A Different Perspective on the Light of Reason

Recently, a science-technology-engineering-math-medicine (STEAMM) project that I’ve been working on was published! EquilibriUM is a print magazine being distributed across the University of Michigan campus, but can also be found online. While I helped edit and put the project together, I also wrote a piece about how two modern philosophers, Descartes...

Dec 2020

Structure of the Pandemic

Note: This piece was published as a Commentary in the journal Structure! You can find it (paywalled) here, but I’m allowed to share the submitted version open access on my blog! Hope you enjoy, it’s one of my favorite things I’ve written to date. During global pandemics, the spread of information needs to be faster than the spread of the virus...

Aug 2020