Main content start
Research Notes
Summer Research Assistants Tackle Air and Water Issues, Political Speech, and More
Along with our western summer interns across the West, we are pleased to welcome a cohort of bright undergraduate students as Research Assistants on a number of fascinating projects.
Under the direction of Professor Bruce Cain and Senior Researcher Iris Hui, the RA’s will spend ten weeks exploring subjects ranging from integrated water management, air pollution and health issues, the history of Chinese railroad workers in the West, to computer assisted text analysis of congressional speeches and more. Please join us in welcoming our young researchers.
Summer 2017 Research Assistants
| Research Assistant | Topic | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Nikhil Basutkar | Air Pollution and Health in the Rural West | This project examines factors contributing to air pollution and how they relate to respiratory health in the American West. |
| Maggie Bruck | Ethnographic Study of Water Issues in Monterey County | This project examines local water issues and explores how regulatory frameworks operate to manage water resources. |
| Jason Chen | Textual Analysis of Congressional Speeches | Climate change and cybersecurity are two of the most pressing challenges of this century. When and how do senators talk about such issues? Using a web-scraped database of Senate floor speeches from 1990 until the present, this project applies natural language processing to shed light on critical determinants of political attitudes towards – and stances – on two important topics. |
| Tanvi Gambhir | Collaborative Governance: Integrated Regional Water Management in California | This project examines the factors that facilitate collaborative governance of cross-jurisidictional water issues in the state of California. |
| Caroline Kimmel | Coastal Cities and Counties’ Climate Change Adaptation in California | This project examines preparedness among coastal cities and counties in California for climate change. |
| Johnstone Kipyator | Energy Grid in Kenya | This project examines the potential for green energy production and an energy grid in Kenya. |
| Cole McFaul | Air Pollution and Health in the Rural West | This project examines factors contributing to air pollution and how they relate to respiratory health in the American West. |
| Regan Pecjak | Air Pollution and Health in the Rural West | This project examines factors contributing to air pollution and how they relate to respiratory health in the American West. |
| Ron Pritipaul | Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project | I will be working on mapping the contribution of Chinese Railroad workers on the railroads of Western Washington. I may be incorporating textual analysis of Seattle newspapers to bolster my research and observe trends in news stories of Chinese-Americans in the 1870’s to 80’s. |
| Jack Seigenthaler | Ethnographic Study of Water Issues in Monterey County | This project examines local water issues and explores how regulatory frameworks operate to manage water resources. |
| Ada Statler-Throckmorton | Air Pollution and Health in the Rural West | California is known for its progressive energy and climate policy, but fewer people know much about where that energy actually comes from. A substantial portion of the state's energy, both renewable and fossil fuel-based, comes from Kern County, a rural and politically conservative area north of Los Angeles. This project is a look at how the changing energy sector is affecting the lives of rural workers in the industry. |
This summer, follow our students’ activities on the Out West student blog. During the summer quarter, Center's interns will be sending in virtual postcards, snapshots and reports on their work at organizations throughout the West.
Recent Center News
The nationally competitive award supports graduate studies for students committed to public service careers.
Interior scraps environmental reviews for 3,244 oil leases across the West; Boebert pushes to delist wolves; rural western towns demand release of frozen climate funds; Tribes still lack access to Colorado River water; California salmon fishing faces another shutdown; wildfire season expected to intensify; and more environmental news from the American West.
With promises of jobs and hopes for tax breaks, server farms are reshaping local grids, plumbing, and politics. Are they a boon for communities, or a burden?