Portfolio
Biodesign Challenge: Choosing an area of focus
In the last meeting, we recognized 4 topics that we wanted to combine as many as we can: community garden, urban green space, participatory design and road salt alternatives. In today’s meeting we chose the primary focus we want to move forward with. It is a year-round community garden that filters water. We also talked about actively involving the community members in the design process.
Biodesign Challenge: Narrowing it down
For the past several weeks, we have explored many subjects within the realm of biodesign. Now, it’s time to narrow down our areas of interest into a central project.
Biodesign Challenge: In awe of green space
In a world made of concrete and various impermeable surfaces, a patch of green can mean much more than a slice of grass. Green is natural and it’s vital for human health. It can be a beacon of community or a symbol of awe and its importance to cities is a tragically overlooked aspect of urban design.
Getting Started
Today was the first meeting for the 2021 Biodesign Challenge. To get started, we watched the videos of the winning teams from last year. We discussed our thoughts on their projects and took notes on winning qualities they had in common. After learning about what the...
SCL internship with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
As the world went online and many internship opportunities dried up this spring, I had the good fortune of connecting with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) through the Science Communication Lab (SCL). The two organizations formed a “MPCA-SCL hybrid”...
Anaerobic digestion: Mid process review
By Caroline Frischmon Did you know that the biggest contributor to landfills in the U.S. is wasted food? We don’t eat about 40% of what’s produced in the country each year, but there’s a better solution than landfilling all this food. Anaerobic digestion turns the...
Volunteering as an ally
The word "ally" has floated around social media for the last few weeks as non-Black people learn what they can do to fight racial injustice. I’m not the best person to explain the importance of anti-racist allies since I don’t personally experience racism, but I...
Racial injustice shouldn’t just pop up on your Twitter feed
It’s felt pretty silly to write about science this last week amidst everything going on around us. I read descriptions of the officer’s murderous actions against George Floyd but didn’t have it in me to actually watch the video until Sunday night. Immediately after, I...
If you are trying to process the murder of George Floyd
If you are one of my Facebook friends who is not from Minneapolis and is white, this post is for you. If you are trying to process the murder of George Floyd and the ongoing protests without seeking guidance and information from the Black community, you are doing it...