I recently visited the Paths of Life exhibit at the Arizona State Museum, and was dismayed at their simplistic representation of identity and history of the Tohono O'odham (a local tribe in the US Southwest). Here, I take short a research-style approach to analyzing the exhibit.
Many Native Hawaiians don't want tourists. Though U.S. citizens may consider Hawaii a typical state, Hawaiians consider their land to be an occupied territory.
Though gender roles are clearly defined, in Zuni culture, gender is not tightly bound to biological sex. Zuni sacred history promotes a cultural role for people of a third "middle" gender.
In our bodies, microbiota like bacteria outnumber our human cells 10 to 1. Yet, we know almost nothing about our microbiome and how it reacts to "disturbances" such as starvation. I take a research paper style approach to discussing what we expect given our understanding of "macrobiotic" ecosystems.
An evaluation of a highly influential work in theoretical food web ecology--sure, it's been successful, but would science philosopher Karl Popper have liked it? Can generative models of ecological networks use "strong inference" as defined by J.R. Platt? I investigate.
A light-hearted analysis of my home parking lot "habitat" as an ecological community and a satire on ecological jargon.