The power of sharing food with one another

.Reading time 9 minutes.

Two years and over 5.5 million Covid-19 deaths later (in the US, as of this writing, we’re screaming towards one million) – these figures being conservative estimates, because countless cases remain unreported – we humans continue to bear the terrible brunt of a global health crisis that has morphed into compounding socio-political, psychological, and economic […]

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Wildfires affect California tribes in myriad ways: some more visible than others

.Reading time 10 minutes.

In my most recent article for PBS Southern California, KCET News, “California tribes support each other and seek inclusion in State wildfire response,” I relate how different tribes across Northern and Southern California address ongoing wildfire emergencies that impact tribal members living on tribal trust lands (reservations and rancherias). Flames were racing towards the Big […]

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What it means to be a whistleblower

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Choosing to be a person of authentic integrity is a key part of my identity. It isn’t easy. Actually, that’s an understatement. It is frickin’ hard, and sometimes horridly difficult. Oftentimes there are no personal benefits, other than the quiet certitude of knowing I did the right thing.) In the worlds of business or academia, […]

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Science + art in an award-winning video poem

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Years ago, when I taught introductory biology to university undergraduates, covering the topic of cell division meant guiding students through understanding and memorizing the stages of mitosis (asexual reproduction, essentially cells duplicating existing genetic code) and meiosis (sexual reproduction, where cells divide to create new genetic combinations). While I directed my students to academic videos […]

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