Tag: Poster 168

Traditional Knowledge as the Essential Component in Preservation of the Environment and Culture in the Arctic

Presenter(s): Trenton Martinez − Environmental Science

Faculty Mentor(s): Mark Carey

Poster 168

Research Area: Environmental Science

Indigenous communities within the Arctic region directly experience the consequences of climate change and have been disproportionately impacted. However, environmental projects and research concerned with these regions have failed to consider the cultural values and traditions of the local people. Popular world-views have contributed to the marginalization of indigenous populations in the Arctic as they are perceived as insignificant in relation to the global population. Thus, traditional knowledge is an essential component in collecting observational data and developing sustainable practices that maintain the community’s values, traditions, and relationship with the environment. Through examination of specific cases, the importance and use of traditional knowledge is demonstrated in its implementation, or lack thereof, within environmental strategy, design, and practice. Collectively, some of the most valuable data and information was obtained from oral narratives that provide an environmental history, personal experiences of environmental events and disasters, and the cultural adaptations, including hunting and traveling behaviors, as a response to local observations of environmental changes. This type of data is scientific knowledge specific to the region and culture, which prevent generalizations to be made through comparisons between similar environments without comparing differences between indigenous cultures as well. Incorporating these cultural aspects ensures that strategies to combat climate change protect the lives as well as the values and traditions of the people.

Oregon’s Gender Bias in Regards to Capital Punishment; the Complications and Implications Scholarly Article

Presenter(s): Lydia Giersch

Faculty Mentor(s): Noah Glusman

Poster 168

Session: Social Activism ARC

In our research, we analyzed the role that gender plays in correlation to capital punishment in Oregon. Our research started through an abolitionary point of view in regards to the death penalty; we examined gender and its intersections with age and race. After taking a deeper look at gender, we found a multitude of diverse viewpoints. However, the facts are that women only account for 2-3 percent of those executed while they make up 10 percent of those convicted. Our research and project centers around the reasoning behind these facts. We found that women’s cases were greatly impacted by cultural narratives, unlike male convictions which encompass the mass majority of death row cases. For example, when a woman is convicted of murder, she is more likely to be sentenced to death if the murder is of a loved one, such as an intimate partner, family member or child. We believe that this stems from a break in our cultural norms as women are supposed to be caretakers, gentle and loving. The judicial system generally empathizes with women until they break these cultural norms, in which case women receive harsher punishments. When these cultural roles and their correlation to the death penalty are examined for men, it seems as though men are being sentenced to death at a higher rate than women.