The Vandal Theory

“Currently, we don’t know anything about violent incarcerated political communities. We don’t know anything about their recidivism rates. There are currently no studies or databases that — to the best of my knowledge — exists in the western world that will give us some direction as to what recidivism looks like among this unique community of offenders.” Meet, Omi Hodwitz (bit.ly/2I2Ym0N), an assis...

“When I’m in a fatigue state, I might not be in that physical readiness to handle that misstep, right? And so, often times, we think that the injury comes with your foot hitting the ground and it’s the result of how your body responds to that foot that’s hitting the ground that my group anticipates is the reason, right? So, it’s not necessarily the level, the impact, it’s how my body responds to t...

“I really think a lot of us don’t like to identify as say simply an artist or simply a scientist or whatever it is that maybe is the category that defines us best. I think we like to think about ourselves as more complicated people. And I think a lot of the environmental challenges we’re facing ask us to be more complicated people, right, and step outside of our disciples and try on different poin...

“When you are a part of a group that has been marginalized or you have only a small representation in a broader space, a lot of times you are not free to express yourself in the way in which you would around people that identify the same way you do.” Meet Sydney Freeman Jr. (bit.ly/2H65Ejd), an associate professor in the Department of Leadership and Counseling (bit.ly/3dl3g4o) at the University of...

“Each milk sample that we looked at was full of a rich and diverse bacteri[um] And we now really believe that that milk — what we call microbiome or the microbes in milk, the bacteria in milk — are really setting up the baby’s intestinal track to have a healthy microbiome, which we now think is incredibly important for health. For long-term health and short-term health.” Meet Shelley McGuire (bit....

Meet Lil Alessa (bit.ly/2SLSRFH), professor and co-director of the Center for Resilient Communities at the University of Idaho. We all know fake news exists, and you’ve probably noticed fake news about COVID-19 zooming by on your social media feeds. Lil and a group of academics are spending part of their time searching out disinformation on COVID-19 as it pops up. They then try and figure out whet...

Meet Lorie Higgins (bit.ly/2YGMGqa), a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology and an Extension specialist at the University of Idaho. Many COVID-19 hot zones are located in large cities, but small towns and rural areas aren’t immune to the virus. Lorie, who’s an expert on rural communities, thinks there are likely benefits and challenges to living outside of big...

Meet Jamie Derrick (bit.ly/3dwF7a1), an associate professor in the Department of Psychology and Communications Studies at the University of Idaho. I think we can all agree that going through a pandemic is stressful. Whether it’s concern for the health of our loved ones, job and food security or balancing childcare and work, there is a lot to keep us up at night. Jamie knows about stress, what trig...

Meet Tanya Miura (bit.ly/35FhIQR), an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho. Unlike many of us, Tanya knew about coronaviruses before the current pandemic. She has studied this family of viruses throughout her entire career. Although no one is an expert on COVID-19 yet, Tanya has been following the outpouring of research on the virus, the spread of...

“I’m not sure everyone’s aware, but Idaho is known for potatoes… We grow over 322,000 acres of potatoes and produce over a third of the potatoes in the U.S.” Meet Jenny Durrin (bit.ly/2OHI1PG), the director of the Seed Potato Germplasm Program at the University of Idaho. Whether we are talking about French fries from McDonald’s or the small purple potatoes you find at farmers markets, 90% of potat...

“You’ll hear it at large native gatherings and small native gatherings. Someone will say ‘all my relations.’ What they mean is not…grandma and grandpa. They do mean that, but, when they say ‘all my relations,’ they’re looking out across the entire existence of what we see. The trees. The rocks. The whole works. We have a connection to all that. We’re not separate from the natural system. We’re jus...

“Our analysis starts with a database, essentially a model of the entire economy. You’re painting a numeric picture of the economy and what the drivers are.” Meet Steve Peterson (bit.ly/2O2MFap), an associate clinical professor at the University of Idaho. Steve is an economist who lends his knowledge to regional businesses, non-profits and other organizations. He writes economic assessments for the...

“Our students would…rationalize their risky behavior by comparing themselves to their peers who they say also take similar actions and have remained safe.” Meet Dilshani Sarathchandra (bit.ly/2O7SLFw), an assistant professor at the University of Idaho. Dilshani is a sociologist who studies risk assessment. She focuses not on the calculations behind risk assessment, but how our human emotions and f...

“The most recent economic data that I could find were for 2011, and both salmon and steelhead fisheries brought in around $90 million to the state…It’s not a trivial part of our economy.” Meet Mike Quist (bit.ly/2MUHBnY), an associate professor at the University of Idaho. Mike spends his time at U of I fishing. OK, that’s a bit simplistic. He actually studies fish, including the best ways to manag...

“Someone reported that they were finding…single-use plastic bags in the Mariana Trench, which is one of the deepest places in the ocean, and it’s kind of remarkable just how far it’s traveled. And I’m a believer that this is a particular issue that we have social capital around, and we can actually see changes. That we can see behavioral changes.” Meet Anastasia Telesetsky, (bit.ly/2Pufm15) a prof...

“These pictures of enslaved people…they’re primarily well-dressed studio portraits. They don’t show enslaved people visible dissenting from their position. And so what I talk about is how we see in the 1840s and 1850s slave holders taking up what is a neutral visual technology and warping it and turning it toward particular political ends. I call this dynamic in particular a quiet habit of dominat...

“We really started thinking about, what do we want to explore on Titan? We want to explore these interesting organic grains…Of course, organic stuff is…what life is made of. It’s made of carbon-based molecules. And so when we’re looking at Titan we’re looking at the most exciting carbon chemistry anywhere but Earth.” Meet Jason Barnes (bit.ly/2Wllnyx), who was recently promoted to professor at the...

In this episode, I talk about a number of topics in which climate change intersects with society — topics that can often get overlooked in climate change discussions. I reached out to three U of I faculty including a geographer who specializes in community planning (Andrew Kliskey, professor), a lawyer who focuses on Native American law and water rights (Dylan Hedden-Nicely, associate professor),...

Since temperature and precipitation can influence the growth and health of plants and animals, it’s easy to think climate change may affect agriculture, ranching and commercial aquaculture, industries intrinsic to Idaho’s economy. I’ve called up three U of I faculty members with expertise in these fields: Jodi Johnson-Maynard, department head for Soil and Water Systems; Ron Hardy, director of the...

In Season 1 of the Vandal Theory, I'm investigating how climate change is affecting Idaho, since the local effects of climate change vary from place to place. First, I'm exploring how climate change affects Idaho’s natural landscapes, everything from the sagebrush steppe in the south to the forests of the north. I ended up talking with four of U of I’s faculty members, all of whom are experts on c...