Harvard Division of Continuing Education

Private conservation land trusts play a critical role in the attainment of important global climate and biodiversity-related goals, so it is important they make well-informed, strategic decisions about which lands to protect, considering a variety of factors including the ecological, social, and economic. This thesis research evaluated the robustness of a land acquisition prioritization tool designed for Kentucky Natural Lands Trust (KNLT) as an academic exercise by students in a practicum for a Harvard Extension School Land Conservation course. The prioritization tool aimed to guide KNLT’s land acquisition strategy by ranking 23 potential acquisitions (parcels) in the Cumberland Mountain region of Kentucky, USA. The study first conducted a sensitivity analysis of the original prioritization tool by testing the impact of changing importance scores of selection criteria on the parcel rankings. Then parcel level cost analysis was completed using The Nature Conservancy’s Stewardship Calculator to obtain the parcel level cost of acquisition and long-term stewardship. Finally, statistical correlations between parcel rank and cost were examined. Results revealed a robust parcel prioritization tool that experienced minimal changes in rankings despite altering the importance weight of selection criteria. Results also demonstrated a weak, negative correlation between parcel rank and cost, challenging the assumption that the higher-priority parcels would be more costly to protect. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating ecological and economic considerations into conservation planning and provide KNLT with insights to inform actions that can help further protect Cumberland Mountain.

The screenplay, Behind the Hedges, is a romantic thriller with a high-society criminal twist. It follows the story of 30-year-old Samantha Lowenstein, an ocean-rescue, first responder who is forced to confront a former love, while facing dangers from a well-connected, sex trafficking network operating in the shadows of her Hamptons community. Our culture often sanitizes the devastating psychological, physical, mental, and emotional effects of human trafficking. This feature screenplay is an exploration to raise awareness of the global epidemic of human sex trafficking. It juxtaposes a love story that reveals the power inherent in love to triumph over all things both good and bad with the smoke and mirror show of high society criminals who profit from the sex trafficking of children and young women. Samantha’s story deals with fundamental concerns of human nature like faith, family, friendship, freedom, greed, and love.

With the increasing intensity of climate change, there is a growing need to identify effective interventions to promote pro-environmental behavior (PEB). An experimental study evaluated the effectiveness of a multi-component intervention consisting of environmental education, a carbon footprint analysis, an action planning activity, and social interaction combined into a live-virtual workshop format on fostering PEB among individuals already engaged in the climate space. The final analytic sample was composed of 146 participants, divided into a waitlist control group and a treatment group. Data were collected through baseline and follow up surveys and supplemented by optional virtual interviews. The results revealed that the treatment group incorporated twice as many new sustainable actions than the control group post-intervention across the six behavioral categories (M = 1.38 vs. M = 0.75, p = .006). The treatment group noted that the carbon calculator was the most impactful aspect of the intervention (31.5%, n = 23). Although the intervention increased PEB, it did not influence overall environmental knowledge. Both groups exhibited similar intrinsic motivations, environmental concern and social responsibility, as well as extrinsic barriers, financial and time constraints. Of those in the treatment group, 46.5% (n = 20) shared intervention learnings with their communities suggesting that the intervention may have a more wide ranging impact beyond the direct participants. Overall, the research findings support the concept that a workshop can promote PEB in individuals with preexisting high levels of sustainability knowledge and engagement.

This thesis examines the activities and impact of the New-York Manumission Society from its founding in 1785 through the passage of New York State's gradual manumission act in 1799. The emphasis on this period, as opposed to the entire life of the Society through the mid-1800s, is that it provides an analysis of the Society’s multi-pronged strategy to achieve the main goal of the organization, which was an act of gradual manumission for New York State.

The Society worked through four main pillars of activity, which were preventing the kidnapping of free Black people, establishing and operating the African Free School, correspondence and communication on both a national and international level, and influencing state legislation. Led by noteworthy New York citizens and using a decentralized structure composed of members with numerous professional backgrounds, the Society was able to show their genuine concern for the plight of slaves and those illegally held in bondage in the city. The Society’s methodical activity towards weakening the institution of slavery helped define the standard of a responsible citizen in the new republic with respect to ending an abhorrent institution.

This thesis presents, through an analysis of records related to the Society and its members, that its measured and incremental approach to promoting manumission, while imperfect and one not always welcomed by Black or white New Yorkers, was ultimately successful in contributing towards establishing the conditions necessary for the state’s 1799 gradual manumission act.

This thesis is a work of applied anthropology that explores the lived experiences of women in the professional fire service in Northern Virginia. Utilizing a qualitative phenomenological and autoethnographic methodology, this research is grounded in in-depth interviews with women firefighters, whose narratives illuminate the professional challenges and personal resilience in a field historically dominated by men. This study seeks to understand how entrenched gender biases shape women’s experiences and the implications for women firefighters’ integration within the fire service by addressing the questions, what values do women firefighters emphasize when trying to succeed at their jobs and why? Key findings reveal that women seek respect, trust, and acceptance to achieve personal and professional fulfillment. The critical influence of firehouse culture and leadership dynamics largely plays into women’s experiences on the job. Participants detailed the complexities of navigating respect, trust, and acceptance in environments often steeped in gender bias. Participants highlighted how career progression, leadership dynamics, and the psychological toll of gendered challenges illustrate the systemic barriers that hinder women from achieving respect, trust, and acceptance in their career. The study underscores how respect, trust, and acceptance are often contingent on women exceeding performance expectations while navigating discriminatory practices, cultural stereotypes, and inconsistent support systems. As an applied anthropological study, the findings aim to contribute to understanding how informal and formal leadership can either cultivate an inclusive and equitable culture or perpetuate exclusionary practices. The findings also highlight the need for further research into leadership practices, career trajectories, department policy, and the nuanced impacts of firehouse culture on the professional and personal lives of women in this vital field.

Lipid nanoparticles have emerged as the dominant delivery technology for genetic medicines, reaching global use and attention with the success of mRNA-based COVID vaccines. However, LNPs face notable challenges related to biodegradability, extrahepatic targeting, and immunogenicity. VLPs, a newer class of protein-based nanocarriers, present a compelling alternative with distinct advantages including inherent biodegradability due to non-synthetic components, cellular targeting capability by leveraging viral surface proteins, and reduced immunogenicity enabling repeat-dose therapeutics.

This thesis systematically evaluates the applicability of LNP design and optimization concepts to VLPs to help explore parallels and potential divergences to investigate if VLPs should be considered the superior delivery technology. The concepts explored include mechanisms of nanoparticle formulation, cargo encapsulation, biodegradability, cellular uptake, endosomal escape, and immune system evasion. While significant design parallels exist, the primary challenge limiting VLPs is their slower manufacturing speed due to reliance on cellular expression systems. The conclusion of this document proposes a future usage of VLPs as a modular technology to help increase the speed of discovery and help bring VLPs into the mainstream.

This thesis considers the life of Deneys Reitz, a South African soldier, author and politician who was a key member of the Afrikaner ruling elite in South Africa in the first half of the twentieth century. This was a seminal period in South African history, which included the formation of the new Union of South Africa in 1910. During this time, a distinctive new South African identity, known as “South Africanism” developed, centered around reconciliation between the two primary white linguistic groups in South Africa, and an acceptance of South Africa’s place within the British Empire. Over time, under the influence of his mentor and future Prime Minister Jan Smuts, Reitz became a fervent advocate of this new philosophy and an ardent Anglophile. Through a biographical examination of Reitz’s life and works (and that of certain of his contemporaries), this thesis considers the factors that influenced moderate Afrikaners like Reitz to embrace this new identity. It contends that these factors were complex and multifaceted, and, at least initially, had more to do with personal loyalties and internal Afrikaner politics than a genuine ideological belief in the importance of reconciliation and the values of Empire. In some cases, like Reitz and Smuts, the ideological belief evolved over time. However, this thesis argues that at the heart of many other moderate Afrikaners’ acceptance of South Africanism lay a more transactional trade-off – a willingness to reconcile with their English-speaking countrymen and accept British sovereignty, in exchange for a restoration and protection of Afrikaner political and cultural rights and the economic and security benefits of being part of the British Empire. For many Afrikaners (particularly those who didn’t necessarily share Reitz and Smuts’ Anglophilia) this trade-off was arguably made more palatable in the years between the two World Wars by the increasing degree of autonomy afforded to the Afrikaner-controlled South African government as a result of Britain’s slow-motion retreat from Empire after the First World War. This thesis further contends that a key motivating factor underpinning the philosophy of South Africanism was a belief in the necessity of white racial solidarity between Afrikaners and English South Africans of British origin, which was ultimately prioritized over other linguistic, ethnic and class divisions. Finally, this thesis considers the role played by moderate South African women in creating this new South African identity, with a particular focus on Deneys Reitz’s wife Leila (a strong advocate for women’s rights and South Africa’s first female parliamentarian). It argues that women, both South African and British, played a key role in encouraging Afrikaner / English reconciliation. It also seeks to show how white racial unity became an important justificatory factor in the fight for female rights such as suffrage and birth control, and ultimately helped ensure a political alignment across the gender divide.

In this thesis I argue paranoid politics existed and was used against members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in nineteenth-century America, despite this otherization, a group of them voted as they desired, demanded their rights and challenged the definition of American citizenship. These voters in Pottawattamie County, Iowa pushed against being manipulated as they voted for the Whig Party despite the expectations of Democratic politicians, two bribery scandals and election-day threats. Following the election, the Iowa State Legislature nearly dissolved Pottawattamie County because of this bloc of Whig votes. A handful of state senators advocated for inclusion and upheld the county establishment by a slim margin. In doing so these state senators and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pressed the boundaries of freedom in the US to include more people, regardless of their demographic, race or religion.

This study centers around existential distress in the palliative care setting, a common phenomenon observed during life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer. The aim of the study was to explore how existential concerns and distress manifests across advanced cancer patients, how it is identified and assessed for severity, and how developmental differences (between older and younger patients) influence its presentation.

Eleven palliative care providers from cancer centers across the United States participated in this study. The sample included both inpatient and outpatient practitioners from sites with robust palliative care programs. This qualitative study utilized semi-structured interviews to gather insights on the nature of existential concerns and distress in their patient population.

The findings revealed universal manifestations of existential and patient concerns, irrespective of a patient's age. However, there were differences in the way those manifestation was expressed across age groups. Key time points for identifying existential distress were identified (acute prognosis, when role shifts and losses occur, and when behavioral changes occur), and developmental differences in existential domains and patient concerns were explored. The unexpected finding of countertransference and self-identification of providers with younger patients was also examined.

"Antibody therapeutics have a wide range of applications across many disease areas, including both monoclonal and bispecific molecules. During the initial identification and development of these antibody therapeutics, biophysical properties such as poor stability, low solubility, non-specificity, aggregation, or hydrophobicity can lead to unfavorable development and toxicity profiles. Non-specificity can be an early indicator of poor developability, but has mostly been studied in monoclonal antibodies, not bispecific antibodies. A diverse set of fourteen agonistic bispecific antibodies, composed of six unique binders for BMPRII and five unique binders for ALK1, were selected to be expressed and characterized for their biophysical properties. The agonist bispecific antibodies did not show appreciable increases in non-specificity compared to the parental monoclonal antibodies, although there was an increase in freeze-thaw induced aggregation in bispecific antibodies. These results indicate that the antibody format and biochemical properties of the antibody have a larger influence on overall developability than the mechanism of action of the bispecific antibody."