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SWEET Co(LAB)orative

The SWEET Col(LAB)orative is an environmental studies research group who often, but not always, use insects as a lens onto broader systems. We use a range of quantitative and qualitative tools to study science and society. Global environmental problems necessitate a diverse group of minds, bodies, and lives coming together to imagine (and then achieve!) conserving and sustaining natural and human communities in ethical ways. This work is interdisciplinary and done in community, with a wide range of collaborators across disciplines and institutions. 

We do this while also working to: 

  • create space to be our full(er) selves,
  • address positionality and power in our research and teams,
  • do "open" research without extraction. 

We are located on unceded Seneca Nations (Onöndowa'ga) lands. Learn more here.

Latest News

  • May 17, 2023
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    congratulations, graduates!

    Congratulations to current and former Col(LAB) members who graduated this spring, including Rowan Christie (BS Bioinformatics), Ariella Knight (MFA Industrial Design), Claire Corbasson (BS, Environmental Sustainability Health and Safety), and Pema Lama (BS Sociology & Anthropology)! We are so excited to see what they get up to in the future. 

  • April 24, 2023
    decorative image of Dr Stack Whitney in a handmade mask during 2020 pandemic fieldwork
    new public scholarship published

    Dr. Stack Whitney recently published an article, "Bugs in My Basement Freezer: And Other COVID-Conscious Changes to Pollinator Field Research," in the TR News magazine, published by the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering Transportation Research Board. The article focuses on the challenges and successes of conducting essential research through the pandemic. Learn more about TR News magazine here and the issue here.

  • April 21, 2023
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    Hannah presents at research fair

    Col(LAB) member Hannah DeFelice presented her research results in progress at the NTID Student Research Fair this morning. She has been studying the environmental impacts of tabletop electric composting machines, such as heat and smell pollution, and comparing the results to those from other approaches to manage household waste. You can learn more about all the presenters here, read Hannah and other students' abstracts here, and learn more about the RECIPES wasted food network team and projects here.

  • April 5, 2023
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    new article published

    Dr. Stack Whitney has a new article published, as part of a special section on the 'Domesticities of War' in the journal Catalyst: feminism, theory, technoscience. Read the whole special section and issue here.

Research

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Environmental dimensions of transportation systems

We are interested in the interplay between policy, bureaucracy, and animals at landscape scales. Our focus is always in systems with human communities, currently with a focus on highways and roadside rights-of-way.

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Critical examinations of ecosystem services

Environmental science is a human endeavor, shaped by individual and institutional structures, processes, and biases. Part of my research program centers on understanding how these factors shape contemporary ecosystem service sciences.

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Ableism and accessibility in biology and society

In fieldwork and informatics based work, SWEET is committed to inclusion, accessibility, and reproducibility. In particular, we focus on disability access and inclusion (or lack thereof) in open science and beyond.

People

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Dr. Kaitlin Stack Whitney
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Dr. Kristoffer Whitney
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Join the SWEET Col(LAB)orative

Undergraduate students

Students of all majors and years are welcome to explore research opportunities in the lab. We welcome curious, collaborative, and enthusiastic learners and leaders - no discipline-specific experience or expertise is required! 

Learn More >