Christopher X J. Jensen
Associate Professor, Pratt Institute

Court Ruling in the Netherlands may point the way to cracking the climate compliance conundrum

Posted 24 Jun 2015 / 0

BBC News “Climate change: Is the Dutch court ruling ‘a game changer’?” Nature Breaking News “Landmark court ruling tells Dutch government to do more on climate change” The New York Times “Landmark Dutch Ruling: Cut Emissions to Protect Citizens” The Guardian “Dutch government ordered to cut carbon emissions in landmark ruling” There is so much Read More

A Minor Post, Activism, Anthropogenic Change, Articles, Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Law, Public Policy, Radio & Podcasts, Sustainability

Zoonosis, Ebola, and the Elusive Reservoir Host

Posted 24 Jun 2015 / 0

There’s a really interesting article in the upcoming (July 2015) issue of National Geographic entitled “Stalking a Killer“. Using the most recent outbreak of Ebola in West Africa as a case study, the article looks at the nature of a variety of unusual and rare diseases caused by filoviruses. Ebola is not a virus that Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Belief, Cultural Evolution, Host-Pathogen Evolution, Parasitism, Predation

A niche with the masses?

Posted 22 Jun 2015 / 0

The Chronicle of Higher Education “You Want to Write for a Popular Audience? Really?” Sometimes I feel bummed out that I do not occupy a seat in a ‘normal’ academic department. But when I read about or encounter the attitudes that pervade these ‘normal’ places, I am really happy to have the freedom associated with Read More

A Minor Post, Articles, Breeders, Propagators, & Creators, Higher Education, The WmD Project

WmD Episode #00001 has been released!

Posted 17 Jun 2015 / 0

After a long period of planning and shooting and having to shoot again and editing and shooting some more, I finally have released the first episode of WmD’s video blog: You can see this episode in its ‘native habitat’ here. The first season of WmD is dedicated to the “big questions in ecology and evolution“. Read More

A Major Post, Evolution, The WmD Project

Can we resolve the ‘group selection debate’ by focusing on human cooperation?

Posted 12 Jun 2015 / 13

ASEBL Journal “Morality and Selection – How?” This is an interesting article that tries to frame the debate over multilevel selection. Lots of other people have tried to similarly frame this debate, and I am pretty sure that no single prescription is going to resolve the debate. There is a debate about whether we need Read More

A Minor Post, Cooperation, Cultural Evolution, Ethics, Group Selection, Methods, Multilevel Selection, Social Norms, Web

NYC Solar Map: a powerful tool for transformation to a solar future

Posted 12 Jun 2015 / 0

A colleague of mine, Jeremy Tausch, just pointed me towards the NYC Solar Map, an amazing tool for promoting the increased use of solar electricity and solar water heating in New York City. The interactive online map allows users to find out information about existing solar installation in the five boroughs, providing both a ‘reputational Read More

A Minor Post, Information Design, Sustainability, Sustainable Energy, Web Design

Tenured and mostly a teacher? I think that is already happening, whether or not we admit it.

Posted 08 Jun 2015 / 0

The Chronicle of Higher Education “Time for a Teaching-Intensive Tenure Track” I remember that when I was nearing the completion of my dissertation and considering how to deal with the impossible job market, I looked up the C.V.’s of some of my favorite undergraduate professors back at Pomona College. I had no delusions of being able Read More

A Minor Post, Higher Education

Do our students only respond to high-stakes testing?

Posted 08 Jun 2015 / 0

The Chronicle of Higher Education “Facing the Dreaded End-of-Term Question” I do give Final Exams, but they are relatively low stakes (~30% of students’ grades). Still, I can relate to this piece (a lot!). Increasingly students seem to think that the only thing that matters is the test. In my classes, I actually get a lot Read More

A Minor Post, Higher Education, Teaching

Guerrilla Science at Figment Art Festival 2015

Posted 08 Jun 2015 / 0

On Sunday, June 7th, I was able to drag the family out to the Figment Art Festival on Governor’s Island, where we got a chance to check out the Guerrilla Science space. Mark Rosin, my newest full-time colleague in the Department of Mathematics and Science, is one of Guerrilla Science‘s directors and organized this event. Read More

A Minor Post, Art & Design, Department of Mathematics & Science

Sabbatical, Sweet Sabbatical

Posted 04 Jun 2015 / 0

It is early June and I am just beginning to settle in to what will be my longest period of unstructured work time since I left graduate school. In the Spring of 2014 I received tenure and in the Fall of 2014 I applied for my first sabbatical. In the coming semester — Fall 2015 Read More

A Major Post, Breeders, Propagators, & Creators, Cultural Evolution, Higher Education, Pratt Institute, Teaching, The WmD Project