Environmental Policy course at Bentley University for the Chronicle of Higher Education

November 21, 2013

Assistant Professor of Geology David Szymanski of Bentley University’s Department of Natural and Applied Science leads students in a discussion about pollution and water supplies in a seminar of the NASE402 Science in Environmental Policy course in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The class involves an optional extra section that includes a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with policy makers and discuss the role of science in making government policy.

Group leader Aaron Pinet (junior) takes notes in the NASE402 Science in Environmental Policy course in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The class involves an optional extra section that includes a trip to Washington, D.C., for these students to meet with policy makers and discuss the role of science in making government policy.

Assistant Professor of Geology David Szymanski of Bentley University’s Department of Natural and Applied Science leads the NASE402 Science in Environmental Policy course in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The class involves an optional extra section that includes a trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with policy makers and discuss the role of science in making government policy.

Assistant Professor of Geology David Szymanski of Bentley University’s Department of Natural and Applied Science meets with students after the full NASE402 Science in Environmental Policy course in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. The class involves an optional extra section that includes a trip to Washington, D.C., for these students to meet with policy makers and discuss the role of science in making government policy.

Earlier this year, I photographed Assistant Professor of Geology David Szymanski and his NASE402 Science in Environmental Policy course at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. These sorts of assignments are always tough, since the bulk of what the story was about had already happened or was scheduled to happen in Washington, DC. The class gives students the opportunity to directly advise local and national lawmakers on environmental policy using a science-based approach. I was also excited to learn that Professor Szymanski served as an adviser to Montana Senator Jon Tester, who represents where I'm from, as a Congressional Science Fellow a few years back.

Tearsheets: Veterans at MIT for MIT’s News Office

November 20, 2013

Screenshot of MIT.edu on 11 November 2013 – photo by M. Scott Brauer

I photographed a number of US military veterans who now work at MIT for MIT's News Office. We wanted to highlight the degree to which military service runs throughout the school, from maintenance workers to police to professors to administrators. The images ran in a slideshow on the front page of mit.edu for the weekend before Veterans Day 2013. The piece also complemented a renaming ceremony at MIT. Lobby 10, part of the Infinite Corridor underneath the Institute's famous dome, was renamed Memorial Lobby in honor of military veterans.

You can see more pictures from the series in a portrait portfolio on this site.

Rich Nielsen, researcher on radical Jihadism, for the Chronicle of Higher Education

October 17, 2013

Rich Nielsen is a Ph.D. candidate at Harvard’s Department of Government, photographed here at Harvard on April 29, 2013. He is expected to receive his Ph.D. on May 30 and will start working as an Assistant Professor at MIT’s Department of Political Science on July 1st. Nielsen’s research focuses on radicalism and jihad in the Arab-speaking Muslim world, looking at the reason why some clerics turn radical and preach jihad. Nielsen’s recent findings suggest that the extent of a cleric’s professional network and job prospects are a strong indicator for radicalism.

A little while ago I photographed Rich Nielsen for the Chronicle of Higher Education's coverage of his work. As part of his PhD at Harvard, he gathered evidence that suggests that the quality of one's professional network and career prospects are a very strong indicator of whether or not a person will turn to Islamic jihadism. Nielsen has found that clerics with poor job prospects are more likely to preach a doctrine of extremism and jihad. It was a very interesting topic to chat about while taking the portraits.

Hollywood and Hitler: portraits of Thomas Doherty and Ben Urwand for the Chronicle of Higher Education

October 11, 2013

Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University. His most recent book is “Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939”

Ben Urwand is a Junior Fellow of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. His most recent book “The Collaboration: Hollywood’s Pact With Hitler” alleges that Hollywood studios actively cooperated with Nazi propaganda efforts in order to secure the German movie market.

Thomas Doherty is a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University. His most recent book is “Hollywood and Hitler, 1933-1939”

A few months back, I photographed both Ben Urwand of Harvard and Thomas Doherty of Brandeis University for the Chronicle of Higher Education's coverage of their books on Hollywood's cooperation and complicity with Nazi Germany (my images appear in the print edition of the Chronicle's magazine The Chronicle Review, but not online). Not unsurprisingly, their writing has been discussed and written about countless times online and in print, especially Urwand's allegations that (primarily Jewish) Hollywood producers in the 1930s bargained with Hitler's regime and the German consulate in Los Angeles to edit scripts and cancel anti-Nazi films in exchange for distribution rights in Nazi Germany. Here's a long New Yorker review of both Urwand's and Doherty's books: Hitler in Hollywood: Did the studios collaborate?

Accessible Icon Project for theChronicle of Higher Education

October 10, 2013

Dr. Brian Glenney, Professor of Philosophy at Gordon College, in Wenham, Massachusetts, helped develop the Accessible Icon as part of the Accessible Icon Project. The icon is a redesign of the International Symbol of Access (also known as the handicap symbol) that shows an active and engaged person with arms in motion. Glenney’s research focuses on the philosophy of perception and he maintains active interest in graffiti and street art. The Accessible Icon has been adopted by cities and institutions around the world, including Gordon College, Nissan, New York City, Malden, MA, and others.

Dr. Brian Glenney, Professor of Philosophy at Gordon College, in Wenham, Massachusetts, applies a sticker with the Accessible Icon to a parking sign at Gordon College. Glenney helped develop the Accessible Icon as part of the Accessible Icon Project. The icon is a redesign of the International Symbol of Access (also known as the handicap symbol) that shows an active and engaged person with arms in motion. Glenney’s research focuses on the philosophy of perception and he maintains active interest in graffiti and street art. The Accessible Icon has been adopted by cities and institutions around the world, including Gordon College, Nissan, New York City, Malden, MA, and others.

Dr. Brian Glenney (right), Professor of Philosophy at Gordon College, in Wenham, Massachusetts, helped develop the Accessible Icon as part of the Accessible Icon Project. Cyndi McMahon, Director of Marketing Communications at Gordon College, is the volunteer publicist for the Accessible Icon Project and has helped spread usage of the symbol. The icon is a redesign of the International Symbol of Access (also known as the handicap symbol) that shows an active and engaged person with arms in motion. Glenney’s research focuses on the philosophy of perception and he maintains active interest in graffiti and street art. The Accessible Icon has been adopted by cities and institutions around the world, including Gordon College, Nissan, New York City, Malden, MA, and others.

Parking spaces at Gordon College display the current version of the Accessible Icon. The icon, designed by the Accessible Icon Project, is a redesign of the International Symbol of Access (also known as the handicap symbol) that shows an active and engaged person with arms in motion. Glenney’s research focuses on the philosophy of perception and he maintains active interest in graffiti and street art. The Accessible Icon has been adopted by cities and institutions around the world, including Gordon College, Nissan, New York City, Malden, MA, and others.

Earlier this summer, I had a quick assignment for the Chronicle of Higher Education to go up to Gordon College and photograph the creators of the Accessible Icon Project, a more active redesign of the International Symbol of Access (also known as the handicap symbol). The new icon, designed by Brian Glenney, has been adopted by New York City and a growing number of municipalities and organizations around the US. It features a more active view of the person in a wheelchair, leaning forward and ready to go. You can see more images at my archive: Accessible Icon Project - Gordon College - Chronicle of Higher Education.

Southie’s drugs and gentrification for the Wall Street Journal

September 5, 2013

A view of Andrew Square near the Andrew T stop in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well. Residents in the area say they frequently see police arrest people in the parking lot of the Tedeschi convenience store (rear right).

Keith Lombard is a former heroin addict and alcoholic, now clean for 5 and 6 years, respectively, who now works in outreach and counseling at the South Boston Collaborative Center in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Lombard’s addiction started with a precription for painkillers after a 47-foot fall sustained while working as a carpenter in 2003. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well.

Ellery Street in Andrew Square in South Boston is notorious among residents as a place where drug users congregate. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well.

Houses near Andrew Square in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well.

A mural by the Andrew Square Civic Association decorates a parking lot wall in Andrew Square in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well.

Andy Ward, LICSW (Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker), has worked for 16 years at the South Boston Collaborative Center in the Old Colony Housing Project in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Ward provides counseling and outreach to addicts seeking recovery. South Boston has the largest problem with heroin addiction in the Boston area. Andrew Square, at the border between South Boston and Dorchester with a Red Line T stop and close to downtown, is a hot spot for heroin usage, despite recent gentrification. There are a number of methadone clinics in the area, as well.

I had a quick hit assignment a few weeks ago to photograph Andrew Square in South Boston for a story about high heroin use in the area despite recent gentrification and efforts to clean up the area. Because we didn't have anyone willing to go on record about their drug use, I had to shoot mostly anonymous views of the area, which is at the confluence of a few major roads and subway and bus lines, the border between Dorchester and Southie, and close to downtown. We also spoke with people at the South Boston Collaborative Center in the Old Colony Housing Project near James "Whitey" Bulger's old stomping grounds. The SBCC is a recovery center that assists people trying to escape addiction rampant in the area. You can see a slideshow that the Wall Street Journal ran and read the article here.

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