Capstone Teams Receive Awards for 2007-2008
Award-winning Capstone Teams for 2007 – 2008
Regulating the Next Gold Rush: The International Committee on Regulating Bioprospecting.
Team R Winners:
Mariana Belo, Maria Borrelli, Holly Moore, Thomas Samph, Ross Thuotte, Mallory Wood, Kara Zauberman
Faculty: David Atkinson, Samuel Hammer, Shelley Hawks, Richard Oxenberg
Advisor: John Lyons
“A cohesive international policy to regulate bioprospecting, the exploration and commercialization of traditional medicines. The aim of this group was to create beneficial relationships between bioprospecting companies and local governments, to stimulate economic growth and justly compensate suppliers of traditional knowledge, and to ensure the recognition of indigenous knowledge regarding plants and other medicinally beneficial organisms.” – Professor Samuel Hammer
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Colombia at a Crossroads: The Economic and Environmental Viability of Increased Ethanol Production in Cauca.
Team S Winners: Daniela Castano Mejia, Alexander Mazzaferro, M. Conor McManus, Anthony Polemis, Michael Quinn, Thalia Rybar, Susan Santacruz
Faculty: Melanie Rathburn, Adam Sweeting, William Tilchin
Advisor: Dr. Alyse Bithavas-Glac
“A thoughtful, well researched examination of the economic benefits and environmental consequences associated with the implementation of an expansive ethanol program in Colombia.” – Professor Melanie Rathburn
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The Nile Basin: A Leaky Situation.
Team T Winners: Richard Auer, David Louie, Morgan Moretz, Jessica Ngo Pham, Brendan White, Linda Yin, Lisa Yu
Faculty: Karina Baum, Benjamin Varat, James Wilcox
Advisor: Miriam Miranda Albert
“An explanation of why the system for sharing the waters of the Nile River has led to environmental degradation, economic dislocation, and civil strife in the Nile Basin. In order to deal with these myriad issues while promoting long-term resource sustainability, the group designed a policy that intelligently balanced the introduction of new water management techniques with a more equitable water sharing regime based on regional rather than national interests.” – Professor Benjamin Varat
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Northeastern Oceanic Economic Association’s Proposal for the Reversal of the Harmful Effects Caused by Overfishing on Georges Bank.
Team U Winners: John Bastani, Sarah Crowley, Annika Gudjonsson, Kimberley Hartmann, Joseph Harvey, Ivette Martinez, Daniel Ventresca
Faculty: Maria Abate, June Grasso, Michael Mahon
Advisor: Linda Bondy-Ives
“Addresses the environmental and economic crises that overfishing has created in New England waters and local fishing communities. The realistic recommendation to the Massachusetts legislature focuses on creating specific conservation areas within Georges Bank while also considering the financial ills faced by the New England fishing industry.” – Professor Maria Abate
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Case Docket No. 042507: Boston University and NIH v. ‘Residents’.
Team V Winners: Jessica Beck, Carolyn Berk, Taylor Butzbach, Gina Cullen, Jeremy Hill, Caroline McMallum, Stephanie Schaber
Faculty: Christopher Collumb, Edward Rafferty, Robert Wexelblatt
Advisor: Dr. Maureen Foley-Reese
“A thoroughgoing debate in a legal format on the merits of building a Level-4 bioterrorism research laboratory on the Boston University’s Medical Campus.”
-Professor Robert Wexelblatt
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SHASA: Scholars for Humanitarian Action in Southern Africa.
Team W Winners: Noah Benezra, Alexander Couch, Adam Fischer, Matthew Indellicati, Callan Navitsky, Frank Wehr, Shira Wilkofsky
Faculty: Michael Clancy Michael KortNeal Leavitt
Advisor: Louis Mayhew
“This Capstone is a thoroughly researched, logically argued, and well-written examination of how to improve water management in the Zambezi River Basin, a region that encompasses eight nations in southern Africa. The paper focuses on the need for reforestation and on the imperative of improving and coordinating the operation of the basin’s two largest hydroelectric dams, which must fulfill the competing demands of electricity generation and flood control.” – Professor
Michael Kort
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Corn-based Ethanol: Just Another Dependency?
Team X Winners: Clare Fitzpatrick, Brenna Malloy, Marcela Nava, Caroline Pierce, Madeline Rubin, Erin Thomas
Faculty: Peter Busher, Jay Corrin, Natalie McKnight
Advisor: Stacy Godnick
“An accurate, clear, creative and realistic examination of how the current rush to plant, grow, and process corn to produce ethanol for use in biofuels in the United States stretches the concept of both economic and ecological sustainability. The misguided push to use corn as an ethanol crop is thoroughly investigated and the policy recommendation explores other ethanol sources as alternatives to corn and other potential renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, methane, and hydrogen fuel cells. The paper clearly documents the potential for a sustainable energy future and offers real solutions to the current national and global energy crisis.”
– Professor Peter Busher