Research and Independent Learning

Most of my research and writing strives to learn how to live more beautifully with the environment and technology that surround us.

Publications


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Book Review: Catia Faria, Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature

October 2024

Ronald Sandler, Mark Wells, Ryan Baylon, Anya Ghai & Ricardo Hernandez (2024) Animal Ethics in the Wild: Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 496-500. DOI: 10.1080/21550085.2024.2411929

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Book Review: Martha Nussbaum, Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility

July 2023

Ronald Sandler, Ryan Baylon & Anya Ghai (2023) Justice for Animals: Our Collective Responsibility. Ethics, Policy & Environment 26(3), 496-500. DOI: 10.1080/21550085.2023.2242746

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The effectiveness of embedded values analysis modules in Computer Science education: An empirical study

June 2023

Matthew Kopec, Meica Magnani, Vance Ricks, Roben Torosyan, John Basl, Nicholas Miklaucic, Felix Muzny, Ronald Sandler, Christo Wilson, Adam Wisiewski-Jensen, Cora Lundgren, Ryan Baylon, Kevin Mills & Mark Wells (2023). The effectiveness of embedded values analysis modules in Computer Science education: An empirical study. Big Data & Society, 10(1), 1-13. DOI: 10.1177/20539517231176230

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Eric Katz on "De-Extinction": Ontology, Value and Normativity

May 2022

Ronald Sandler, Espen Dyrnes Stabell, Ryan Baylon, Cora Lundgren, Philine Weisbeek, Benjamin Yelle & Markus Zaba (2022). Eric Katz on "De-Extinction": Ontology, Value and Normativity. Ethics, Policy & Environment, 25(2), 104–108. DOI: 10.1080/21550085.2022.2071554

In Progress

Here is some stuff coming down the pipeline to look forward to.

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Response: Should We Kill One Owl to Save Another?

In Review

A response to Jay Odenbaugh's "Should We Kill One Owl to Save Another?". The original debate is around whether the US ought to protect the native Northern Spotted Owl from the invasive Barred Owl by slaughtering 500,000 of the latter. In short, we found his expected value calculation hasty, and point out some other contingencies which would impact the decision calculus.

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Computer Science Community College Transfers

Awaiting data validation

At the center for inclusive computing, my main research project focused on increasing the accessability of computer science transfer from Massachusetts community colleges. The results of the paper show that, across the 165 community college / state school pairs, only slightly over half of the courses required for a CS degree at a state school will have been completed as a part of an Associate's degree. So far, I have presented these preliminary results to our collaborating universities and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley's office.

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What We Owe Wild Animals

Awaiting my final edits

Since working at the Ethics Institute, I have been researching the so-called 'Problem of Wild Animal Suffering,' trying to figure out what, if anything, humans owe wild animals suffering from disease, predation, or starvation. I argue there are targeted and important cases where we ought to intervene in the lives of wild animals. I use the case of White Nose Syndrome in bats to explore the ethical landscape.

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The Rat Project

I have recently taken an interest in Boston rat policy, given that rats themselves are stakeholders in these decisions. So far, I have talked with the Rat Czar of Somerville where he talked me through the city's rat policy and its gaps. We have also started an initial literature review on the philosophy of pests.

Obsidian

I take all of my notes on a wiki-style markdown editor called Obsidian. It's a locally hosted, community supported, and free notes app that is built to replicate how the brain actually recalls information. It's a wonderful notes app that I cannot recommend enough.

Because the notes files are stored locally, I've decided to publish some of them so they can be a resource for folks curious in the same sort of stuff I am. In a future update to this website, I want to add native support, but for now, all notes are linked in my GitHub (to the right).

Obsidian Logo

At this point, a lot of the notes are kind of sprawling, but my goal is to make the base more comprehensive with time. Hopefully, despite its current state, the notes can still be useful for you.

bookshelf

Publications

Blog

In Progress

Obsidian