[Sci-tech-public] 2015 Benjamin Siegel Prize Winner: Elizabeth Yarina

[Randyn A. Miller]

MIT

PROGRAM IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER OF THE

 

2015 BENJAMIN SIEGEL PRIZE IN WRITING

 

ELIZABETH YARINA

MASTERS CANDIDATE IN ARCHITECTURE & CITY PLANNING

with 

CONTESTED LANDSCAPE(S):

STAKING CLAIMS IN MICHIGAN’S COPPER COUNTRY



We are pleased to award the 2015 Benjamin Siegel prize to "CONTESTED LANDSCAPES: Staking Claims in Michigan’s Copper Country," by Elizabeth Yarina. The paper offers a novel, nuanced, and timely reading of the role that particular narratives of nature and natural resources play in competing land claims. Weaving diverse case material (aerial photographs, blog posts, water samples, toxic waste studies, protest songs) into a captivating storyline, the author parses the distinct “valuation regimes” of different actor groups in Michigan’s Copper Country: landscape as commodity; as heritage; as status; as ecological system; as natural resource. Written as part of Prof. Rania Ghosn’s course Landscapes of Energy, CONTESTED LANDSCAPES combines cogent writing, compelling graphics, and the creative application of concepts and ideas within science and technology studies to an important contemporary issue. We particularly want to point out the beautiful graphic and visual design of the paper, which enhances the readers’ understanding of both the text and the data. The author closes with an argument for “new and revised methods of ownership and regulation as we examine claims to earth, air, water and biology.” 

__________
Elizabeth (Lizzie) Yarina is joint Masters student in Architecture and City Planning. She was raised in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Michigan in 2010. Lizzie is currently working on her thesis entitled 'Post-Island Futures' which explores the agency of design in climate change adaptation for the Oceanic nation of Tuvalu. 



Her paper is attached, below. 

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