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About Grace Kaste
Research at the Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in summer 2023. Studying sustainable development and economics.
Research at the Columbia University Sabin Center for Climate Change Law in summer 2023. Studying sustainable development and economics.
Recent Comments
1. Interacting with students from different disciplines has exposed me to a variety of perspectives, methodologies, and approaches to problem-solving in a research setting. This exposure has helped me think beyond the boundaries of my own area of research. It has encouraged me to consider alternative viewpoints and innovative solutions I might not have explored otherwise. The exposure to different research areas has encouraged me to delve deeper into topics outside of what I have previously been exposed to. This past week has been invaluable in shaping my academic interests and inspiring me to pursue interdisciplinary research further.
2. Strong communication with mentors and informed collection of data are key takeaways from last week that have guided my involvement so far. I have found that the universities computing and database resources are especially helpful to my area of translational study. Also, connecting with my mentor to discuss different methodologies under the same goal or research question has broadened my understanding of the field.
I definitely agree with you about the importance of communicating with mentors! My relationship with my graduate mentor has been so inspiring this week, since she has been through these very same stages with her own research but did it recently enough that she remembers the most challenging aspects. Talking with her, like you said, has also broadened my understanding of the field, since her research has been in similar areas but has worked with different types of data and methods. It's been so helpful whenever I feel stuck.
I feel like I'm in a similar position as you for question 2 - as I'm trying to do background research for the specific topic my faculty member assigned me, I keep getting sucked down rabbit holes and overwhelmed by academic lingo. As you said, I think it's important for me to pace myself by focusing on the more understandable/comprehensible information that's out there, and also to ask my faculty member for guidance.
1. As I start my research with faculty at the law school, I want to learn how to maintain the confidence and competence of a leader while working in an environment where I'm surrounded by people who are much more advanced and expert than me in their knowledge of the research topic. Hearing from Pamela about balancing your inner leader with a dynamic of leading from behind or beside feels really relevant here and I'm excited to practice these different styles of relationships.
2. My biggest challenge is that, although I'm familiar with my research topic, I'm much less familiar with the research community and rhetoric that has formed around this topic. My first assignment from my faculty member is to compile an annotated bibliography of academic literature, so my goal is to apply the skills we've learned with Zotero, as well as the tools from the digital humanities workshop, to make this task less daunting.