Fletcher Family Research Awards - Spring 2006

Richard D. Broene, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Minimal Ligands for Cobalt-promoted Dimerization of Alpha Olefins
Linear α-olefins in the C6-C20 are commercially produced primarily through oligomerization of ethylene followed by fractionation of the resulting broad distribution of even-numbered carbon oligomers.1 We recently developed an attractive method for producing specific α-olefins through the dimerization of low carbon number α-olefins, which was limited by formation of undesired side products.2 I seek funding to develop catalysts that are predicted to give less of the unwanted material through the incorporation of smaller sized ligands.

Jorunn J. Buckley, Assistant Professor of Religion
The Great Stem of Souls: Reconstructing Mandaean History
The book reconstructs the history of the Mandaeans, the last surviving Gnostics of the Near East/the Hellenistic world. The work is based on name-lists of copyists—colophons, as these lists are called–appended to original Mandaean handwritten texts. Presenting lineages spanning up to seventeen centuries—e.g. from the 3rd century to the present, colophons also provide information on topics such as: doctrinal disputes, persecutions and other calamities, the religion’s status under Muslim governmental authorities, and the geographical spread of the religion.

Elena Cueto-Asin, Assistant Professor of Romance Languages
Homenatge a Picasso o Guernica en la Catalunya tardo-franquista [Homage to Picasso or Guernica in Catalonia in the late-Franco Period]
A study of Josep Palau i Fabre’s 1971 play Homenatge a Picasso as a staged interpretation of Picasso’s famous painting Guernica. Published in 1971, the play is reflective of revisions of Civil War historiography necessitated by the demise of Franco regime and the initiation of a process of democratic transition. The themes of ideological reconciliation within Spanish society informed studies of the war and cast it as the catastrophic outcome of an erroneous cycle of violence not to be repeated. Within this revision, Guernica was stripped of its particular association with the Basque city bombed by Spanish fascists to become a universal denunciation of all cities that have been bombed.

Guillermo E. Herrera, Assistant Professor of Economics
Benfits of Spatial Regulation in a Multispecies System
Spatial heterogeneity in harvested multispecies systems affects ecological interactions and the composition of harvest. A bioeconomic model is used to analyze nonselective harvest of two stocks with generalized ecological interaction and different distributions across space. Benefits of spatial specificity range from 0-15% of net present value in the cases considered, depending upon the spatial correlation of stocks, relative growth rates and prices, and costs across space. Ecological interactions, in particular predator-prey dynamics, increase benefits of spatial regulation.

Page Herrlinger, Assistant Professor of History
The Trials of the Unorthodox Orthodox: Religious Deviance and Popluar Opinion in Modern Russia, 1880-1922
Praised for their piety, sobriety, and work ethic, the trezvenniki, a controversial spiritual movement within Russian Orthodoxy, were hailed by some as ideal citizens of the new, more democratic Russia to emerge after 1905. Because of their devotion to a small group of lay preachers and their unconventional spiritual practices, they were simultaneously reviled as heretics and harmful deviants. After the revolution in 1917, they faced persecution of a new kind, as faithful Orthodox at the hands of the Militant Godless. Thus standing at the center of ongoing debates over religious freedom and spiritual authority following 1905 and 1917, the trezvenniki make an ideal case study through which to explore the tensions between Orthodoxy and revolutionary change in modernizing Russia.

Matthew Klingle, Assistant Professor of History
Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle and an Evolving Ethic of Place
“Emerald City” explores the complex historical relationship between cities and the physical environment using the coastal city of Seattle as its centerpiece. The project analyzes how efforts by industrialists, planners, and engineers to remake the landscapes and ecosystems of Puget Sound intertwined with the new urban environment to structure social inequality through time. My goal is to produce a book that speaks to fields as diverse as forestry, marine sciences, urban design and planning, and ecology.