Postdoctoral Researcher
Center for Research on Environmental Decisions
Columbia University
419 Schermerhorn Hall
1190 Amsterdam Avenue
New York, NY 10027
ndpeters [at] gmail [dot] com
Employment / Research / Teaching
/ Publications / Presentations / Professional activities / Grants / Skills
Postdoctoral researcher, Center for
Research on Environmental Decisions, Columbia University, 2005-present.
Supervisors: David Krantz, Elke Weber, Kenneth Broad, Roberta Balstad.
Ph.D. Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, 2005
Dissertation: “Between the mountains and the sea: Navigating economic
development and conservation projects.” Committee: Joel Robbins (chair), Roy
D’Andrade (U. Conn., co-chair), Shirley Strum, Ed Hutchins, David Kirsh, Mark
Spalding. Abstract
M.A. Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, 1999
Thesis: “An Evaluation of Methodologies for Studying Adolescent Peer Group Interaction,
Influence, and Culture.” Chair: Roy D’Andrade
B.A. Biochemistry, Rice University, 1997
Postdoctoral researcher with David Krantz and Elke Weber, Center for
Research on Environmental Decisions, Columbia University (cred.columbia.edu).
(2005-present)
Research Assistant with David Kirsh, Department of Cognitive Science, UCSD.
Project online: http://adrenaline.ucsd.edu
(Various periods 2000-2004)
Dissertation Research in Baja California Sur, Mexico. (June 2001-Feb. 2003)
Research Assistant with Michael Cole, Laboratory of Comparative Human
Cognition, UCSD (Department of Psychology). (1998-2000)
Research Assistant with Richard Gomer and Maureen Price, Biochemistry and
Cell Biology, Rice University. (1995-1997)
Summer Student Researcher with Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Department of Virology,
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. (Summers 1994-1995)
Research interests: Decision-making, economic development and
environment, institutional economics, science and technology studies
Visiting professor, Barnard College Anthropology Department. Introduction to Environmental Anthropology. Spring
2007
Teaching Assistant, UCSD International Studies Program
International Studies 101: Culture, Development, and Social Change with Nancy
Postero (Anthropology), 2004
Creator and instructor of community high school computer program, Baja
California Sur, Mexico, 2002-2003
Instructor, introductory writing courses, Muir College Writing Program, UCSD
Prepared and conducted classes, selected materials and constructed course
syllabi,
met with students to improve writing skills, and graded student work.
(2000-2001, 2003)
Instructor, T.E.A.C.H. after-school program (Teen Educators Advancing in
Community and Health), Solana Beach, CA (2000)
Teaching assistant, UCSD Department of Anthropology
Nature, Culture, and Environmentalism (ANGN 160) with Joel Robbins, 1999
Core Course in Cultural Anthropology (ANPR 106) with Steve Parish, 1998
Coordinator, Graduate Student Enrichment Series, UCSD Department of
Anthropology
(1998-1999)
Teaching Assistant, Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice
University
(1996-1997)
Teaching interests: Environmental anthropology, economic
development, cognitive and psychological anthropology
“Choices, Options, and Constraints: Decisions in Natural Resource
Management.” Manuscript.
“Participatory processes and sustainable development” First author, with
Kenneth Broad. To appear in Is Sustainable Development Feasible? Columbia
University Press, 2007.
“Participation, Social Interaction, and the Use of Climate Information” Under
revision at Science and Public Policy. Second author with Kenneth Broad, Ben
Orlove , Alex Pfaff , Carla Roncoli, Renzo Taddei, and Maria-Alejandra Velez.
“Individual Values and Social Goals in Environmental Decision Making.”
Chapter to appear in Decision Modeling and Behavior in Uncertain and Complex
Environments, University of Arizona press. Second author with David Krantz,
Poonam Arora, Kerry Milch, and Ben Orlove. 2006
“Excluding to include: (Non)participation in Mexican natural
resource management,” to be presented at the American Anthropology Association
Annual Meeting, Washington, DC, November 2007.
“Managing change: Reducing
vulnerabilities through strategies and networks,” poster presented at the
Society for Economic Anthropology meeting in Greensboro, NC. April 2007.
“Effective use of scientific information:
Social goals, incentive structures, and learning under uncertainty,” poster
presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in
San Jose, CA. February 2007.
“Interdependent
security and environmental decision-making,” poster presented at the American
Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in San Jose, CA. February
2007.
“Little fish in a big sea:
Managing a Mexican marine park in context”, presented at the American
Anthropology Association Annual Meeting, San Jose, CA, Nov 15-19, 2006.
"Understanding Group Participation in Climate Forecast Use,"
Presented at the 4th annual NOAA Climate Predictions Applications Science
Workshop: Research and Applications on Use and Impacts, Tucson, AZ. March 21-24
2006
"Can we study decision-making ethnographically?" Presented at the
Society for Anthropological Sciences/Society for Cross-Cultural Research
meetings, Savannah, GA. February. 2006
“Creating Loreto Bay National Park: Institutional constraints on natural
resource management,” Presented at the American Anthropological Association,
New Directions in Anthropology & Environment Rappaport Prize Student Panel,
Washington, D.C., November. 2005
“Toward An Ontology of Geo-Reasoning to Aid Response to Weapons of Mass
Destruction,” Presented at the American Medical Informatics Association,
Washington, D.C. Co-authors Leslie Lenert and David Kirsh. October 2005.
“Decision-making as navigation: Options and choice in a Mexican fishing
community,” Presented at the Society for Psychological Anthropology meetings,
San Diego, April 10. 2005
“Vigilance and capacity-building: Options and decisions in a Mexican
national marine park,” Presented at the Center for US-Mexican Studies, February
2005.
“Assessing the impact of digital technology on disaster management,” Poster
presented at the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information
Technology (Cal-(IT)2) Student Spectrum, 2005
“An Evaluation of Methodologies for Studying Adolescent Peer Group Interaction,
Influence, and Culture.” Presented at the UCSD Anthropology Colloquia Series,
1999.
Co-organizer of invited session (Culture and Agriculture) “The social construction of participation: measures, meanings, and myths” to appear at the American Anthropology Association Annual Meeting, Nov 2007.
Co-organizer of session “What's in a Context?: Comparative Lessons from
Mexican Marine Protected Areas (MPAs American Anthropology Association Annual
Meeting, San Jose, CA, Nov 15-19, 2006.
Workshop for Engineers without Borders Northeastern Conference,
“Ethnographic and participatory methods,” September 2006.
Reviewer, Anthropological Theory, 2006
Organizing Committee, “Critical Citizenship: the Role of Non-Governmental
Organizations in Civil Society,” graduate student conference, UCSD. 2000
Member, American Anthropological Association
2006 Center for Global Sustainability and Development Seed
Grant, The Earth Institute
2004 Visiting Research Fellow at the Center for US-Mexican Studies, UCSD
2002 Friends of the International Center dissertation research fellowship,
UCSD
2001 UC MEXUS Dissertation Research Grant, University of California
Institute for Mexico and the United States
2001 F.G. Bailey Dissertation Fellowship, Department of Anthropology, UCSD.
2001 Tinker Field Research Grant, Center for Iberian and Latin American
Studies, UCSD.
1999 Summer Intensive Language Fellowship, Center for Iberian and Latin
American Studies, UCSD
1997 Regents Fellowship, UCSD
1993 Scholarship, Rice University
• Fluency in spoken and written Spanish (Latin America)
• Proficiency in presentation and data analysis software (SPSS, R)
• Intermediate-level knowledge of statistical methods and analysis
Revised 7/12/07