Thesis advisor: Amir H. Hoveyda / The possibility of accessing altered frameworks wherein the spatial relationship between several organic fragments can be controlled can notably impact drug discovery and development. In this context, we introduce a strategy that can be used for programmable and divergent synthesis of a diverse and otherwise difficult-to-prepare set of cyclic amines and bridged bicyclic enamines wherein up to four exit vectors can be altered accordingly. Central to the approach is a catalytic multicomponent reaction that merges a nitrile, a trisubstituted allenylboronate and a silyl hydride, delivering multifunctional 1,4-aminoboronates that contain a versatile and stereochemically defined trisubstituted alkenyl boronate. We show that the products can be modified to afford an assortment of complex, drug-like, polycyclic amines. What is more, a new cyclization strategy, involving the triflic anhydride-mediated reaction of a trisubstituted alkene and a nearby amide, was developed for synthesis of the corresponding bridged bicyclic scaffolds. These resulting bridged enamines and various derivatives are evocative of the 1-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane core, found in a variety of bioactive alkaloids. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Chemistry.

This project examined the role of functional diversity of bacterial prey organisms on a mixotrophic flagellate’s function. The concept of functional diversity and its role for ecosystem functioning is a subject of ongoing research and controversially discussed. Mixotrophy is the combination of different modes of nutrition in one organism. In the case of this project’s organism, Ochromonas tuberculata, the combination of phototrophy and heterotrophy or phagotrophy. Mixotrophs can have a severe impact on nutrient cycling or carbon fixation in aquatic ecosystems, therefore it is important to investigate what drives their ecological functioning. For this project, two sets of bacterial prey traits were investigated and their effect on the flagellate’s growth rate. The first experiments involved the addition of heat-killed bacterial prey with heterotrophic mode of nutrition (Escherichia coli) and phototrophic mode of nutrition (Synechocystis sp.) on their own and in conjunction to generate a functional diversity. The last experiment investigated heat-killed Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and Gram-positive bacterial prey (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis) each on their own and in conjunction. The acclimated O. tuberculata cultures in this project were non-axenic and flagellate cell densities were recorded daily over five days after the addition of the prey in each experiment. The results showed that prey with a phototrophic mode of nutrition resulted in a significantly higher growth rate over the course of the experiments than heterotrophic prey or a mix of both under the experimental conditions. For the second set of bacterial functions tested, the results showed no clear effect of the different bacterial functions on the flagellate’s growth rate. This was attributed to the heat-killing method used. The heat-killing method is assumed to have harmed the bacteria structurally and therefore negate the effect of the differences in cell wall properties. Therefore, this question could not be fully investigated. Overall, the experimental setup was not ideal to tackle the research question, nevertheless the results can provide ideas for possible improvements of the experimental setup.

Organizations have begun to focus heavily on diversity. As a result, organizations spend time and resources creating diversity policies and investing extensively in diversity training programs. While an abundance of research exists on demographic diversity, research has just begun to incorporate employees’ perceptions of diversity as an influential factor affecting organizationally relevant employee outcomes. Employees are a crucial reference in understanding whether organizations benefit from engaging in such actions. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of diversity climate on employees’ organizational identification. Furthermore, I investigate how organizational identification mediates the relationship between diversity climate perceptions and outcomes including turnover intentions, job satisfaction, and organizational citizenship behavior. I refine our understanding by identifying personal characteristics that influence the diversity climate (PDC) – organizational identification (OID) relationship. This research offers several contributions to management literature and scholars as well as practitioners. First this study empirically examines the relationship between PDC and OID. This connection is important as it identifies the psychological mechanism linking PDC to subsequent outcomes as well as showing how positive climate perception can influence an employee’s sense of belonging. The second contribution is the in-depth identification of personal characteristics and their role in this relationship specifically, demographics, values, and attachment to demographic category. Individuals will differ in their beliefs and thus their attachment based on climate perceptions. Finally, this study links diversity climate to organizationally relevant outcomes through organizational identification.

Diverse Expressions of the Black Identity in Jackson, Mississippi: Stories is a collection of short stories that seeks to focus on the outsiders, the pariahs, and the social outcasts of Black society in Mississippi throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. By way of emigrations and immigrations, a race of people of multiple cultures that do not necessarily identify with the ethno-racial term "African-American" has emerged in the city of Jackson. Through the exploration of historically significant events, including America's involvement in WWI, the legislation surrounding Black History Month and the dawn of the AIDS epidemic, this collection represents a variety of Black backgrounds in an attempt to do justice to their beauty and diversity.

Thesis advisor: Vincent Cho / This individual case study is part of a larger group study examining how principals benefit from and shape professional capital to improve schools. Specifically, this study sought to understand what organizational and individual factors contributed to principals’ decision-making about implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies in a large, urban school district in Massachusetts. The research team interviewed a total of 21 participants, including central office leaders, principals, and educators. The study found that principals use a variety of factors to make sense of DEI policies. In particular, they were responsive to organizational changes instituted by the central office, notably the creation of an executive team to lead the district’s DEI initiatives and the first ever district-wide professional development day dedicated to DEI. While most principals indicated that they believed in the work of the DEI office, there was less evidence that they were self-reflective about their role in how to implement DEI policies. Further, the data suggested that principals made few individual decisions to take action with regard to the DEI policy implementation. However, coupling organizational learning with research on policy implementation shows that self-reflection and individual learning stem from individual sense-making of organizational changes, and that these changes become cyclical and ongoing, leading to greater implementation. / Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Cover crops (CC) can contribute to production in pastures, but the diversity of CC mixtures and defoliation frequency (DF) may alter productivity. A 2-yr experiment conducted at Raymond, MS, quantified CC × DF effects on forage mass (FM) and nutritive value of winter CC and subsequent summer hay production. Treatments were factorial combinations of 10 CC (using several species of grasses, legumes, and brassicas) and three DF (harvested every 4 or 8-wk or cut and left as mulch) in a split-plot arrangement of a randomized complete block design experiment with three replications. Generally, mixtures with legumes had greater FM and better nutritive value. Summer hay production did not respond to difference in CC composition, however, harvesting of CC reduced summer hay but increased year-long FM. These results suggest that CC when harvested can contribute to forage production with improved nutritive value and can increase year-long FM, but summer hay production can benefit when the CC is left as mulch.

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