The challenge for impact investing is management, not measurement

We still haven’t clearly defined what we mean when we talk about impact, writes Brian Trelsta

Keeping Church Goers Motivated: Church Worship Communication Study

At a time when mainline Protestant churches in America are concerned with stagnant or declining worship attendance (Duin, 2008) a better understanding of worshippers\u27 motivations could help church leaders plan and create positive worship experiences (Katt & Trelstad, 2009). This study extends the scope of the previous research of Katt and Trelstad by employing a larger sample of purposively selected churches. It attempts to more clearly answer the following question more clearly: What types of incidents serve as motivator and de-motivator factors in the church worship service setting? A sample of 105 church members from thirty-eight churches participated in a survey, either in person or online. The results indicate that there are motivators and de-motivators for attendees of a church worship service which are specific to the context. This research could provide practical information for churches concerned about member motivation and further extend the scope of Herzberg’s theory into another context

Mathematical modelling of anisotropy in fibrous connective tissue

We present two modelling frameworks for studying dynamic anistropy in connective tissue, motivated by the problem of fibre alignment in wound healing. The first model is a system of partial differential equations operating on a macroscopic scale. We show that a model consisting of a single extracellular matrix material aligned by fibroblasts via flux and stress exhibits behaviour that is incompatible with experimental observations. We extend the model to two matrix types and show that the results of this extended model are robust and consistent with experiment. The second model represents cells as discrete objects in a continuum of ECM. We show that this model predicts patterns of alignment on macroscopic length scales that are lost in a continuum model of the cell population

Why the Environment Needs National Service

On July 20, 1969, when “man” landed on the Moon, the United States achieved a remarkable scientific and technological breakthrough. “One small step for . . . man; one giant leap for mankind”; Neil Armstrong’s voice crackled through Mission Control to the millions around the globe who were watching that moment, transfixed by their television sets. Everyone was watching. Everyone that is, but my mother-and the handful of other mothers around the globe who were giving birth at the same moment-to people like me, a generation of moon children

Civil War Memory and the Preservation of the Olustee Battlefield

This thesis explores the absence of a Union monument at the Olustee Battlefield one hundred and fifty-five years after the battle concluded though this field has a number of Confederate monuments. Moreover, after the Battle of Olustee in February 1864, the largest battle of the Civil War fought on Florida soil, the victorious Confederates killed wounded African American soldiers left behind after the Union retreat. This thesis examines why Olustee battlefield became a place of Confederate memory, enshrining the Lost Cause within its monuments for well over a half of a century that consciously excluded any commemoration of the Union dead. The lack of proper commemoration to the costly Union sacrifices at Olustee comes as a surprise, since some of the Union dead still rest in a mass grave on the battlefield. They remain on this field because after the war, federal soldiers reburied the Olustee dead in a mass grave and erected a temporary memorial that marked their final resting place. This neglect contradicted War department policy that mandated that the reinterred Union dead be in separate graves and marked by individual permanent headstones. When the temporary monument marking their presence disappeared, this also erased the memory of their presence and their sacrifice from the Olustee landscape. This left room for champions of the Confederate Lost Cause - Southern, Confederate Civil War memory - like the United Daughters of Confederacy (UDC) to build monuments to the Confederate cause. In fact, these women worked actively to ensure that the Union dead were not memorialized, particularly the African American casualties. The UDC managed the site until 1949, when the State of Florida assumed control of those grounds. Seventy years of direct control by the state of Florida failed to make a difference in the landscape of memory at Olustee: the Union dead have no monument to commemorate their sacrifice. This thesis explores why the markers, monuments, and policies still honor the Lost Cause memory of the battle, even as the park services in charge of the site promote a reconciliationist narrative and the resurgence of Union memory, including the sacrifice of black US soldiers. Sources used include Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, meeting minutes of the UDC, newspaper articles, official documents from the Florida Division of Parks and Recreation, documents from the National Park Service, private correspondences, and state legislature bills