Dave & Nate discuss the Dakota Access Pipeline, the Water Protectors, and the Treaties of Fort Laramie, and how this ties into a larger discussion on science in society. This discussion goes into the history behind the Fort Laramie treaties and gives a more robust understanding of why they should be impacting the current discussion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. We delve into the route of the pipeline before it was moved in a southern direction, and the consequences of that move. The proposed route at first was to cross near Bismarck, North Dakota. However, the citizens there objected and the route was changed to pass through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Lands.
David Deming II was born and raised in Bethlehem, PA approximately an hour north of Philadelphia. He moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple University for his undergraduate education; where he completed a BA in Biological Anthropology, completed coursework for pre-medicine, and minored in Biology. His intentions for graduate/professional training was to attend medical school, however, after shadowing and investigating the medical field, he found a passion to work in the biomedical research field. He took a job as a personal trainer to give him the flexibility to examine a variety of career options related to the field of biology.
It was during this period of growth and reflection that he shadowed a client with a PhD in Neuroscience at University of Pennsylvania. His imagination and curiosity was instantly stoked about a career in academia, research, and teaching. This decision was built upon two key previous events: 1) reading the book called “Evo Devo: Endless Forms Most Beautiful” by Dr. Sean B. Carroll 2) his passion for teaching that he developed as a personal trainer and workout class instructor.
He applied to Thomas Jefferson University to achieve is MS in Cell and Developmental Biology. This stepping stone gave him the laboratory experience that his resume was lacking to gain admittance into a PhD level program. During his Master’s studies, he worked in Dr. Lucia Languino’s laboratory researching radiation resistant prostate cancer for his thesis project. During this time, he was admitted into the Genetics, Genomics, and Cancer Biology PhD program at Thomas Jefferson University.