Portfolio

Published Op-Eds

My recent op-ed was published in The Baltimore Sun and made available via multiple other U.S. outlets in syndication.

It was also syndicated online and in print in several countries, including in the Qatar Tribune, highlighting the global reach of the message.

Editor for The Councilor: The Newsletter for the Council of International Investigators

I became Editor for The Councilor in 2018. At that time, the publication was assembled in Microsoft Word and emailed as a PDF.

Using member survey results and 1:1 conversations, I completed requirements gathering. First, I freshened the look and created the publication’s first logo. I also added interactive links. I renewed member engagement through creative activities, including a geolocation challenge.

In 2020, I reinvented The Councilor yet again, this time as a slick online magazine that I published via Marq (now Lucidpress). This gave us metrics on readership for the first time, producing a massive ad revenue shift.

The new version enabled page-turning, video, and other interactive features. For the first time, we had metrics, member engagement, a substantial number of quality submissions, and positive feedback.

Here’s an issue preview that features an article I wrote on social media marketing tools.

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As Editor of The Councilor, I fielded global submissions from CII’s network and edited for content, style, and accuracy. Not only did I design and edit the publication, but I also served as a contributor, educating peers on OSINT technologies and ethics.

I wrote about data analytics in 2020.

I educated members about deepfakes in 2019.

I wrote about metadata for OSINT Research in all the way back in 2018, before becoming Editor.

Policy and Advocacy Writing and Design

The following project was created for a Brussels-based organization focused on AI Safety.

I enjoy answering research questions through Data Visualization with Tableau. This viz analyzes historical rainfall in Asheville and indicates a statistically significant increase from 1888 to the present. The charts are interactive, so viewers gather a few years at a time and see how the trend lines have evolved. I included four different views of the same data because it’s interesting to see what jumps out at us when we structure our visualizations differently.

Logos and Designing for Social Media

Conflict Resolution Workbook

I wrote, designed, self-published The Divorce Mediation Prep Workbook. This comprehensive and interactive manual removes knowledge and organizational barriers for families in separation and divorce.

My initial goal in this project was to better prepare my clients and network for the mediation process. As the project evolved, I realized it served a more important purpose: eliminating information gatekeeping in this industry.

The workbook is available for immediate download or to be shipped in print: www.mediationprep.com.

Academic Work

Research interests include:

  • Relationship between fractal mathematics and conflict

  • Public discourse around disinformation and violence

  • Online discourse and identity groups developing into offline conflict (i.e., incel identity)

  • Applying systems thinking to policy making

  • The narrative representation of migrants and refugees in media and academic discourse

  • Intersections of conflict theory, narrative, and ecology.

Following are projects presenting research in new and engaging formats. “Carrying Complexity” was assigned as a “Rabbit Hole” research project, meant to invite the reader down different avenues of their choosing. '“Endlessly Told” is a zine format.

Investigating the Mathematical Core of Narrative Conflict Analysis
Lauren Sowers Lauren Sowers

Investigating the Mathematical Core of Narrative Conflict Analysis

Carrying Complexity with Fractals: Investigating the Mathematical Core of Narrative Conflict Analysis

One of the first fractal discoveries was made in pursuit of conflict resolution.

Now, these realities are being translated back from mathematics into our understanding of conflict.

Read More

Click on the image below to view a brief Pecha Kucha presentation unpacking one particular myth from the intersection of narrative and conflict ecology. This research explores one little story from the natural sciences about lemmings that shaped our perception of movement on this planet.

My capstone research project in graduate school, “The Half-Life of Narrative: Reflections from the Intersection of Conflict and Ecology,” introduces the concept of a phenological window as it applies to narratives about human migration.

My analysis adapts a biological framework to examine the critical periods during which displaced populations may reclaim or connect with their homeland and identity through narrative and collective memory.

Through this research, I coined the term “half-life of narrative" and established a manner of investigating how dominant narratives persist and transform over time. By examining the relationship between narrative durability and collective memory, my research highlights narrative’s crucial role in sustaining or resolving long-standing conflicts.

This interdisciplinary approach deepens our understanding of narrative and memory in conflict and enhances our comprehension of migratory communication, drawing parallels between natural migration behaviors and human sociopolitical movements.

Part 1 - The Inclination Compass: Birds, Butterflies, Migration, and Memory

  • Migration patterns of birds and butterflies provide insights into social learning, genetic inheritance, and identity co-construction.

  • Birds use an "inclination compass" to navigate using Earth's magnetic field, potentially visually perceiving magnetic lines.

  • Social learning in migration is crucial and often surpasses individual learning, especially during sensitive developmental periods. Butterfly migrations depend on social learning.

Part 2 - The Phenological Window: Opportunity and Co-Construction

  • Monarch butterflies undergo multi-generational migrations, relying on phenological windows in concert with environmental conditions to sustain life through generations.

  • This multi-generational migration mirrors human societal structures, emphasizing collective identity and the co-construction of spatial identities.

Part 3 - Understanding Homecoming

  • Draws parallels between natural migration and the right of return.

  • Explores narratives of return among displaced people, focusing on how social interactions and collective memory shape these narratives across generations.

Part 4 - A Tale of Two Narratives

  • This section discusses shifts in historical memory, contrasting institutional and critical narratives of broad socio-political conflict.

Part 5 - Collective Memory and the Keepers of History

  • To better understand the role of collective memory in sustaining or altering narratives, I highlight the pronounced influence of knowledge management and diversification in scholarship. For instance, the initial wave of female peace researchers had a tremendous impact on critical narratives.

Part 6 - Narrative Construction

  • We can better understand individual socio-political conflicts by analyzing the methods used to construct and reinforce conflict-supporting narratives and counter-narratives.

Part 7 - On Habitus and Guilt

  • In conclusion, I investigate the concept of national habitus and its influence on narratives of conflict and identity, emphasizing the existential aspects of belonging to a place.