The Institute is a community of researchers dedicated to analyzing complex problems at the interface of biology and society and training the next generation of cross-disciplinary thinkers.
Recently at ISG
- Fall 25 Capstone Project: Make Alphas Great Again
We would like to share with you one of the top 108 capstone projects of Fall 2025 at the HBS major, authored by Azaan Bilal, Rahi Patel and Joshua Thomas. - Azaan Bilal, Rahi Patel & Joshua Thomas (HBS, ’25)
This Fall’s 108 Capstone projects have showcased remarkable creativity, collaboration, and impact. We are proud to spotlight Azaan Bilal, Rahi Patel and Joshua Thomas for their stand out project Make Alphas Great Again. - Dying in custody: How a UCLA Professor and his Team are Helping Families Reexamine Death Reports
UCLA professor Terence Keel and his BioCritical Studies Lab help families reassess in‑custody death records, revealing inconsistencies and systemic flaws while pushing for greater transparency and accountability in death investigations.
The Institute’s Index
Student Projects
Students in the Human Biology and Society major at UCLA complete an original research project at the intersection of biology and society in just 10 weeks. Students in Winter and Spring 2020 completed this project remotely during the COVID19 pandemic, and finished them during some of the largest protests against police violence in US history. To view their projects, click here.
Spotlight
Azaan Bilal, Rahi Patel & Joshua Thomas (HBS, ’25)
This Fall’s 108 Capstone projects have showcased remarkable creativity, collaboration, and impact. We are proud to spotlight Azaan Bilal, Rahi Patel and Joshua Thomas for their stand out project Make Alphas Great Again.
Featuring: The Labyrinth Project
The Labyrinth Project is a collaborative inquiry into nature in Los Angeles. Wetlands, lawns, rats, cats, coyotes, mountain lions interact with human affect, state power, indigenous politics, aesthetic pleasure, local governmental power and much more. Also, Satan. Using a mix of participant-observation, structured interviewing, collaborative urban anthropology, historical and archival digging, ecological observation, and analysis of social media content, we explore the diverse and surprising ways in which Los Angeles is full of different natures— a veritable trophic cascade of the absurd and surprising. We write research papers and we have produced a podcast project in collaboration with the Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies at UCLA.
Lab members include ISG faculty Christopher Kelty and Jessica Lynch along with graduate students from anthropology, environmental science, and public health and a team of undergraduates majoring in Human Biology and Society at UCLA.