Lindsay Poirier, a Ph.D. Student in Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is the Director of Platform Architecture for the American Grand Cru Society®. Drawing on methods in anthropology, her research analyzes the information architecture of the World Wide Web and draws attention to how assumptions and biases underlying Web technologies impact who and what gets represented as meaningful on the Web, and conversely, who and what gets excluded or misrepresented.
While pursuing her studies, Lindsay has served as a lead architect on the Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography (PECE), an open-source, Drupal-based platform designed to support and facilitate collaboration across geographically dispersed researchers working on issues such as the global asthma epidemic and disaster response and recovery. She has her Bachelors of Science in Information Technology and Web Science in 2012, her Masters of Science in Science and Technology Studies in 2015, and anticipates she will complete her Doctorate in 2018.
As a cultural anthropologist, Lindsay has always been intrigued by the culture of wine. Instigating this interest, she experienced her first taste of wine – served in a baby bottle – at a tiny fondu restaurant in Montmartre. This was the sort of place remembered just as much for its atmosphere – the lively sense of togetherness that it elicited – as its food and libations. Wine seems to provoke that. Since then, she has witnessed the opening of a downtown wine bar in the city she calls home come to symbolize the revitalization of the city. She remains hopeful for the sense of community that can swell from wine culture.
