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CHES Grad Affiliate Tom Conte passed his doctoral dissertation defense this afternoon. Tom's dissertation, Steppe Generosity: Cooperation , Labor Sharing, and Generous Giving Among Mongolian Pastoral Nomads, is based on his 9-month study of pastoralist families in Tosontsengel, Mongolia, one of the most challenging and beautiful environments on the planet. Tom combined ethnographic methods such as participant observation with the implementation of carefully designed economic games, to generate data clarifying the influence of kinship, individual reputation, social networks, and environmental disasters (the "dzud") on human cooperation. The members of Tom's dissertation committee were Lee Cronk (Chair), Dorothy Hodgson, Ryne Palombit, and outside committee member, Simon Wickham-Smith. Congratulations, Tom!