How do you untangle the messy environmental, political, and social consequences of the built environment on a global scale? For architect, educator, and researcher Jingru (Cyan) Cheng, the answer is by focusing on the smallest common denominator — grains of sand. Her current research project, Tracing Sand: Phantom Territories, Bodies Adrift, explores the ecological, cultural, and economic consequences of sand mining, from its extraction from riverbanks and seabeds — which causes erosion and destroys ecosystems — to its role in the creation of the concrete and glass that define modern architecture. This approach is emblematic of her multidisciplinary work more generally, which weaves together storytelling, collaborative filmmaking, and anthropology to reveal the social, economic, and political webs that link us all.