Meatpacking plants have been deadly COVID-19 hot spots – but policies that encourage workers to show up sick are legal

Thousands of workers at meat- and poultry-processing plants have contracted COVID-19, and hundreds have died. A legal scholar recommends ways to make their jobs safer.

Ruqaiijah Yearby, Professor of Law, Saint Louis University • conversation
Feb. 26, 2021 ~9 min

What is food insecurity?

A food policy researcher helps make sense of the lexicon of US food policy terms, and explains how they relate to racial justice.

Caitlin Caspi, Professor of Public Health, University of Connecticut • conversation
Feb. 2, 2021 ~8 min


Biden has pledged to advance environmental justice – here's how the EPA can start

The US environmental justice movement dates back to the early 1980s, but federal support for it has been weak and inconsistent. Here are four things Biden's EPA can do to improve that record.

David Konisky, Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University • conversation
Jan. 25, 2021 ~8 min

Nearly two-thirds of older Black Americans can't afford to live alone without help – and it's even tougher for Latinos

Elder economic insecurity is a problem for all races, but it's far more common for people of color, particularly in certain states.

Jan Mutchler, Professor, Department of Gerontology, McCormack Graduate School Director, Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, Gerontology Institute, University of Massachusetts Boston • conversation
Nov. 17, 2020 ~8 min

We’ll see more fire seasons like 2020 - here’s a strategy for managing our nation’s flammable landscapes

A fire scientists offers a six-point strategy for preventing wildfires and living safely in flammable landscapes.

Jennifer Balch, Associate Professor of Geography and Director, Earth Lab, University of Colorado Boulder • conversation
Nov. 12, 2020 ~8 min

How 10 billion people could live well by 2050 – using as much energy as we did 60 years ago

Flattening inequality between and within countries could allow everyone a good standard of living within a liveable climate.

Joel Millward-Hopkins, Postdoctoral Researcher in Sustainability, University of Leeds • conversation
Oct. 5, 2020 ~7 min

The urge to punish is not only about revenge – unfairness can unleash it, too

Unfairness alone is upsetting enough to drive people to punish lucky recipients of unfair outcomes.

Paul Deutchman, PhD Candidate in Psychology, Boston College • conversation
Sept. 30, 2020 ~6 min

Harvard journal keeps data scientists connected during COVID

Data science provides a foundation for an important front in the battle against COVID-19. The Harvard Data Science Review, a journal of the Harvard Data Science Initiative, is helping keep data scientists connected and up to date on the latest findings.

Alvin Powell • harvard
Sept. 18, 2020 ~21 min


Top 1% of EU households have carbon footprints 22 times larger than climate targets allow

Our new research uncovered stark carbon inequality across the EU.

Richard Wood, Professor of Industrial Ecology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology • conversation
Aug. 27, 2020 ~7 min

How racism and classism affect natural ecosystems

Scientists find inequality between humans also harms the birds, the bees, the microbes and the trees.

Jake M. Robinson, PhD Researcher, Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield • conversation
Aug. 19, 2020 ~6 min

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