The Conversation

Ocean heat is at record levels, with major consequences

Written by Kevin Trenberth, Distinguished Scholar, NCAR; Affiliated Faculty, University of Auckland

A tropical storm's rain overwhelmed a dam in Thailand and caused widespread flooding in late September. It was just one of 2021's disasters.Chaiwat Subprasom/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The world witnessed record-breaking climate and weather disasters in 2021, from destructive flash floods that swept through mountain towns in Europe and...

Racial and ethnic diversity is lacking among nonprofit leaders – but there are ways to change that

Written by Atinuke Adediran, Associate Professor of Law, Fordham University

It's good to get insights from different perspectives.Randy Faris/The Image Bank via Getty Images

About 87% of nonprofit CEOs in the U.S. were white in 2019, down from 90% in 2016. Similarly, roughly 78% of nonprofit board members were white in 2019, down from 84% in 2016, according to Board Source, a nonprofit that tracks this information.

In a...

Inflation inequality: Poorest Americans are hit hardest by soaring prices on necessities

Written by Jacob Orchard, Doctoral Candidate in Economics, University of California San Diego

Not all baskets are created equally. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The fastest rate of inflation in 40 years is hurting families across the U.S. who are seeing ever-higher prices for everything from meat and potatoes to housing and gasoline.

But behind the headline number that’s been widely reported is something that often...

Tackling 2022 with hope: 5 essential reads

Written by Molly Jackson, Religion and Ethics Editor

If hope feels far-fetched this winter, you're not alone.picture alliance via Getty Images

Six months ago, it was easy for many Americans to think COVID-19 was on the defensive. Vaccinations were ticking up as case numbers ticked down. Summer sunshine made hanging out outside actually enjoyable, after a cooped-up winter of socializing with just our...

When meeting someone new, try skirting the small talk and digging a little deeper

Written by Amit Kumar, Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of Texas at Austin

'The Gossip' (ca. 1922) by American painter William Penhallow Henderson.Heritage Images/Getty Images

Even as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, there’s hope that life will return to some level of normalcy in 2022.

This includes more opportunities to meet new people and build friendships, a process that’s critical for mental and physical...

Beyond social mobility, college students value giving back to society

Written by Marcela G. Cuellar, Associate Professor of Higher Education Leadership, University of California, Davis

First-generation college students say higher education is a way for them to improve their families' lives, and their own.Hispanolistic/E+ via Getty Images

The Research Brief is a short take about interesting academic work.

The big idea

Students who are the first in their family to attend college tend to see it as a means to improve their personal...

Making sugar, making 'coolies': Chinese laborers toiled alongside Black workers on 19th-century Louisiana plantations

Written by Moon-Ho Jung, Professor of History, University of Washington

Harvesting on a Louisiana sugar plantation, 1875.Alfred R. Waud/Library of Congress

Editor’s note: This article quotes historical sources using terms now considered racist to describe Black and Asian workers.

The recent surge in anti-Asian violence in the U.S. has put a spotlight on Asian American history, at least for a moment. “Racism...

How the Vietnam War pushed MLK to embrace global justice, not only civil rights at home

Written by Anthony Siracusa, Senior Director of Inclusive Culture and Initiatives, University of Colorado Boulder

President Lyndon B. Johnson, right, talks with Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders in his White House office in Washington, D.C., Jan. 18, 1964.AP Photo

On July 2, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. stood behind President Lyndon Baines Johnson as the Texan signed into law the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Although not the first civil rights...

A 21st-century reinvention of the electric grid is crucial for solving the climate change crisis

Written by Charles F. Kutscher, Fellow and Senior Research Associate, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Institute, University of Colorado Boulder

Integrating solar panels with farming can provide partial shade for plants.Werner Slocum/NREL

In the summer of 1988, scientist James Hansen testified to Congress that carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels was dangerously warming the planet. Scientific meetings were held, voluminous reports were written, and national pledges were made, but because...

'Southern hospitality' doesn't always apply to Black people, as revealed in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

Written by Barbara Harris Combs, Associate Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Clark Atlanta University

Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, listens as attorneys speak outside the Glynn County Courthouse on July 17, 2020, in Brunswick, Georgia. Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images

The idea of community and who belongs and who does not was a common theme in the Jan. 7, 2022, sentencing hearing of three white men convicted of killing Ahmaud...