The Conversation

Marijuana fueled Colombian drug trade before cocaine was king

Written by Lina Britto, Assistant Professor of History, Northwestern University

A marijuana trafficker practicing his aim in the Guajira, epicenter of Colombia's first drug boom, in 1979.Romano Cagnoni/Getty Images

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

The big idea

Long before Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel got rich supplying Americans with cocaine in the 1980s, Colombia was already...

Making the most of a tree epidemic

Written by Sasa Zivkovic, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Cornell University

Emerald ash borer larvae is removed from an ash tree in Saugerties, N.Y.AP Photo/Mike Groll

A large portion of North America’s 8.7 billion ash trees are now infested by a beetle called the emerald ash borer.

Since its discovery in the U.S. in 2002, the emerald ash borer has killed hundreds of millions of ash trees, drastically transforming...

Deciding how and whether to reopen schools is complex -- here's how rocket scientists would develop a plan

Written by Robert Bordley, Professor and Program Director, Systems Engineering and Design, University of Michigan

The US has taken on grand challenges that required complex coordination before, including Project Apollo. NASA

Dealing with the social and economic upheaval from the coronavirus pandemic will require the skills and talents of many types of professions – medical personnel, public health experts, parents, students, educators, legislators,...

¿Qué medicamentos y tratamientos se ha demostrado que funcionan y cuáles no para la COVID-19?

Written by William Petri, Professor of Medicine, University of Virginia

Poco a poco vamos descubriendo qué medicamentos y tratamientos son efectivos contra el nuevo coronavirus.Anton Petrus / Getty Images

Soy médico y científico en la Universidad de Virginia. Me preocupo por los pacientes y realizo investigaciones para encontrar formas mejores de diagnosticar y tratar las enfermedades infecciosas,...

What literature can tell us about people's struggle with their faith during a pandemic

Written by Agnes Mueller, Professor of German and Comparative Literature, University of South Carolina

A scene from Giovanni Boccaccio's 'The Decameron' – sales of which have reportedly risen during the pandemic.John Waterhouse/Lady Lever Art Gallery

A recent Pew Research poll found that religious faith had deepened for a quarter of Americans because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Some might indeed take solace in religion at a time of...

3 ways to promote social skills in homebound kids

Written by Elizabeth Englander, Professor of Psychology, and the Director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC), Bridgewater State University

Too much time screen time can lead to lower self-esteem.SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

With the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic getting worse in most of the country, a growing number of school districts from San Francisco to Atlanta have determined that a return to daily in-person instruction isn’t yet safe or viable. They aim to to...

Millions of America's working poor may lose out on key anti-poverty tax credit because of the pandemic

Written by Rebecca Hasdell, Postdoctoral fellow, Stanford University

Demand for food aid has soared during the pandemic.Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The pandemic is driving American families to the edge, with tens of millions at risk of losing their homes and over 1 in 10 U.S. adults reporting their households didn’t have enough to eat in the previous week.

While Congress debates extending unemployment benefits that...

Wildfires can poison drinking water – here's how communities can be better prepared

Written by Andrew J. Whelton, Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Purdue University

The 2018 Camp Fire north of Sacramento burned everything in its path: cars, power lines, and buildings – and contaminated local drinking water. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In recent years wildfires have entered urban areas, causing breathtaking destruction.

The 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise and Butte County, California was the deadliest and...

International trade has cost Americans millions of jobs. Investing in communities might offset those losses

Written by Amitrajeet A. Batabyal, Arthur J. Gosnell Professor of Economics, Rochester Institute of Technology

Some economists support policies that invest in communities and towns as the best way to offset job losses.Photo by Andrea Leopardi for Unsplash

Arguing against globalization is like arguing against the laws of gravity, said former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. Globalization, the international trade in goods and services with minimal...

How a peace conference's failures a century ago set the stage for today's anti-racist uprisings

Written by Elizabeth Thompson, Professor and Mohamed S. Farsi Chair of Islamic Peace, American University School of International Service

On May 27, 1919, British Prime Minister Lloyd George, Italian President Vittorio Orlando, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau and American President Woodrow Wilson met May 27, 1919, during the Paris Peace Conference.Lee Jackson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

The racism that is now the target of protest across the globe is rooted in the...