The Conversation

Pandemic, privacy rules add to worries over 2020 census accuracy

Written by Qian Cai, Research Director of Demographics Research Group, University of Virginia

The pandemic has stretched out the amount of time the census is being conducted, contributing to worries over accuracy. Kena Benakur/AFP via Getty Images

For the Census Bureau, the timing of national shutdowns due to the pandemic could not have been much worse.

Stay-at-home orders in March coincided with the period when millions of Americans...

Can Asia end its uncontrolled consumption of wildlife? Here's how North America did it a century ago

Written by Roland Kays, Research Associate Professor of Wildlife and Scientist at NC Museum of Natural Sciences, North Carolina State University

Burning confiscated elephant ivory and animal horns in Myanmar's first public display of action against the illegal wildlife trade, Oct. 4, 2018.Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images

It was a dark time for animals. Poaching was rampant. Wild birds and mammals were being slaughtered by the thousands. An out-of-control wildlife trade was making...

I study coronavirus in a highly secured biosafety lab – here's why I feel safer here than in the world outside

Written by Troy Sutton, Assistant Professor of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Pennsylvania State University

Troy Sutton works with potentially deadly pathogens but the right precautions greatly reduce the risks.Penn State, CC BY-ND

It’s quiet in the laboratory, almost peaceful. But I’m holding live SARS-CoV-2 in my hands and this virus is not to be taken lightly.

As I dilute the coronavirus to infect cultured cells, I hear the reassuring sound...

How 'vaccine nationalism' could block vulnerable populations' access to COVID-19 vaccines

Written by Ana Santos Rutschman, Assistant Professor of Law, Saint Louis University

Is the U.S. trying to jump the queue to get vaccines first?Sono Creative / Getty Images

Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. The way emerging vaccines will be distributed to those who need them is not yet clear. The United States has now twice indicated that it would like to secure priority access to doses of...

How the coronavirus escapes an evolutionary trade-off that helps keep other pathogens in check

Written by Athena Aktipis, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University

An artistic rendering of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness.Getty Images / s-cphoto

Viruses walk a fine line between severity and transmissibility. If they are too virulent, they kill or incapacitate their hosts; this limits their ability to infect new hosts. Conversely, viruses that cause little harm may not be generating...

Black religious leaders are up front and central in US protests – as they have been for the last 200 years

Written by Lawrence Burnley, Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, University of Dayton

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II addresses protesters gathered at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington D.C.Oliver Contreras/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

When the Rev. Al Sharpton implored white America to “get your knee off our necks” at the memorial of George Floyd, his words were carried by news outlets across the globe....

What the Supreme Court's decision on LGBT employment discrimination will mean for transgender Americans

Written by Christopher Carpenter, E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Economics and Director of the Vanderbilt LGBT Policy Lab, Vanderbilt University

Transgender activist Aimee Stephens sat outside the Supreme Court as the court held oral arguments dealing with workplace discrimination.Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

In a landmark decision, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that gay men, lesbian women, bisexual individuals and transgender people – individuals whose sex assigned at...

US giving reached a near-record $450 billion in 2019 as the role of foundations kept up gradual growth

Written by Anna Pruitt, Researcher and Managing Editor, Giving USA, IUPUI

The Ford Foundation, under Darren Walker's leadership, is joining with other foundations to give more money away. Gonzalo Marroquin/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

As one of the lead researchers of the Giving USA report, I study how U.S. philanthropy changes each year in response to the economy and other factors.

Americans gave US$450 billion to...

Supreme Court expands workplace equality to LGBTQ employees, but questions remain

Written by Julie Novkov, Professor of Political Science and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, University at Albany, State University of New York

People gather near the Stonewall Inn in New York City to celebrate the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on LGBTQ workers' rights.John Lamparski/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Even before the Supreme Court’s June 15 decision, many Americans already – and incorrectly – believed that federal law protected lesbians, gay men and transgender...

How doctors' fears of getting COVID-19 can mean losing the healing power of touch: One physician's story

Written by Liza Buchbinder, Internal Medicine Physician and Anthropologist, UCLA Health, University of California, Los Angeles

Touch is central to empathy because the person being touched is also touching back.Cavan Images via Getty Images

The Conversation is running a series of dispatches from clinicians and researchers operating on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. You can find all of the stories here.

Even as America begins to reopen, people across city...