The Conversation

How giving legal rights to nature could help reduce toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie

Written by Dana Zartner, Associate Professor, International Studies Department; Adjunct Professor, School of Law, University of San Francisco

A severe blue-green algae bloom spreads across western Lake Erie on July 30, 2019.NASA Earth Observatory

August and September are peak months for harmful blooms of algae in western Lake Erie. This year’s outbreak covered more than 620 square miles by mid-August. These blooms, which can kill fish and pets and threaten public health, are driven...

Curious Kids: Who was the first black child to go to an integrated school?

Written by Russell Ellsworth Lovell II, Professor Emeritus, Drake University Law School, Drake University

School segregation was the law of the land in the U.S. during much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Everett Historical/Shutterstock.com

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Who was the first black child to go to an integrated...

4 tips for selecting charities after disasters like Hurricane Dorian

Written by David Campbell, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New York

After hurricanes, there are always people who could use a hand.AP Photo /Jeffrey Collins

Hurricane Dorian’s destruction in the Bahamas, North Carolina and up the Atlantic coast provides a terrible reminder of how these storms can upend lives and destroy homes. As with previous disasters, millions of Americans are trying to figure out the best...

Market-based policies work to fight climate change, from India to Jamaica

Written by Jason Scorse, Associate Professor, Chair, Director, Middlebury

The economic foundation at the heart of conservative political philosophy is that markets are the best way to allocate the bulk of society’s resources.

That faith in markets explains the Republican Party’s preference for, say, private medical insurance over a government-run American health system. And it informs their push to loosen...

Math skills aren't enough to get through hard decisions – you need confidence, too

Written by Ellen Peters, Philip H. Knight Professor of Science Communication, University of Oregon

Numeracy has real implications for your life.Ray Reyes/Unsplash, CC BY

Almost a third of American adults don’t have the math skills necessary to make effective decisions about their health and finances.

These 73 million people can count, sort and do simple arithmetic. But they likely cannot select the health plan with the lowest cost based on...

How disinformation could sway the 2020 election

Written by Paul M. Barrett, Deputy Director, Center for Business and Human Rights, Stern School of Business; Adjunct Professor of Law, New York University

What people read online could really disrupt society and politics.igorstevanovic/Shutterstock.com

In 2016, Russian operatives used Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to sow division among American voters and boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.

What the Russians used to accomplish this is called “disinformation,” which is false...

Why your employer-sponsored insurance may ultimately not be good for you

Written by Dana Goldman, Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair and Distinguished Professor of Public Policy, Pharmacy, and Economics, University of Southern California

Employer-sponsored insurance is one of the biggest benefits for U.S. workers, but it may not be best social policy.zimmytws/Shutterstock.com

The Democratic presidential debates, which resume Sept. 12, have highlighted a deep disagreement over the future American health care system. Reflecting the anger of voters over medical costs, Sens. Bernie...

Far fewer Mexican immigrants are coming to the US -- and those who do are more educated

Written by Rogelio Sáenz, Professor of Demography, The University of Texas at San Antonio

The number of Mexican migrants fell during the economic recession.Tu Olles/Shutterstock.com

Once upon a time, not long ago, Mexicans dominated the flow of migrants coming to the U.S. Mexican migration expanded over the course of much of the 20th century and into the start of the 21st century.

That is no longer the case.

The number of Mexican...

In Brazil's rainforests, the worst fires are likely still to come

Written by Robert T. Walker, Professor of Latin American Studies and Geography, University of Florida

The number of fires this year in the Amazon is the highest since 2010, reaching more than 90,000 active fires. Farmers and ranchers routinely use fires to clear the forest. But this year’s number reflects a worrisome uptick in the rate of deforestation, which had started to drop around 2005 before rebounding earlier this decade.

Many people bl...

I create manipulated images and videos – but quality may not matter much

Written by Christye Sisson, Associate Professor of Photographic Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology

It can be tricky to make it look like people are doing things they never did.Alexander Sobol/Shutterstock.com

Lots of people – including Congress – are worried about fake videos and imagery distorting the truth, purporting to show people saying and doing things they never said or did.

I’m part of a larger U.S. government project th...