The Conversation

The invasive spotted lanternfly is spreading across the eastern US – here's what you need to know about this voracious pest

Written by Frank A. Hale, Professor, Horticultural Crop Entomology, University of Tennessee

In seven years, the lanternfly has spread from Berks County, northwest of Philadelphia, to large areas of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and both south and north.Penn State/E. Swackhamer

The spotted lanternfly was first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014 and has since spread to 26 counties in that state and at least six other eastern states. It’s...

Lessons from segregated schools can help make today's classrooms more inclusive

Written by Sara Schley, Professor of Learning Sciences and Inclusive Pedagogy at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology

Black teachers comprise just 7% of U.S. public school teachers even though 16% of their students are Black. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The intent of school desegregation is clear: Black and white children should attend the same schools, and Black children should not be relegated to inferior buildings, learning materials and...

Millions of renters face eviction and homelessness: 3 essential reads about the CDC's expiring moratorium

Written by Bryan Keogh, Senior Editor, Economy + Business

An eviction crisis appears imminent. AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

The White House and city officials across the country are scrambling to avoid an eviction crisis.

The federal housing eviction moratorium that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put in place in September 2020 expires on July 31, 2021. After that, millions of Americans who owe...

Peru has a new president, its fifth in five years – who is Pedro Castillo?

Written by Catesby Holmes, International Editor | Politics Editor, The Conversation US

On the campaign trail, Pedro Castillo often wore a straw-palm hat typical of Peru's rural Cajamarca region, where he is from. Ricardo Moreira/Getty Images

A 51-year-old farmer and teacher who wears a traditional Andean palm-straw hat takes office as Peru’s president on July 28, 2021, after a bitterly contested election.

Pedro Castillo was...

‘Mega sequía’ en la frontera aviva las disputas entre EU y México por desabasto de agua

Written by Robert Gabriel Varady, Research Professor of Environmental Policy, University of Arizona

El lago Mead, que abastece a siete estados de Estados Unidos y dos de México, se está secando.Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Estados Unidos y México están luchando por sus menguantes suministros de agua compartidos después de años de calor sin precedentes y lluvias insuficientes.

La cuenca del río Colorado....

Small climate changes can have devastating local consequences – it happened in the Little Ice Age

Written by Dagomar Degroot, Associate Professor of Environmental History, Georgetown University

The Little Ice Age brought some bitter extremes.Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1565

In recent weeks, catastrophic floods overwhelmed towns in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, inundated subway tunnels in China, swept through northwestern Africa and triggered deadly landslides in India and Japan. Heat and drought fanned wildfires in the North...

Keeping nonprofit CEOs out of the room when boards decide what to pay them yields good results

Written by Ilona Babenko, Associate Professor of Finance, Arizona State University

It's hard for boards to make good decisions about what to pay someone who has a seat at the table.Shannon Fagan/The Image Bank via Getty Images

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

The big idea

Keeping nonprofit chief executive officers out of meetings when members of their boards discuss or vote on compensation can...

Biden wants to crack down on bank mergers – here's why that could help consumers and the economy

Written by Jeremy Kress, Assistant Professor of Business Law, University of Michigan

Biden directed regulators to find ways to limit bank mergers. AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order on July 9, 2021, that aims to increase competition throughout the U.S. economy. In one of the order’s most significant provisions, he directed federal regulators to strengthen oversight of bank mergers.

As...

Domestic violence 911 calls increased during lockdown, but official police reports and arrests declined

Written by Jillian B. Carr, Assistant Professor of Economics, Purdue University

Shelter-in-place measures have made it more difficult for victims of domestic violence to escape from their abusers.Elizabeth Livermore/Moment via Getty Images

COVID-19 stay-at-home orders surely saved many lives, but a growing number of studies document that lockdowns led to more reports of domestic violence.

Even as 911 calls for police help...

Taliban 'has not changed,' say women facing subjugation in areas of Afghanistan under its extremist rule

Written by Homa Hoodfar, Professor of Anthropology, Emerita, Concordia University

Afghan citizens at a March 2021 rally in Kabul to support peace talks between the Taliban and the government. Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

The Taliban insurgents continue their deadly war to seize control of Afghanistan after the departure of United States and NATO forces. As they close in on major cities that were once...