Fellows News

Wildfires are a growing threat in the American West, with climate change making them more intense and more frequent. The risk worldwide of highly devastating fires could increase by up to 57 percent by the end of the century, according to a report from the UN Environment Programme. Boulder County, Colorado, is still recovering from the Marshall Fire last December. The blaze destroyed more than 1,000 homes and buildings. It was the most destructive wildfire…

Continue reading “1A Remaking America: Wildfires are becoming more intense. Are communities ready?”

Fisheries regulators have increasingly incorporated video monitoring systems, also known as electronic monitoring, into programs for fisheries data collection and documentation of bycatch. Electronic monitoring has recently emerged as one potential solution for fisheries monitoring and catch accounting in the Northeast United States, where fisheries regulators will soon require all commercial groundfish trips to be monitored either by electronic monitoring or human observers. Fisheries managers, scientists, and industry stakeholders have…

Continue reading “New Article: Fisheries co-management in a digital age? An investigation of social media communications on the development of electronic monitoring for the Northeast U.S. groundfish fishery”

Recently appointed by President Joe Biden, Reames is “responsible for energy justice policy and analysis to ensure energy investments and benefits reach frontline communities and Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.” Watch clips from JPB Fellow Tony’s interview here. On accepting the presidential appointment, Reames has taken a year’s leave of absence from his assistant professor duties at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), though he’ll…

Continue reading “Presidential energy appointee works to ensure climate change initiatives are equitable, just, and fair”

As the mental health of college students continues to be a concern in the United States, some academics believe that part of the solution lies in a simple, relatively inexpensive campus feature: nature. There is a growing body of research showing that time outdoors is good for you, with some studies showing that as little as 10 minutes is enough to have significant mental and physical health benefits. This research has spurred on a…

Continue reading “Mental health initiative connects UMD students with the outdoors”

Following the Great Depression and related home foreclosures, the federal government established new agencies to facilitate access to affordable home mortgages, including the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) and Federal Housing Administration (FHA). HOLC and FHA directed widespread neighborhood appraisals to determine investment risk, referred to as “redlining,” which took into account residents’ race. Redlining thereby contributed to segregation, disinvestment, and racial inequities in opportunities for homeownership and wealth accumulation.…

Continue reading “New Article: The Relationship of Historical Redlining with Present-Day Neighborhood Environmental and Health Outcomes: A Scoping Review and Conceptual Model”

Annie Belcourt has always been curious about her surroundings. It’s why she decided to enroll at the University of Montana for psychology in 1992. It’s why Belcourt transitioned from education to research after starting a post-doctoral position at the University of Colorado. And her drive for knowledge is part of why she is taking over as chair for the Native American Studies Department at UM this fall. With the leadership…

Continue reading “Belcourt brings next generation to Native American Studies”

JPB Fellow Jennifer D. Roberts joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast to discuss nature as medicine for our physical and mental health. Roberts, a tenured Associate Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Maryland School of Public Health in College Park, also talks about inequity in greenspace access and how she approaches mentorship. The Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast is a biweekly podcast featuring the…

Continue reading “LISTEN: Jennifer Roberts on nature as medicine”

Black Families More Likely to Face ‘Stressors’ That Increased Vulnerability to Disease Disproportionately high COVID-19 mortality rates among Black populations in Louisiana parishes are the result of longstanding health vulnerabilities associated with institutional and societal discrimination, according to new research conducted by an interdisciplinary University of Maryland team. “Our results suggest that structural racism and inequities led to severe disparities in initial COVID-19 effects among highly populated Black Louisiana communities,…

Continue reading “Structural Racism Drives Higher COVID-19 Death Rates in Louisiana, UMD Study Finds”