Stephen Sireci, 2016 PEP Fellow, was recently quoted after the release of the “nation’s report card” advocating that state leaders must take action in supporting children's education

Stephen Sireci, 2016 PEP Fellow, was recently quoted after the release of the “nation’s report card” advocating that state leaders must take action in supporting children's education. Sireci, director of the Center for Educational Assessment, commented on the recently released National Assessment for Educational Progress, often called the “nation’s report card,” that reported that test scores nationwide fell further over the pandemic than they have in decades, offered a clear diagnosis: Many kids need help, and those who’ve struggled most historically need urgent attention. “We need to go beyond noticing and recording the decline to actually doing something about it,” Sireci said. Read more at Boston Globe.

Nilanjana Dasgupta, 2015 PEP Fellow, writes about ways to make STEM fields more diverse

Nilanjana Dasgupta, 2015 PEP Fellow, writes about ways to make STEM fields more diverse. Dasgupta, who leads the UMass-based Institute of Diversity Sciences, says, “When educators connect science and engineering to social good, build relationships and create communities that intentionally draw in people who are usually invisible, we automatically attract and advance the talents of people from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.” Read more at The Conversation.

Michael Rawlins, 2015 PEP Fellow and associate director of the Climate System Research Center, is quoted on New England precipitation

Michael Rawlins, 2015 PEP Fellow and associate director of the Climate System Research Center, is quoted on New England precipitation. Rawlins explains that since the 1950s, there’s been a 70 percent increase in the number of days that New England sees extreme levels of precipitation. “That’s a clear fingerprint of a warming world,” he says. Read more at Boston Globe and additional coverage in the Boston Globe.

Agnès Lacreuse, 2022 PEP Fellow, has co-written an article about expanding Alzheimer’s research with primates

Agnès Lacreuse, 2022 PEP Fellow, has co-written an article about expanding Alzheimer’s research with primates. Research on primates may help overcome the problem with treatments that show promise in mice but don’t help humans. Lacreuse and colleugues explain, “We believe that research in nonhuman primates, when conducted with the highest ethical standards, provides the best chance to understand how and why Alzheimer’s disease progresses, and to design treatments that are safe and effective in people.” Read more at The Conversation.

Julie Brigham-Grette, 2017 PEP Fellow, was recently quoted about a project on water and sanitation problems impacting local and indigenous communities in Alaska

Elizabeth Evans, 2018 PEP Fellow, is interviewed about improving the release process for incarcerated individuals in a way that maintains opioid treatment continuity to help prevent overdoses

Elizabeth Evans, 2018 PEP Fellow, is interviewed about improving the release process for incarcerated individuals in a way that maintains opioid treatment continuity to help prevent overdoses. Evans was co-principal investigator of a new study by researchers at UMass Amherst, Tufts University School of Medicine and UMass Chan Medical School-Baystate that identified improvements needed to help incarcerated individuals transition from jail to the community. Read more at WWLP, and the News Office release.

Jonathan R. Wynn, 2017 PEP Fellow, is quoted in an article about tensions surrounding the holding of large music festivals in Chicago

Jonathan R. Wynn, 2017 PEP Fellow, is quoted in an article about tensions surrounding the holding of large music festivals in Chicago. While such events act as massive sources of revenue for the city, some frustrated residents say the festivities disrupt communities, underscore inequality in the city and are simply more trouble than they’re worth. “Because music festivals aren’t brick-and-mortar establishments, they do have a kind of ephemeral aspect to them,” Wynn says. “They fly in, set up shop, bring in tourism dollars, then move on.” Read more at Bloomberg.com.

Paul Collins, 2015 PEP Fellow, is interviewed about what might happen if the Supreme Court takes up Donald Trump’s appeal of the release of his tax records and what the implications might be

Paul Collins, 2015 PEP Fellow, is interviewed about what might happen if the Supreme Court takes up Donald Trump’s appeal of the release of his tax records and what the implications might be. “First, public support for the Court is at an all-time low and this would put the Court in the political spotlight. If the justices were to rule for Trump, that would almost certainly further diminish the legitimacy of the Court in the eyes of the public,” Collins says. “Second, the court of appeals decision was unanimous, and upheld the district court decision, which was made by a judge Trump appointed. This is pretty solid evidence that Trump does not have an especially strong case that requires intervention by the Supreme Court.” Read more at WJACTV.com.

Erin Baker, 2017 PEP Fellow, discusses how boosting renewable energy use can happen quickly and reduce harm to low-income people if done thoughtfully

Erin Baker, 2017 PEP Fellow, discusses how boosting renewable energy use can happen quickly and reduce harm to low-income people if done thoughtfully. Though the U.S. has made efforts to transition to renewable energy, “we need to be more aggressive,” she says, especially because “polluting facilities tend to be located disproportionally in areas that are low income and home to people of color, which can lead to negative health outcomes.” Baker is a distinguished professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at UMass Amherst and director of the Energy Transition Institute. Read more at The Conversation.

Michael Rawlins, 2015 PEP Fellow, comments in three articles about the current heat wave and climate change

Michael Rawlins, 2015 PEP Fellow, comments in three articles about the current heat wave and climate change. “The number of extreme events seems to suggest that the warming is having impacts that we may have hoped were in our future, but are now being realized,” Rawlins, associate director of the Climate System Research Center, told the Boston Globe. In an article about this July being one of the driest on record in Massachusetts, while last July was the wettest, he says, “Large swings between wet and dry conditions are thought to be a manifestation of climate warming.” Ongoing reporting in MassLive quotes Rawlins’ June comments that, “What we consider normal weather — temperature and precipitation — has been changed. It’s warmer and wetter here than what folks generations ago would have considered normal.” Read more at The Boston Globe, Greenfield Recorder, and MassLive.

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