From the Media

'This couldn’t have come at a worse time': Exporters brace for port strike delays
If the strike continues for a while, exporters will probably start looking for other options, said Woan Foong Wong, an economics professor at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences. Wong studies transport networks. “Maybe some of these goods could get moved over to the rail network, and then on to the West Coast ports,” she told Marketplace.
What Do Immigrants Do for Government Budgets? New Research Has Answers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that low-skilled migrants are less fiscally advantageous than high-skilled, but still bring economic benefits. The ripple effects on wages and labor supply ranging between $700 to $2,100 annually. The WSJ references research co-authored by University of Oregon economist Mark Colas.
'The former president is using anti-trans rhetoric to distract from his waffling on abortion,' experts say
Alison Gash, professor and department head of political science, tells The 19th that she expects to see former President Donald Trump spread more anti-trans rhetoric in the coming weeks. She expects him to reach for that rhetoric as he tries to hold on to the segments of his base who may be angry about his disavowal of Project 2025, the blueprint for a second Trump administration offered by the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The Italian Far Right’s Beef With Vegans and Immigrants
"She throws a lot of red meat to her supporters,” Diana Garvin tells Sentient Media. Garvin is a professor of food and politics at the University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences. She adds that the anti-abortion, anti-gay and anti-immigration Italian Prime Minister uses meat to represent larger cultural issues and gain the vote of the country’s livestock farmers.
Deadly Landslide Strikes Ketchikan, Alaska
On August 25, a violent landslide raced down a forested hillside in Ketchikan, Alaska, killing one person and injuring three. The natural disaster followed a period of unusually heavy rain known as an atmospheric river. Scientists said that intensifying rainfall, driven by climate change, could increase the risk of landslides in the area of Southeast Alaska that includes Ketchikan. “There’s no single factor that seems to underline each of these events apart from a lot of moisture,” said Josh Roering, professor of earth sciences at University of Oregon College of Arts and Sciences.
Feeling the Force: How Physics Helps Us ‘See’ the Beauty of Running
Richard Taylor, a physics researcher and professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, wrote for the American Physical Society about how biomechanics of running, art and science converge.
When ‘Abortion’ Wasn’t a Dirty Word
Physiologically, miscarriage and medication abortion are near-identical experiences. The New York Times spoke with history professor James Mohr. “Doctors in the 1850s couldn’t do much that the Romans couldn’t do,” he said. Mohr is the author of “Abortion in America: Origins and Evolution of National Policy." “That’s one of the dirty little secrets of the whole thing,” he added.
Rich countries drain ‘shocking’ amount of labor from the Global South
According to an article in Nature Communications, researchers say the Global South’s workforce provides a staggering 90% of the labor to power the world economy, yet gets only 21% of global income. “The Global South is carrying out all the production, but getting the worse deal,” said John Bellamy Foster, a sociology professor emeritus at the University of Oregon who wasn’t involved in the study.
How do celebrity suicides become contagious? New study provides clues
When a celebrity dies by suicide, sometimes a "suicide spike" occurs, as it did when comedian Robin Williams died in 2014. A new study published today in Science Advances explores those questions by modeling suicide much like a pathogen, such as flu or COVID-19. Science Magazine spoke with Nick Allen, a clinical psychologist who studies adolescent suicide prevention in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Oregon but was not involved in the study. Allen is keen for more granular detail—for example, saying, it “would be great … to understand more about different patterns in the community, whether there are certain groups who are more susceptible to this kind of contagion.”
UO researchers study how cleats could contribute to disproportionate number of ACL tears in female athletes
Emily Karolidis, a PhD candidate and lead researcher in the study, and Mike Hahn, professor of human physiology at UO, are currently studying the relationships between soccer cleat composition and risk of injury in female versus male athletes. The CAS researchers spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting about their work.
As advances in training, technology and technique continue, how close are we to setting records that are impossible to break?
Ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics, human physiology professor Brad Wilkins spoke with the Washington Post about advances in training and breaking records. “It’s part of who we are as a species to push limits and to push beyond what we think we’re capable of doing,” Wilkins said. “It’s probably part of why our species survived as a species — because we were driven to go further and build things and do things our Neanderthal counterparts weren’t able to do. I do believe a human is limited. But humans are not.”
The Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius Wasn’t Pompeii’s Only Killer
Kevin Dicus, an archaeologist in the College of Arts and Sciences's Classics and Humanities Program, spoke to the New York Times about recent research published in the journal Frontiers in Earth Science that offers proof that Pompeii was simultaneously wrecked by a massive earthquake. “The evidence is always there — it just takes new questions, and new eyes, to look for it,” he said. “Archaeology shouldn’t be an entirely insular profession.”
Many Americans think they're insulated from climate change. Their finances indicate otherwise
In addition to negative effects on human health, wildfire smoke also reduces earnings for workers in sectors like manufacturing, crop production, utilities, health care, real estate, administration and transportation, according to a 2022 study by economists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Oregon. Eric Zou's research is mentioned in this article by NBC-Los Angeles.
University of Oregon professor trains AI to distinguish between real and fake Jackson Pollock paintings
Richard Taylor, a College of Arts and Sciences professor of physics, psychology, and art has been using computers for more than 25 years to analyze Jackson Pollock’s paintings and help authenticate canvases of uncertain origin. He spoke with Oregon Public Broadcasting's Think Out Loud program about his work and the role AI could play in the art world.
A body temperature expert explains why some people are always freezing
Christopher Minson, a professor in the department of human physiology, studies thermoregulation. He spoke with Upworthy about how the brain and body interact and adapt as we heat and cool, and the scientific reason why being cold is more common for women.