Sea-level rise in southwest Greenland as a contributor to Viking abandonment

Peer-Reviewed Publication

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Vikings occupied Greenland from roughly 985 to 1450, farming and building communities before abandoning their settlements and mysteriously vanishing. Why they disappeared has long been a puzzle, but a new paper from the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences (EPS) determines that one factor – rising sea level – likely played a major role.

 

“There are many theories as to what exactly happened” to drive the Vikings from their settlements in Greenland, said Marisa J. Borreggine, lead author of the “Sea-Level Rise in Southwest Greenland as a Contributor to Viking Abandonment,” which published this week [4/17] in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). “There's been a shift in the narrative away from the idea that the Vikings completely failed to adapt to the environment and toward arguments that they were faced with a myriad of challenges, ranging from social unrest, economic turmoil, political issues, and environmental change,” said Borreggine, a doctoral candidate in the Harvard Griffin GSAS in EPS.

 

“The changing landscape would’ve proven to be yet another factor that challenged the Viking way of life. Alongside these other challenges,” said Borreggine, who works in the Mitrovica Group led by Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science Jerry X. Mitrovica. This likely led “to a tipping point before they abandoned the settlement.”

 

The departure of these Viking settlers coincided with the beginning of the period known as the Little Ice Age, which had a particular impact on the North Atlantic. But while cooling and freezing might seem likely to lower sea levels, a variety of factors combined to have the opposite effect in Greenland.

 

With the waters of the North Atlantic, “contributing to that new ice volume, intuition might suggest that sea level should go down,” Borreggine noted. However, a closer look at previously published geomorphological and paleoclimate data and the researchers’ modeling of ice-sheet growth suggested that the opposite occurred in Greenland, focusing on the Vikings’ Eastern Settlement. “What we study in our group is glacial isostatic adjustment, a process that leads to changes in the gravitational field, the rotation axis, and crustal deformation as the ice grows or melts,” said Borreggine.

 

In a first for this kind of research “we were able to apply that analysis of non-uniform sea-level change and more accurate sea-level physics to this longstanding archeological question of, ‘Why exactly did Vikings abandon the Eastern Settlement?’”

 

What the researchers found was striking: Not only were sea levels drawn up by gravity, other factors – including the subsidence of Greenland’s land mass – made the settlement more prone to flooding.

 

Focusing on the period of Viking habitation from 1000 to 1450, “there’s already a background trend of sea-level rise upon Viking arrival in the Eastern Settlement,” they said. “It's been rising for a few thousand years.”  But there’s also a local effect: “crustal subsidence, or the sinking of land and the gravitational pull of water toward the growing ice sheet.”

 

“Not only do you have the ground being pushed down, you also have the sea surface going up,” Borreggine noted. “It’s a double whammy.”

 

During this period, researchers found that the settlers experienced “up to 3.3 meters of sea-level rise throughout their occupation.” For comparison’s sake, “that’s two to six times the rate of 20th-century sea-level rise. So it was pretty intense,” they said.

 

Archaeological research into the life of the Vikings who settled in Greenland together with this novel application of sea-level science fleshed out this compelling story. Noting the partially drowned ruins of a Viking warehouse, Borreggine pointed out that one analysis done by the group found that 75 percent of Viking sites are within a thousand meters of an area of flooding. “This flooding was pervasive.”

 

The impact of rising seas can also be seen in the changing diet of the Vikings, as they shifted from their own agricultural products to more marine-based foods, perhaps as their fields became saturated with salt or flooded. Such a shift, said Borreggine, reveals “they were attempting to adapt to the rising sea level.”

 

This paper “shows the advantages of interdisciplinary research, bringing ideas from one field to another and contributing powerful new insights,” said Mitrovica. Borreggine “has shown that in addition to the various challenges the Vikings faced as the climate descended into the ice age, they also faced pervasive flooding — an insight that only someone like Marisa, with deep expertise in the sea-level physics, could have had.”

 

If the lasting impact of sea-level rise sounds familiar in understanding current efforts to mitigate climate change, Borreggine noted the parallels – and one major difference. “The Vikings didn't really have a choice,” they said. “They couldn't stop the Little Ice Age. We can do work to mitigate climate change. The Vikings were locked into it.”

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JOURNAL

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI

10.1073/pnas.2209615120 

ARTICLE TITLE

Sea-Level Rise in Southwest Greenland as a Contributor to Viking Abandonment

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

17-Apr-2023

The annual report on antisemitism worldwide – 2022: Haredi Jews – The main target of antisemitic assaults

Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) presents

Reports and Proceedings

TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: THE ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTISEMITISM WORLDWIDE – 2022 view more 

CREDIT: TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY

On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day

Tel Aviv University in cooperation with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) presents

 

The Annual Report on Antisemitism Worldwide – 2022:

Haredi Jews – The Main Target of Antisemitic Assaults

• 2002 saw another sharp increase in the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States and other Western countries, alongside a decline in several other countries, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
• The report found that Haredi Jews are the main victims of antisemitic assaults in the West. Physical attacks, which are usually not premeditated, tend to occur in a small number of areas in major urban centers on the street or on public transportation.
• The authors of the Report: “The fight against antisemitism requires targeted policing, prosecution, and education campaigns in the areas where attacks are most prevalent.”

The Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University’s 22nd annual Antisemitism Worldwide Report was published in collaboration with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day 2023.

According to the Report, visibly identifiable Jews, particularly Haredi Jews, are the main victims of antisemitic assaults in the West, including beatings, being spit on, and having objects thrown at them.

The Report examines dozens of assaults reported in New York (the city that recorded the most assaults in the United States), in London (which saw the largest number of attacks in Europe), and several other cities. The comparative study suggests physical attacks on Jews tend to occur in a small number of areas in major urban centers, usually on the street or on public transportation rather than near or in synagogues or Jewish establishments. Most attacks appear not to be premeditated.

Haredi Jews are the main victims not only because they are easily identifiable as Jews, but also because they are perceived as vulnerable and unlikely to fight back. While the attacks examined in the Report are legally defined as antisemitic hate crimes, the motivations of the perpetrators are not easy to discern and could be driven by a deeply held antisemitism, hatred for Israel, bullying, or a combination of the three.

Prof. Uriya Shavit, Head of the Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University: “Our research indicates that effective policing, indictments, and educational campaigns in a small number of urban areas in various Western countries can lead to a significant reduction in the number of violent antisemitic attacks. The fight against antisemitism must include more practical, measurable, and transparent objectives and fewer declarations and cries of ‘Gevald!’.”

Dr. Carl Yonker, Senior Researcher at the Center, who led the research on the nature of the antisemitic attacks, notes: “It was very disturbing to discover during fieldwork in London that some Haredim regard antisemitism as the inescapable fate of Jews in the diaspora, sometimes even blaming members of their own communities for the situation.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL): “The data contained in this survey is very troubling. It is alarming to see the significant increase in antisemitic incidents and trends across the US and in several other countries. Equally concerning is that, unlike in 2021, there were no specific events which can be linked to a rise in antisemitism, which speaks to the deeply-seated nature of Jew Hatred around the world. We are proud to partner with Tel Aviv University on this important annual report which will be used to educate governments and civil society and help push back against antisemitic trends.”

According to the Annual Report, 2022 saw a sharp rise in the number of antisemitic incidents in the United States and other countries, alongside a decline in several countries. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 3,697 antisemitic incidents in the United States, compared to 2,717 in 2021 – a record year in its own right. The NYPD registered 261 hate crimes against Jews compared to 214 in 2021, the LAPD recorded 86 in 2022 compared to 79 in 2021, and the Chicago Police 38 in 2022 compared to 8 in 2021.

The authors of the Report point to a disturbing trend of the ‘normalization of crazy conspirations’ in public discourse in America. The spreading of antisemitic propaganda by white supremacists in the United States almost tripled compared to 2021, reaching a total of 852 incidents.

A rise in recorded antisemitic incidents compared to 2021 was also found in several other Western countries, including Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and Australia. In Belgium, 17 antisemitic attacks were recorded in 2022 compared to only 3 in 2021 - the highest number since seven attacks were recorded in 2016.

On the other hand, other countries, including Germany, Austria, France, the UK, Canada, and Argentina, saw a decline in the number of antisemitic incidents compared to 2021. In Germany, 2,649 ‘political crimes with an antisemitic background’ were documented, less than the record of 3,028 reached in 2021, but still significantly higher than the figures for 2020 and 2019. In France, 436 incidents were documented compared to 589 in 2021, 339 in 2020, and 687 in 2019.

Prof. Shavit and Dr. Yonker noted that the record numbers registered in 2021 were attributed to the social tensions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as reactions to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, “Guardian of the Walls.” The data for 2022 alarmingly suggest that the roots of the current wave of antisemitism probably run deeper, especially in the United States. They point to three intertwining factors: intensified social and cultural tensions; the rise of radicalism, both right- and left-wing, at the expense of the political center; and the proliferation of ‘echo chambers’ on social media, where conspiracy theories spread as if they were undeniable truths. “A reality in which big companies make big money by spreading big lies must be rectified,” says Prof. Shavit. 

Reviewing the situation in Russia, the Report notes troubling antisemitic remarks by officials and intellectuals close to the Putin administration, as well as the cynical distortion of the memory of the Holocaust by the regime. This raises concerns that Russian Jews might become scapegoats for the regime’s military failures in Ukraine. “Fascists are never reliable allies for religious minorities or in the fight for human rights,” notes the Report.

Two of the in-depth essays included in the Report discuss the extreme antisemitic propaganda espoused by the Houthis in Yemen, and two small antisemitic parties that won seats in the upper house of the Japanese Parliament. “In 2022 it was demonstrated once again that antisemitism does not require any real Jewish presence or direct rivalry with Israel in order to find supporters,” notes the Report. Other essays describe the failed coup of an antisemitic group in Germany, white Christian nationalist antisemitism in the United States, antisemitic tendencies in the Hebrew Israelite movement in the United States, and legal controversies in America regarding hate speech and the First Amendment.

The Head of the Center, Prof. Uriya Shavit: “Soul-searching is required in Israel as well. In recent months, several Jewish Members of Knesset have made chilling racist remarks that would have immediately terminated their careers in any other Western democracy. It is sad that this needs to be said on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, but Jewish racism is no better than any other kind of racism. It must be condemned, banned, and eradicated.”

Please contact Noga Shahar for the full report.:

E-mail: Nogas87@tauex.tau.ac.il

Ben-Gurion University researcher and colleagues pen 10 simple rules for socially responsible science

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

BEER-SHEVA, Israel, April 17, 2023 – Scientific research must meet clear ethical guidelines to prevent harm to participants. However, research can also indirectly harm individuals and social groups, for example by shaping social perceptions and inspiring policy. Researchers receive little to no training on how to consider and minimize such harm.

To that end, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev's Dr. Niv Reggev and his international colleagues have published ten simple rules for socially responsible science. The article was just published in PLOS Computational Biology.

Recently, there have been more and more calls for scientists to be held accountable for the social impact of their studies in addition to their findings. Therefore, Dr. Reggev of the Department of Psychology and School of Brain Sciences and Cognition at Ben-Gurion University, along with Dr. Alon Zivony of Birkbeck College at the University of London and the University of Sheffield, Dr. Rasha Kardosh of NYU, and Dr. Liadh Timmins of Swansea University decided it was time to brainstorm some actionable rules.

“Scientific studies impact societal norms through how they are designed, conducted, and reported. Although acknowledged for many years—perhaps the best-known example of which being a fraudulent study that triggered vaccine hesitancy—scientists interested in ensuring their outputs do not unwittingly cause societal harm often lack the tools and training to do so. In response to this lacuna, we formulated a set of ten simple rules that can help interested scientists in thinking about socially responsible science. We emphasize these rules are not meant to be prescriptive; rather, they are intended to assist in guiding and thinking about these issues,” the researchers explain.   

The ten rules govern the entire lifecycle of a study, from planning to publication.

They are:

1. Get diverse perspectives early on
2. Understand the limits of your design with regard to your claims
3. Incorporate underlying social theory and historical events
4. Be transparent about your hypothesis and analyses
5. Report your results and limitations accurately and transparently
6. Choose your terminology carefully
7. Seek a rigorous review and editorial process
8. Play an active role in ensuring correct interpretations of your results
9. Address criticism from peers and the general public with respect
10. When all else fails, consider submitting a correction or a self-retraction

Get diverse perspectives early on – If you are writing about a marginalized group, consider reaching out to members of that group for "insider" information as they hold perspectives crucial to your research.

Understand the limits of your design with regard to your claims – Thinking about limitations in advance is always better than a limitations paragraph at the end of a flawed study.

Incorporate underlying social theory and historical events – Social context matters. Not including it can lead readers to the wrong conclusions about the phenomenon being studied.

Be transparent about your hypothesis and analyses – Pre-registering the study protocols and analysis limits the risk of drawing incorrect conclusions and inspires confidence in one's conclusions.

Report your results and limitations accurately and transparently – Try not to oversimplify your results. Sometimes science is complicated. Uploading data and analysis to an online repository allows our peers to double check the data and reproduce the experiment.

Choose your terminology carefully – If you are coining a new term or discussing a particular group, make sure you aren't reinforcing stereotypes. One way to avoid this is to run it by some members of the group you are researching.

Seek a rigorous review and editorial process – Such a process is the last line of defense in keeping the scientific literature free from errors and flaws that the authors overlooked. A rigorous review process also increases the confidence of the scientific community and the general public in the results.

Play an active role in ensuring correct interpretations of your results – Work with University or journal press offices to ensure that the press release sent out is accurate and does not sensationalize the findings.

Address criticism from peers and the general public with respect – Hot button topics generate knee jerk responses as well as thoughtful criticism. Take time to review criticism and respond thoughtfully and with respect to all.

When all else fails, consider submitting a correction or a self-retraction – If subsequent criticism reveals a flaw, then a correction or a self-retraction might be in order. While a self-retraction is viewed as a ‘heroic’ admission of one’s mistakes, journal-retractions are perceived as a ‘guilty’ verdict.

“When no training exists, scientific outputs can often (unknowingly) harm society. From reinforcing social stereotypes to creating a biased AI-based tool, well-meaning scientists often generate scientific studies that unwittingly lead to detrimental societal impacts. Here we proposed a theoretical framework and a set of ten actionable rules to help scientists prevent such negative societal consequences,” Dr. Reggev concludes on behalf of the team.

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JOURNAL

PLoS Computational Biology

DOI

10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010954 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Commentary/editorial

ARTICLE TITLE

Ten simple rules for socially responsible science

'Divine' legislation mapped: Religion blocks freedom and democracy across the globe

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN

Researchers from Copenhagen and Lund have studied the historical role of religion in politics and how religion continues to be used to legitimize politics in some societies. The study shows that the past is hard to escape:

"Societies that are historically characterized by belief in high gods are more likely to have current laws that discriminate or favour certain groups in society," says Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, associate professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen.

"These could be laws that restrict women's rights or prohibit homosexuality. Or laws on blasphemy and privileges for religious organizations," she adds.

Religion and inequality go hand in hand

In the research project, Jeanet and her colleague Gunes Gokmen collected data on religions in 1,265 pre-modern societies. The researchers compared this information with current data on the prevalence of religious laws in 176 countries.

"The wealth of information allows us to compare societies that belong to the same language group, have the same level of complexity, subsistence method and level of development – and are located on the same continent," explains Jeanet Sinding Bentzen.

Even among societies that are similar on all these parameters, inequality can be much higher in one society than in another.

"It is clear from the data that societies with greater social inequality are more likely to worship gods that are attributed with a dominant character. On average, moralizing gods are 30 % more likely to be present in societies with large class differences compared to more equal societies," says Jeanet Sinding Bentzen, elaborating:

"Moralizing and punishing gods are far more effective as a means of power, while spirits that cannot punish or interfere with human actions are useless for that purpose."

God protects the dictator

The researchers have made another important discovery: in autocracies, where power is concentrated in the hands of a single person or a very small group of people, there is a clear tendency to institutionalize religion. An autocrat can legitimize his power by referring to the divine.

"The divine legitimacy of the concentration of power in a very small group of people may very well support the persistence of autocracy, because the small group of rulers receives its mandate to exercise power from above and therefore does not have to ask the people. In this way, the religious mandate of the autocrat is in opposition to democratization," Jeanet Sinding Bentzen emphasizes.

The researchers see a world where religion and populist policies are gaining support in some societies. For this reason, they argue, it is becoming more important to understand the roots of such trends.

"There is a wealth of studies showing that religion can have a positive impact on people's general well-being and societal-level factors. Our study shows that this coin also has a flip side," says Jeanet Sinding Bentzen and continues:

"Religion is many things. While for some it is a set of beliefs that provide comfort and personal strength, for lawmakers it can be a tool to gain unchallenged power."

The full study, entitled "The Power of Religion", was published in March 2023 in Journal of Economic Growth.

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JOURNAL

Journal of Economic Growth

DOI

10.1007/s10887-022-09214-4 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Data/statistical analysis

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

The Power of Religion

VA, NIH launch study of Gulf War Illness

New research may help identify biomarkers and potential treatments

Business Announcement

NIH/NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and National Institutes of Health have launched a study to gain a better understanding of the chronic symptoms of Gulf War Illness. The disease affects multiple systems in the body and includes chronic symptoms such as fatigue, headache, memory and cognitive difficulties, joint and muscle pain, poor sleep, and problems with gastrointestinal and respiratory function. It affects about a third of the nearly 700,000 men and women who served in the Persian Gulf during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

“This is an important collaboration that we hope will lead to many answers to those suffering from Gulf War Illness,” said Walter Koroshetz, M.D., director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of NIH. “Taking advantage of the resources available only at NIH, this comprehensive study will take a new look at this illness and uncover biological mechanisms that may pave the way to treatments.” 

“Effective treatments for Gulf War Illness have remained elusive, forcing healthcare providers to mostly focus on easing patient symptoms,” said Rachel Ramoni, D.M.D., Sc.D., VA’s chief research and development officer. “VA and NIH’s collaboration will bring together experts who will meticulously investigate the underlying causes of symptoms. With the help of the veterans who volunteer for the study, researchers will lay the groundwork for care that will meaningfully improve the lives of the hundreds of thousands of veterans living with Gulf War Illness.”

VA researchers will screen 1990-91 era Gulf War veterans through the Miami VA Medical Center and the California and Washington, D.C., sites of VA’s War Related Illness and Injury Study Center. Potential study participants will be referred to NIH to gain more insight into Gulf War Illness. Researchers from NIH will seek to identify how the illness presents itself – in ways that can be measured or observed – in each participant. The research will focus on the immune and autonomic nervous systems, as well as the body’s energy-production pathways.

Eligible veterans will be invited to the NIH Clinical Center for up to two weeks for comprehensive testing. Among other tests, the research protocol includes administering a peak exercise challenge to trigger symptom flares. The procedure has been used to explore the mechanisms of other chronic illnesses, such as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

VA researchers will also maintain a data repository of participants, oversee veterans’ overall experience in the study, and help to communicate individual participants’ study findings to their VA care providers as appropriate.

The study is expected to last five years. Initial enrollment began in July 2022 and focused on Gulf War veterans who were enrolled in other studies. Enrollment is now open to those from the larger Gulf War veteran community, with the first participant arriving to the NIH Clinical Center on April 16, 2023. Interested veterans can visit the study website to learn more at https://research.ninds.nih.gov/patients/va-nih-project-depth.

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The NINDS is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

Keeping retail employees safe: new study measures customer aggression

Peer-Reviewed Publication

QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

 

IMAGE: PROFESSOR GARY MORTIMER IS LEAD AUTHOR OF A STUDY THAT MEASURED CUSTOMER AGGRESSION AND THE IMPACT ON EMPLOYEE EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION, JOB STRESS AND INTENTION TO QUIT. view more 

CREDIT: QUT MEDIA

Researchers at QUT have developed a new tool to measure customer aggression within the retail and services sectors.

Published in Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, the study, was the first of its kind to clearly identify the types of aggressive behaviours that employees face, and how these behaviours lead to employees’ emotional exhaustion, job stress and intention to leave.

The research involved five studies, including surveys of 211 undergraduate students who worked in frontline retail and service roles and surveys of over 1,000 Australian frontline retail and service employees.

Lead author Professor Gary Mortimer said while incidents such as a customer violently throwing a product at an employee or yelling to attain a discount are clearly visible, aggression could also be subtle or implied.

“Participants in the study indicated aggressive behaviour with examples of being stood over, stared at, being ignored or having fake poor reviews and negative comments posted on social media,” he said.

The study’s findings identified a four-factor customer aggression scale that listed 19 items for managers to use to survey staff.

“It’s an easy-to-administer measurement tool to assess the extent and type of aggression their employees face,” Professor Mortimer said (pictured left below).

“Once employees are surveyed and the data analysed, managers identify what types of aggression are more prevalent in their businesses, the staff who are more exposed to these hostile behaviours, and where these behaviours are more likely to occur.

“As an outcome, managers may implement mitigation strategies, like increasing the number of supervisors at checkout areas or install video surveillance at refund or return counters.

"It is also important for companies to manage these types of risks to employees’ safety under work, health and safety laws."

The study was co-authored by QUT’s Dr Shasha Wang (pictured right above) and Mexico-based Professor Maria Lucila Osorio Andrade from EGADE Business School Technologico de Monterrey.

“Businesses that introduce targeted mitigation strategies to reduce the harm on employees eventually improve employee well-being,” Dr Wang said.

The study indicated that increasing abusive behaviour was the result of ‘displaced aggression’ toward retail and service employees.

"The saying that the ‘customer is always right’ is known as ‘customer sovereignty’ and sovereignty relates to perceived relational ‘superiority’. It has been theorised that customer aggression results when ‘customer enchantment’ turns to ‘disillusionment’,” Professor Mortimer said.

The research also coincided with recent calls from Australia’s peak retail body, the Australian Retailers Association, and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association for state and territory governments to implement tougher penalties for people who assault retail workers.

South Australia toughened its laws to a maximum penalty of five years’ prison for people convicted of basic assault against a retail worker while a New South Wales Labor election promise included harsher penalties.

A pdf of the journal article is available upon request.

CONTACT:

QUT Media,  media@qut.edu.au

 

 

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JOURNAL

Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services

DOI

10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103348 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Measuring customer aggression: Scale development and validation

National laboratories partner with minority-serving institutions to prepare students for the new energy workforce

Internships, training programs, and mentor opportunities are available

Business Announcement

DOE/ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY

Each year, the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico receives atmospheric dust transported all the way from Africa. These mineral-enriched tiny dust particles can have important implications. They impact everything from clouds and ecosystems to the ocean biota and the regional climate and air quality in the Great Caribbean Basin. Located on the island is the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPRRP), which serves as an excellent natural laboratory to study the atmospheric dust and its interactions with human and Earth systems.

Leveraging their expertise in the environmental sciences, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and UPRRP are partnering to build capacity in the university’s Environmental Sciences Program. The three institutions will also engage minority students that are largely underrepresented in the atmospheric and Earth system sciences workforce. More than 95% of UPRRP’s student body is Hispanic. The four-year project is one of the four awards selected by the Biological and Environmental Research program in DOE’s Office of Science as part of DOE’s first Reaching a New Energy Sciences Workforce (RENEW) Initiative, which officially got underway in January 2023.

“We are excited to help prepare the undergraduate and graduate students at University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras for careers where they can contribute to and address the science challenges of DOE sciences.” — Yan Feng, Argonne principal atmospheric and climate scientist

The RENEW initiative aims to support historically underrepresented groups in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and diversify American leadership in energy and climate. It supports internships, training programs and mentor opportunities at historically black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions.

“The two national laboratories bring significant expertise to this collaboration. Argonne is bringing to the table our work on the aerosol and Earth system modeling. Brookhaven is bringing their strong experience in atmospheric aerosol and cloud measurements. We are excited to help prepare the undergraduate and graduate students at UPRRP, a minority-serving institution that is predominantly Hispanic, for careers where they can contribute to and address the science challenges of DOE programs,” said Yan Feng, a principal atmospheric and climate scientist from Argonne’s Environmental Science division.

The program’s primary goal is to attract more students to the Environmental Sciences Program at UPRRP and promote aerosol and atmospheric science research at the university. Together, the partners will create a pipeline to bring underrepresented minority students in higher education into the new energy workforce. Through hands-on experiences, they hope to open new career avenues for talented young scientists, engineers and technicians.

Researchers from Argonne and Brookhaven will visit the university once a year to teach weeklong workshops and help with setting up the observational site. They will also assist faculty in designing two new courses. One course will cover aerosol modeling and data science, while the other will focus on atmospheric aerosol instruments. The researchers will also be guest lecturers in these two new courses with the hopes of getting students involved in research and to assist in developing their masters’ theses and Ph.D. projects.

Students will be encouraged to visit both Argonne and Brookhaven for internships and fellowships, as well as for the opportunity to use DOE Office of Science user facilities at both laboratories.

“We plan to introduce the students and faculty to the DOE high performance computing capabilities at the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility, and to the Advanced Photon Source for imaging particles. We will also train students to operate the instruments and use the long-term atmospheric datasets available at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility,” explained Feng. ​“The UPRRP faculty and students are excited for the opportunity to have hands on experience at these world-class facilities.”

Applications for the second round (in FY2023) of funding for DOE RENEW is open now until April and May 2023. Funding for the RENEW Initiative comes from the DOE Office of Science.

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement user facility is a DOE Office of Science scientific user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories, including Argonne National Laboratory.

The Argonne Leadership Computing Facility provides supercomputing capabilities to the scientific and engineering community to advance fundamental discovery and understanding in a broad range of disciplines. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Science, Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) program, the ALCF is one of two DOE Leadership Computing Facilities in the nation dedicated to open science.

About the Advanced Photon Source

The U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science’s Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory is one of the world’s most productive X-ray light source facilities. The APS provides high-brightness X-ray beams to a diverse community of researchers in materials science, chemistry, condensed matter physics, the life and environmental sciences, and applied research. These X-rays are ideally suited for explorations of materials and biological structures; elemental distribution; chemical, magnetic, electronic states; and a wide range of technologically important engineering systems from batteries to fuel injector sprays, all of which are the foundations of our nation’s economic, technological, and physical well-being. Each year, more than 5,000 researchers use the APS to produce over 2,000 publications detailing impactful discoveries, and solve more vital biological protein structures than users of any other X-ray light source research facility. APS scientists and engineers innovate technology that is at the heart of advancing accelerator and light-source operations. This includes the insertion devices that produce extreme-brightness X-rays prized by researchers, lenses that focus the X-rays down to a few nanometers, instrumentation that maximizes the way the X-rays interact with samples being studied, and software that gathers and manages the massive quantity of data resulting from discovery research at the APS.

This research used resources of the Advanced Photon Source, a U.S. DOE Office of Science User Facility operated for the DOE Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://​ener​gy​.gov/​s​c​ience.

Teen jobs: Some parents cautious about negative impact on grades, sleep and social life

National poll asks parents about the pros and cons of teens working; nearly ½ of parents with working teens say child has faced workplace issues

Reports and Proceedings

MICHIGAN MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

 

IMAGE: WHILE SOME FAMILIES TOUT THE POSITIVES OF JOB EXPERIENCES, SUCH AS IMPROVING THEIR TEEN’S MONEY MANAGEMENT SKILLS AND SELF-ESTEEM, OTHERS WORRY ABOUT THE POTENTIAL TO NEGATIVELY IMPACT SLEEP, SCHEDULES AND GRADES. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN HEALTH C.S. MOTT CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL NATIONAL POLL ON CHILDREN’S HEALTH

For many teens, that first formal job as a fast-food cashier, barista or lifeguard is a rite of passage.

And while some families tout the positives of job experiences, such as improving their teen’s money management skills and self-esteem, others worry about the potential to negatively impact sleep, schedules and grades, according to the University of Michigan Health C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health.

But finding a job that meets logistical considerations – with schedules and transportation topping the list of importance – may be the key to minimizing any negative consequences, the new national poll suggests.

“Having a part time job at a young age can teach responsibility, independence and help teens gain valuable experiences,” said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark, M.P.H.

“But taking on too much can have an adverse effect on a teen’s physical and mental health. Parents can play a big role in helping their teen find a job that meshes with the teen’s and family’s needs.”

Biggest influencers on parents’ support of teens working

More than three fourths of parents of working teens believe having a formal job has a positive impact on their teen’s money management while self-esteem ranked high on the pros list for 70 % of parents and 63 % see social benefits.

Parents of teens who don’t work express concerns that having a job could negatively impact their teen’s grades, involvement in activities, sleep or social life.

But logistics topped parents’ list as the most important considerations for whether a job is appropriate for their teen, with more than four in five saying it depends on whether hours fit with their teen’s schedule and two thirds worried about the convenience of getting them to and from the job. More than half of parents also wanted a job to provide a learning experience for their child.

Being too busy and transportation issues were the top barriers parents listed for preventing their teen from getting a job while fewer referred to a lack of job availability, having to help at home, school or health.

“Families should have upfront conversations about logistical factors when teens are thinking about looking for a job, and certainly before they make any commitment,” Clark said.

“Teens need to be realistic about time needed for schoolwork, as well as extracurricular activities, family commitments, and planned social events in order to prevent the new responsibility from negatively impacting their grades, health and other parts their life.”

Navigating on-the-job conflicts

Among parents of teens who work, nearly half also say their teen has experienced workplace problems, with top issues including getting as many hours as promised, having to work more hours or later hours and disagreements with coworkers or managers. Fewer reported unsafe situations in the workplace and incorrect or delayed pay.

“Many teens will feel anxious about being in an unfamiliar situation, having someone evaluate their performance, and dealing with more demands on their time. Parents need to continually assess whether the job is having a negative burden on their teen,” Clark said.

“Teens may feel overwhelmed by some of the new challenges that come in a workplace setting,” she added. “Parents can help provide guidance on working through conflicts and how to communicate about them.”

Just one in three parents also say they feel very informed about state laws for teen employment.

“Parents with working teens should take steps to become knowledgeable about state laws for teen employment to ensure that their child's rights, education, and safety are protected,” Clark said.

The nationally representative poll report is based on responses from 1,017 parents with at least one child aged 14-18.

Over half of parents of 18-year-olds say their teen has a formal job, compared to a little more than two fifths of parents of teens ages 16-17 and 8% of parents of kids aged 14-15. More than a fourth of parents of teens with a formal job estimate their child works less than 20 hours a week.

Most parents say teens use their job money to pay for personal items, followed by savings. Less than a third say the pay goes towards activities.

“Teen employment may a good opportunity for some young people to earn their own money and help them learn to develop new skills, such as time and financial management, problem-solving, and teamwork,” Clark said.

“But not every job is right for every teen. Parents can guide discussions with their child to make sure a job is the right fit for them. Teens are more likely to see positive benefits, with less family conflict, when they are in a job that is appropriate for their circumstances.”

A study analyzes racial discrimination in job recruitment in Europe

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSIDAD CARLOS III DE MADRID

The largest study on racial discrimination in job recruitment in Europe reveals that having a non-white phenotype is a major obstacle to finding employment for Europeans born to immigrant parents. This is one of the main conclusions of a study carried out by the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, the Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB) and the German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM).

Previous research on the incorporation of international immigrants and their descendants into the job market in Europe has identified having Muslim background as the main trigger of prejudice and discrimination. However, this research has not taken into account the role of physical appearance as a potential barrier to employment. To fill this gap, this new study analysed the extent to which belonging to a “visible” minority (that is, having a non-white phenotype) is an additional source of discrimination against descendants of international immigrants in Europe.

This study, published in the journal Socio-Economic Review, shows that having a black or Asian/Indigenous American phenotype reduces the likelihood that the employer will be interested in the candidate by approximately 20% (averaged across the three countries in the study: Germany, Spain and the Netherlands), while having a dark-skinned Caucasian phenotype (very prevalent in North Africa) reduces this averaged likelihood by approximately 10%, when compared to having a white phenotype. These estimates capture the effect of applicants’ phenotype on European employers’ responses, once isolated from the effect of the applicants’ region of ancestry. However, the study also shows that the combined effect of ethnic background and phenotype can lead to serious levels of discrimination in Europe.

To carry out the study, researchers analysed the responses of almost 13,000 European companies to fictitious job applications in these three European countries where attaching a photograph to CVs is a common practice. The researchers changed the names and photographs that appeared on the fictitious job applications (keeping all other CV characteristics identical) which were submitted to real vacancies for a wide range of occupations. All fictitious applicants were young European country nationals  (with the nationality of the country of the experiment) born to parents from four major regions of the world (Europe-USA, Maghreb-Middle East, Latin America-Caribbean  and Asia). This ethnic ancestry was indicated in the CVs mainly through the applicants’ full names. The photographs used in the CVs were carefully selected to be comparable in physical attractiveness, but varied crucially in racial appearance across four phenotypic groups (labeled “Black”, “Asian/Indigenous American” “Dark-skinned Caucasian” and “White Caucasian”). This design enabled the researchers to obtain the first estimates of racial discrimination comparable across countries recorded in the field-experimental literature.

“Most of what we knew about racial discrimination in job recruitment to date came from Anglo countries, especially the US, where the use of photographs in job applications is prohibited by law. This forced researchers to estimate racial discrimination using only the applicants’ names, which is very problematic. A crucial advantage of our study is that we investigated the role of phenotype and ethnic background as potentially different triggers of discrimination by exploiting plausible phenotypic variation in large regions of ancestry”, explains the study’s leading author, Javier Polavieja, Banco Santander Professor of Sociology at UC3M, where he runs the Laboratory on Discrimination and Inequality (D-Lab).

“According to our estimates, in the three countries studied, applicants of Maghreb and Middle Eastern descent with black phenotypes have to submit approximately fifty percent more applications to receive a call from employers than applicants with identical CVs but with European namesand white phenotypes. These estimates of discrimination are comparable in size, if not superior, to those usually found in the case of African Americans in the United States. Discrimination against applicants with black phenotypes and European or American parents is somewhat lower but also significant”, explains Susanne Veit, director of the DeZIM laboratory and one of the study’s co-authors.

Country differences

The researchers also analysed patterns of racial discrimination in the three countries in the experiment and found some significant differences between Spain and the two northern countries. “Our results suggest that phenotype acts as an autonomous trigger of discrimination in Germany and the Netherlands, reducing employment opportunities for non-white applicants regardless of their parental origin. However, in Spain discrimination seems to be restricted to certain combinations of phenotype and ancestry, particularly those in which applicants’ physical appearance is most prototypical of their region of ancestry”, says Javier Polavieja. “This doesn’t mean that phenotype is irrelevant in Spain, it isn’t at all; it only means that its effect on employers’ responses seems more difficult to disentangle from the effect of applicants’ ethnic ancestry”, he clarifies.

The study was carried out as part of the GEMM (Growth, Equal opportunities, Migration & Markets) project, funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (GA 649255) and has received additional funding from the D-Project (Pushing the Boundaries of Research on Ethno-Racial Discrimination in Hiring) (PID2020-119558GB-I00), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).
 

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JOURNAL

Socio-Economic Review

DOI

10.1093/ser/mwad009 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

In Your Face: A Comparative Field Experiment on Racial Discrimination in Europe