New study finds link between green spaces and police violence

The first study to examine the relationship between greenness and police violence found that greener areas had fewer fatal police shootings. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign landscape architecture professor William Sullivan was part of the study.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, News Bureau

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The first study to examine the relationship between the greenness of an area and police violence found that areas with a greater amount of green space had fewer fatal police shootings. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign landscape architecture professor William Sullivan and University of Hong Kong landscape architecture professor Bin Jiang were part of the study. Jiang received his doctoral degree at Illinois.

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Credit: Photo by L. Brian Stauffer/University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A novel research project has shown that areas with greater amounts of green space have a lower prevalence of police violence. The study is the first to find a significant relationship between greenness levels and fatal police shootings, and it showed that the most socially and economically disadvantaged areas seemed to benefit the most from green spaces.

“It’s a novel discovery. We don’t know of anybody that’s explored this question,” said University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign landscape architecture professor William Sullivan, who was part of the research team. “It opens a new line of research on an outcome that hardly anybody has thought about in terms of the benefits of greener places to live.”

The research team also included Bin Jiang, a landscape architecture professor at the University of Hong Kong who received his doctoral degree at Illinois; Jiali Li, a doctoral student advised by Jiang who was the project manager and main data analyst; and Matthew Browning, a former Illinois faculty member who is now the co-director of the Virtual Reality and Nature Lab at Clemson University.

The research, which was published by the journal “Environment and Behavior,” “suggests the quantity and quality of landscape matters for achieving safer neighborhoods and regions,” Jiang said.

The team collected data on green space and on fatal shootings by police officers from 3,100 counties in the U.S., including 805 metropolitan counties, over a 5-year period from 2016-2021. They also looked at social deprivation measures of disadvantaged communities to provide a larger social context. The social deprivation measures include poverty, educational levels, single-parent households, rental properties, overcrowded housing units, households without a car and employment rates for individuals under age 65.

“This research was rigorous and comprehensive, with extensive controls to account for other variables,” Sullivan said.

He said that he was initially skeptical that any relationship could be found between a space’s greenness and police shootings. Initial findings showed a negative relationship between greenness and police shootings and, he said, “to my astonishment, as the social deprivation score got higher, the relationship between greenness and police shootings got higher. That is, the greener the county, the fewer fatal police shootings at every level of social deprivation.”

The team considered hypotheses as to why this might be the case.

“We believe that higher levels of greenness can reduce violence through four major mechanisms: reduced crime, improved short-term and long-term mental health, sending a signal that a place is well-cared for and increasing the use of outdoor spaces by nearby neighbors,” Li said.

Previous research indicates that green spaces contribute to faster recovery from stress, better mental health and reduced levels of crime and violence, Sullivan said.

“People who are mentally fatigued have much greater challenges controlling impulses. They are more likely to miss subtle social clues, and they are more likely to be in a bad mood or aggressive,” he said.

“If a space is greener, police officers may feel a little less stressed themselves,” Sullivan said. “If that’s the case, they bring their better cognitive capacities to any engagement with the people that live in these communities, and they are more likely to bring their best professional skills to bear to de-escalate and avoid violence.”

Previous research also has shown that more greenness contributes to stronger ties among neighbors, who may spend more time outside socializing in a greener environment. This can increase civic engagement and informal surveillance of the neighborhood and make residents more inclined to resolve conflicts non-violently, the researchers said.

“When neighborhoods are greener, there is a stronger sense that somebody cares about this place and that it’s a safer place,” Sullivan said.

The type of greenness matters though. The researchers noted that some studies have found that green sites can become territory for gangs, and that people fear for their safety when vegetation limits visibility or provides hiding places for people engaged in illicit activity. It is not only the number of green spaces, but also their quality, that matters, Jiang said.

The study is a basis for further research. For example, the researchers said that fatal police shootings often are undercounted and the data they used didn’t include non-fatal police shootings. They said that further research is needed to understand the mechanisms behind the negative association between green spaces and police shootings, and what variables influence individuals versus groups.

The study provides additional evidence for the health-promoting effects of green spaces that city planners, real estate developers and landscape architects can use to show how investing in greener neighborhoods benefits a community, the researchers said.

“Adding green cover may be one of the least expensive interventions available to a community seeking to reduce violence. This could involve converting vacant lots into mini-parks or community gardens or implementing urban forestry programs,” Li said.

The researchers said that although green spaces are beneficial, reducing violence will require communities to also address systemic issues in the criminal justice system, implement community policing practices and provide training and support for police officers.

“We acknowledge that even if the greenness level in a community is related to fatal police shootings, a great deal more needs to be done to understand the case. We also acknowledge that addressing police shootings requires considerably more than planting trees and other forms of vegetation in neighborhoods,” they wrote.

The study found that metropolitan counties had a stronger association between greenness and the level of fatal police shootings, and areas with the most social deprivation had the strongest association and seemed to benefit the most from green spaces.

Jaili Li, a doctoral student at the University of Hong Kong, was the main data analyst for the research project.

Credit

Courtesy Jaili Li

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Courtesy William Sullivan

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Journal

Environment and Behavior

DOI

10.1177/00139165251316106 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Greenness, Deprivation, and Fatal Police Shootings: A Five-Year Nationwide Study in the United State

AMS report and statement: "America's economic leadership is at risk"

A new statement and report of the American Meteorological Society highlight the crucial role of federal agencies in supporting all other sectors.

American Meteorological Society

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American Meteorological Society logo

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Credit: American Meteorological Society

As federal science agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), face catastrophic cuts, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) today released a Statement summarizing the findings of a new Special Report on the U.S. Weather Enterprise. The statement and report — titled "Without a Strong Weather Enterprise, America's Economic Leadership is at Risk" — highlight the foundational role of federal agencies in supporting public safety, private sector operations, national security, and vital infrastructure.

The new AMS Statement summarizes the recommendations of the special report, which include maintaining a strong NOAA with adequate resources to maintain important scientific observations, sufficient staffing at the National Weather Service and NOAA Research, and critical infrastructure; restoring critically important Earth science research funding at NOAA, NSF, DOE, and NASA; and ensuring continued funding to collaborative research efforts between federal agencies and other partners such as universities.

The summary statement reads, in part, as follows:

"For decades, the United States has led the world in supplying weather information that provides for the protection of life and property and supports all segments of the nation’s economy. This success springs from the carefully constructed balance among the government, private, nongovernmental organization (NGO), and academic sectors working in weather — known collectively as the weather enterprise. Each sector depends critically on the work of the others so that together they efficiently and effectively serve the nation.

With the value of weather and climate information to the U.S. economy exceeding $100 billion annually (10 times the investment made by taxpayers), it is clear that a strong weather enterprise is essential to America’s economic leadership."

The summary statement continues:

"Critically, every facet of the success of the U.S. weather enterprise depends on the high-quality research, data, and services provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and other federal agencies. Recent reductions in staffing and funding across federal agencies threaten the carefully established balance of the enterprise, placing the entire chain of observations, quality control, model forecasts, and decision support for the protection of life and property at risk.

A failure of these systems would be catastrophic, causing, for example, shorter tornado warning lead-time, more uncertainty in hurricane landfall intensity and location, and worse forecast of snowfall amounts — all of which will put the pocketbooks and lives of hard-working Americans at greater risk. Data delivery failures and worse forecasts also will create costly and dangerous delays for sensitive private sector systems and clients like power companies, transportation, real time risk management, and data farms. Further, the members of our U.S. Armed Forces regularly depend on timely, accurate weather forecast information underpinned by NOAA, meaning that any degradation of services could have disastrous consequences on their lives and to our national security.

Fewer upper-air observations that are critical to severe storm forecasting and canceled training for meteorologists who support forecast fire operations are just two examples of impacts that are already being felt. Other impacts will include deferred or canceled maintenance, upgrades, and preparations for the future, a loss of scientific progress and technological innovation, and an inability to build and retain a strong workforce — all of which threaten U.S. scientific and economic leadership.

...  As hazardous weather events will always be a part of life in the United States and approximately one-third of the U.S. economy is sensitive to weather and climate, the continued efforts of the weather enterprise are crucial to enable American families, businesses, troops, and communities to prepare for and protect themselves from weather risks."

The summary statement concludes with three recommendations:

• Recommendation 1: Maintain a strong NOAA with adequate resources to maintain scientifically curated, high-quality, foundational observations, to secure critical national data and computing infrastructure, and to restore sufficient staffing in the National Weather Service (NWS) and the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which will ensure protection of life and property and a more robust economy.
• Recommendation 2: Restore critically important funding for Earth science research in NOAA, NSF, DOE, and NASA to support the development of new observing technologies and models (including AI modeling) within the agencies and through cooperative institutes and cooperative research and development agreements with private sector companies.
• Recommendation 3: Ensure continued funding to university and other collaborative research efforts in atmospheric science to support the training of the next generation of leaders, the development of new technologies (e.g., those leveraging AI to improve models, products, and services), and the inclusion of social science research into severe weather events and community responses in support of commercial enterprise (e.g., the insurance and reinsurance industries).

View the full AMS Statement on the AMS website.

Read the full AMS Policy Special Report.

Figure 2. The Federal agencies in the public sector,most notably NOAA but also NASA, NSF, USGS, DOE, and others, provide a foundational role in supporting the rest of the weather enterprise.

Credit

American Meteorological Society

About the American Meteorological Society

The American Meteorological Society advances the atmospheric and related sciences, technologies, applications, and services for the benefit of society. Founded in 1919, AMS has a membership of around 12,000 professionals, students, and weather enthusiasts. AMS publishes 12 atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic science journals; sponsors more than 12 conferences annually; and offers numerous programs and services. Visit us at https://www.ametsoc.org/.

 

Farms with more intensive management have lower soil functionality

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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Soil health hinges more on how agricultural land is managed than whether the farming system is organic or conventional, according to a new study showing that farms with more intensive management have lower overall soil functionality. The findings argue that optimizing yield whilst lowering management intensity – what the authors call "productive deintensification" – may be a more sustainable path forward that could boost soil health across diverse farming practices. Soils play a critical role in supporting both human well-being and ecological stability. In agricultural soils, efforts to maximize crop yields can come at the cost of essential soil functions such as water retention and nutrient cycling. Intensive farming practices often degrade soil health by reducing organic carbon content and biodiversity, which are key to maintaining soil functionality. Organic farming is often considered to be more sustainable than conventional farming and is seen as a way to enhance soil health. However, benefits to soil health are likely driven by specific management practices – such as crop diversification, reduced tillage, and manure use – rather than by the overarching organic or conventional system used. Given the complexity of real-world farming, simply comparing these systems is insufficient. According to the authors, measuring management intensity as a continuous variable offers a more accurate and useful framework for promoting sustainable agriculture.

 

Here, Sophie van Rijssel and colleagues assessed how both farming type (organic vs. conventional) and management intensity affect soil multifunctionality (soil’s ability to perform multiple ecological functions) and the potential drivers underlying the effects. Sampling soils from 53 organic and conventional agricultural fields from across the Netherlands, van Rijssel et al. measured and combined various soil health and function indicators into a single score tailored to each soil type. Additionally, farm management intensity was quantified through farmer interviews and reflected practices like fertilizer use, tillage, and crop rotation. The analysis revealed that management intensity is a better predictor of soil multifunctionality than whether a farm was labeled organic or conventional. According to the findings, higher management intensity was associated with reduced multifunctionality, particularly in organic systems. The authors show that specific practices – particularly reduced use of inversion tillage and increased use of grass-legume cover crops – were key drivers of improved soil multifunctionality, with total soil organic carbon and bacterial biomass identified as the primary mechanisms underlying these effects.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adr0211 

Article Title

Conventional and organic farms with more intensive management have lower soil functionality

Article Publication Date

25-Apr-2025

 

Tracing the emergence and spread of H5N1 in U.S dairy cattle

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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The spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in U.S. dairy cattle can be traced to a single spillover event from a wild bird, researchers report, raising concern over growing pandemic risks as the virus evolves and leaps between species. HPAI viruses pose serious threats to animal health, agriculture, and potentially human health due to their ability to cross species barriers. A specific strain, H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, has spread globally, infecting wild birds, poultry and, mammals – including a small number of humans – underscoring its pandemic potential. Notably, in 2024, this strain was detected in dairy cattle across multiple U.S. states, marking an unusual and concerning expansion into a previously uncommon host. Here, Thao-Quyen Nguyen and colleagues investigated how this H5N1 strain evolved and spread following its arrival in North America in late 2021. Nguyen et al. analyzed genetic data from over 100 virus variants that emerged through mixing with local, low-pathogenicity bird flu strains. By combining these data with newly sequenced genomes and outbreak information from infected U.S. dairy cattle, the authors discovered that the outbreak originated from a single spillover from an avian source – likely in mid-to-late 2023 in Texas – followed by several months of undetected cow-to-cow transmission. The movement of infected or presymptomatic dairy cattle facilitated the rapid spread of the virus from Texas to several other states, including North Carolina, Idaho, Michigan, Ohio, Kansas, and South Dakota. According to the findings, after the avian influenza virus was introduced into cattle, it not only persisted but also spread from cattle to other species, including poultry, raccoons, cats, and wild birds such as grackles, blackbirds, and pigeons. Moreover, genetic analysis revealed mutations associated with mammalian adaptation, some of which have already become fixed in the viral population. “Our study demonstrates that [influenza A virus] is a transboundary pathogen that requires coordination across regulatory agencies and between animal and public health organizations to improve the health of hosts and reduce pandemic risk,” Nguyen et al. write.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.adq0900 

Article Title

Emergence and interstate spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in dairy cattle in the United States

Article Publication Date

25-Apr-2025

CDC taps Texas A&M School of Public Health to assess avian flu among dairy farm workers

The United States has seen 70 human cases and one death from avian flu to date

Texas A&M University

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In April 2024, a month after avian influenza (HPAI H5N1) was detected in dairy cows in several states, the first known human case was reported in an individual in Texas who had been exposed to dairy cows.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes this was the first case of H5N1 being spread from birds to cattle to a human—and the risk to humans remains low. Since H5N1 was first found in dairy herds, there have been 70 human cases, with four of these cases linked to exposure to sick dairy cows.

To find out more, the CDC has awarded a more than $3 million, one-year grant to a multidisciplinary research team led by experts at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health to assess the presence of avian influenza among dairy farm workers in Texas.

Unique Expertise And Teamwork

“Our School of Public Health is part of the largest land-grant institution in the nation,” said David Douphrate, PhD, who leads the project. “We are uniquely positioned to address agricultural health and safety issues, especially given our long track record of working within the dairy industry.”

Douphrate has more than 20 years of experience conducting research that addresses worker health and safety issues in agriculture, and dairy farms specifically.

“I am privileged to work with an outstanding team of experts in the School of Public Health,” he said. “Rebecca Fischer, PhD, is an infectious disease epidemiologist; Loni Taylor, PhD, is also an infectious disease epidemiologist as well as large animal veterinarian; Anabel Rodriguez, PhD, is an occupational epidemiologist; Timothy Erickson, PhD, is a brilliant biostatistician, and Jason Moats, PhD, has a long track record in emergency preparedness in farming operations.”

Douphrate added that others on the team are Robert Hagevoort, PhD, professor and extension dairy specialist at New Mexico State University, Matthew Nonnenmann, PhD, an industrial hygienist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and numerous research support personnel.

“Shoe Leather Epidemiology” Tackles The Virus At Its Source

“There is very little information about how many people have been affected by H5N1 and who they are,” Moats said. “Our goals are to first identify the scope of exposure and how many people have been exposed and—more importantly—to understand the workplace factors involved so we can reduce transmission.”

Douphrate said the team first sought input on how to conduct this research from dairy owners and dairy associations. The key to success, he said, is “protecting our trusted relationships with dairy owners and workers and taking all measures to ensure that confidentiality is maintained.”

Douphrate first meets with dairy owners to discuss the project and obtain their approval to collect data on their farms. At the site, researchers meet with dairy workers, explain the project, answer questions and obtain their consent to participate. A bilingual research team member then administers a questionnaire to each worker, and blood samples and nasal and eye swabs are collected from each worker for subsequent lab analysis. The process takes one to three days, depending on the number of workers.

Working with those affected where they live and work is what Fischer called active surveillance, or “shoe leather epidemiology,” a critically important capability that many public health organizations cannot offer. Instead, those organizations rely only on data they get from doctors and medical labs on those who have tested positive for a disease.

“To encounter a disease and determine how to stop it, we have to load up all of our stuff and go to the people affected,” Fischer said. “We have longstanding relationships with dairy farmers. and they know they can trust us even in the most sensitive situations—for farmers and workers who do not want the publicity associated with avian flu.”

Fischer said the blood test reveals if a worker has antibodies to avian flu, which indicate previous exposure to the virus. Swabs, on the other hand, determine if the worker “has avian flu today,” in which case the team facilitates the worker on where to receive health care services for treatment.

Relationships Built On Trust

“We are working with people who are largely ignored but who help make day-to-day life possible in this country,” Fischer said. “Our research is completely anonymous—we don’t collect names or birthdates, for example. We don’t take photos or ever talk to anyone about any aspect of what we do. That takes the fear out of being tested and helps ensure that our data are accurate and complete.”

The researchers learn how workers may have been exposed to the virus by combining the questionnaire data with the lab analysis. The test results and questionnaire answers tell the team what strain of flu they are dealing with and what to tweak to improve worker health and safety. If H5N1 is identified, the researchers help the farmers prevent its spread and keep the workers and cattle herds safe. Their findings are reported in aggregate so that individual farms cannot be identified.

“A former U.S. president once stated that a nation which cannot provide for itself through agriculture production is a nation at risk due to a reliance on external food sources,” Douphrate said. “Our nation’s ability to produce healthy foods is dependent on a healthy agricultural workforce. Researchers at the Texas A&M University School of Public Health are uniquely positioned to make a significant contribution to public health by responding to the recent H5N1 challenge.”

By Ann Kellett, Texas A&M University School of Public Health

 

Carnivorous “bone collector” caterpillar patrols spiderwebs while adorned in body parts of its insect prey

Summary author: Walter Beckwith

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

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A rare carnivorous caterpillar, previously unknown to biologists, stalks spiderwebs for food whilst dressed in the remains of its prey, researcher report. This unique new species, dubbed the “bone collector,” is found only on a single mountainside on the Hawai’ian island of Oa’hu. 

Hawai’i’s geographic isolation has given rise to uniquely adapted invertebrates, including several species of carnivorous caterpillars like the Hawaiian inchworm (Eupithecia spp.). However, the vast majority of Lepidoptera species are herbivorous; predatory caterpillars comprise roughly 0.1% of the nearly 200,000 moth and butterfly species currently known. Here, Daniel Rubinoff and colleagues describe a newly discovered Hawai’ian predatory caterpillar species –the “bone collector” – which lives exclusively within spider webs tucked into tree hollows and rock crevices. According to Rubinoff et al., bone collector caterpillars – part of the genus Hyposmocoma, an ancient and diverse group of moths found only in Hawai’i – are opportunistic scavengers and predators that live in enclosed spider webs, where they consume weakened or dead insects, including cached spider prey. They will also occasionally cannibalize one another. What’s more, they meticulously decorate their portable silk cases with inedible insect body parts, selecting, sizing, and fitting them with care – likely as a form of macabre camouflage to avoid detection by their spider hosts. Notably, these caterpillars are extremely rare and only 62 individuals have been observed in more than 20 years of fieldwork. Although this elusive species is likely 5 million years older than the oldest Hawai’ian island, today it survives in just a small, 15 square kilometer patch of mountain forest on the island of O‘ahu. And, while it has adapted to use non-native spider hosts, its extreme rarity and confinement to a single location make it susceptible to many of the same threats, including invasive predators and habitat loss, driving other native Hawai’ian insects toward extinction. Without targeted conservation efforts, this last living representative of this ancient lineage of carnivorous, body part–collecting caterpillars may quietly vanish, the authors warn.

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Journal

Science

DOI

10.1126/science.ads4243 

Article Title

Hawaiian caterpillar patrols spiderwebs camouflaged in insect prey’s body parts

Article Publication Date

25-Apr-2025