CSDE Affiliate Gregory Bratman (College of the Environment) released research with colleagues in Plos One, entitled “Susceptibility to stress and nature exposure: Unveiling differential susceptibility to physical environments; a randomized controlled trial“. Emerging epidemiological evidence indicates nature exposure could be associated with greater health benefits among groups in lower versus higher socioeconomic positions. One possible mechanism underpinning this evidence is described by our framework: (susceptibility) adults in low socioeconomic positions face higher exposure to persistent psychosocial stressors in early life, inducing a pro-inflammatory phenotype as a lifelong susceptibility to stress; (differential susceptibility) susceptible adults are more sensitive to the health risks of adverse (stress-promoting) environments, but also to the health benefits of protective (stress-buffering) environments. This study serves as an experimental investigation of a pro-inflammatory phenotype as a mechanism facilitating greater stress recovery from nature exposure.

CSDE Affiliate Dafeng Xu (Evans School of Public Policy & Governance) authored new research in The History of the Family, entitled “The expatriation act of 1907, marital assimilation, and citizenship-based intermarriage in the U.S.“. As both a marriage act and an immigration act, the Expatriation Act of 1907 restricted U.S. women’s freedom of marriage by stating that marrying aliens would lead to loss of U.S. citizenship. To study the effects of the Expatriation Act, Xu conducts a statistical analysis using 1910 full-count U.S. census data. Xu finds that the Expatriation Act of 1907 generated significantly negative effects on intermarriage between American women and foreign-born men, particularly noncitizens.

CSDE Affiliate Nicole Errett (Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences) released an article with co-authors in Natural Hazards, titled “Bridging underrepresented disaster scholars and national science foundation-funded resources“. The article was lead-authored by Cassandra Jean, a recent postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences. The intentional inclusion of various perspectives is critical in disaster and hazard research to advance science and promote equitable resilience in a rapidly changing climate. However, historically underrepresented scholars like Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQIA2S + community members, and women are frequently absent from these efforts. Such exclusions exist as disparities in obtaining grant support, the disproportionate validation of their research or skills, limited training or mentorship opportunities, and implicit biases towards faculty members and students. As a result, many of these scholars, who frequently study communities living in precarious conditions, are absent from utilizing equipment or have limited access to resources that can ultimately assist them in their research efforts. This paper examined the experiences of such underrepresented scholars involved in disaster and environmental-related work to understand the needs, barriers, and opportunities to accessing National Science Foundation (NSF) supported resources.