The Conversation
Public defender shortage is leading to hundreds of criminal cases being dismissed
The Conversation • Mar 3, 2026As public policy researchers who study legal defense issues, we believe it’s clear that such shortages have repercussions throughout the criminal justice system.
Our research combines iconography, historic written accounts, and the stable isotope analysis of archaeological maize (Zea mays) to show Indigenous communities in the Chincha Valley used seabird guano at least 800 years ago to fertilise crops and boost agricultural production.
Sixth year of drought in Texas and Oklahoma leaves ranchers bracing for another harsh summer
The Conversation • Feb 9, 2026In a recent study with colleagues at the Southern Regional Climate Center and the National Integrated Drought Information System, we assessed the causes and damage from the ongoing drought in the Southern Plains.
China’s new condom tax will prove no effective barrier to country’s declining fertility rate
The Conversation • Jan 15, 2026I have studied China’s demography for almost 40 years and know that past attempts by the country’s communist government to reverse slumping fertility rates through policies encouraging couples to have more children have not worked. I do not expect these new moves to have much, if any, effect on reversing the fertility rate decline to one of the world’s lowest and far below the 2.1 “replacement rate” needed to maintain a stable population.
Trump tariffs and warming India-China ties have silenced the Quad partnership … for now
The Conversation • Dec 18, 2025Why the silence? As experts of international institutions and the geopolitics and geoeconomics of the Indo-Pacific, we believe the answers can be found in the calculus of the two largest members involved: India and the U.S.
The housing crisis is forcing Americans to choose between affordability and safety
The Conversation • Dec 4, 2025As a professor of urban planning, I know this isn’t just a hypothetical scenario. It’s the impossible choice millions of Americans face every day as the U.S. housing crisis collides with climate change. And we’re not handling it well.
Texas cities have some of the highest preterm birth rates in the US, highlighting maternal health crisis nationwide
The Conversation • Dec 1, 2025As a maternal and child health researcher in the U.S., I’m struck by the stubbornly high preterm birth rate here. According to the most recent March of Dimes Report Card on maternal and infant health, released on Nov. 17, 2025, 10.4% of babies in the U.S. were born prematurely in 2024.
Pentagon investigation of Sen. Mark Kelly revives Cold War persecution of Americans with supposedly disloyal views
The Conversation • Nov 25, 2025As a historian who studies national security and the Cold War era, I know that McCarthyism wrought devastating social and cultural harm across our nation. In my view, repeating what I believe constitutes social and political fratricide could be just as harmful today, perhaps even more so.
4 urgent lessons for Jamaica from Puerto Rico’s troubled hurricane recovery – and how the Jamaican diaspora could help after Melissa
The Conversation • Oct 30, 2025As a researcher who has extensively studied disaster recovery in Puerto Rico after Hurricane María in 2017, I know that the decisions Jamaica makes in the days and weeks following the disaster will shape its recovery for years to come. Puerto Rico’s mistakes following Maria hold some important lessons.
Young mothers in Kenya face a higher risk of giving birth early: study explores why
The Conversation • Oct 20, 2025For millions of families in sub-Saharan African countries like Kenya, having a preterm birth is all too common. But one of the challenges the health profession has is that current prevalence and associated factors remain under-explored in countries like Kenya despite their significant public health implications.