Recent Publications
Improving Mental Health of Adolescent Girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Causal Evidence from Life Skills Programming
with S. Baird, J. Seager, B. Avuwadah, J. Hamory, S. Sabarwal, and A. Vyas, in the Journal of Human Resources.
This study provides causal evidence on the impact of life skills programming on the mental health of adolescent girls aged 10-19 in three distinct low- and middle-income countries: Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. Life skills interventions significantly improved a component of mental health in all three contexts, with reductions in depression in Tanzania, and improvements in socio-emotional development in Bangladesh and Ethiopia. However, findings suggest substantial heterogeneity in impact. Programs that target both adolescent boys and girls appear more effective than those that target girls alone, and existing supportive environments are a necessary condition for programs to improve mental health.
US Universities Face a Red Tide and a Precipice: A Neo-Nationalism and Universities Brief
US Universities Face a Red Tide and a Precipice: A Neo-Nationalism and Universities Brief by John Aubrey Douglass, CSHE.14.2023 (November 2023) CSHE Research and Occasional Papers Series (ROPS).
Here and Abroad, Universities Face an Autocratic Playbook
Here and Abroad, Universities Face an Autocratic Playbook, Academe (AAUP Publication), November 2023
Creating a Great Public University: Shared Governance at UC
Creating a Great Public University: Shared Governance at UC - CSHE 4. 2023 (October 2023)
Since establishing itsfirst campus in 1868,the University of California (UC), California’s land-grant university,developed into the nation’s first multi-campus systemin the United States,andistodaywidely recognized as the world’s premier network of public research universities. This short essay provides anhistorical brief on the role that shared governance, and specifically the role of the Academic Senate, playedin creating an academic culture of excellence and high achievementin pursuing itstripartite mission of teaching and learning, research and knowledge production, and public service. A key component in understanding the critical role of the Senate in UC’sevolution from a single campus in Berkeley to now a ten-campus system is the university’sunusual designation as a public trust in the state constitution that, beginning in 1879,protected the university at critical times from external political pressuresand allowedthe university to develop aninternal academic cultureguided by the Academic Senate. By the 1920s, the emergence of California’s unique and innovative public system of higher education, with UC as the sole public provider of doctoral degrees and state funded research, also helps explain the ability of the UC system to maintain itsmission and formulate what is termed aOne Universitymodel. The Academic Senate hascreatedcoherencyand shared valueswithin UC,and a culture and expectationfor faculty performance that is unique among universitiesaroundthe world. Thisessay also offersa brief reflection on the Academic Senate’spast influence, its current status,and prospective role. Theoverallintent is to provide context forthe current academic community and higher education scholarsregarding the past and future role of faculty in university governance and management, and what distinguishes UC in the pantheon of major research universities.
Creating a Great Public University: The History and Influence of Shared Governance at the University of California
Creating a Great Public University: The History and Influence of Shared Governance at the University of California by John Aubrey Douglass, CSHE 4. 2023 (October 2023), CSHE Research and Occasional Papers Series (ROPS)
Since establishing its first campus in 1868, the University of California (UC), California’s land-grant university, developed into the nation’s first multi-campus systemin the United States, and is today widely recognized as the world’s premier network of public research universities. This short essay provides a historical brief on the role that shared governance, and specifically the role of the Academic Senate, played in creating an academic culture of excellence and high achievementin pursuing itstripartite mission of teaching and learning, research and knowledge production, and public service. A key component in understanding the critical role of the Senate in UC’s evolution from a single campus in Berkeley to now a ten-campus system is the university’s unusual designation as a public trust in the state constitution that, beginning in 1879, protected the university at critical times from external political pressures and allowed the university to develop an internal academic culture guided by the Academic Senate. By the 1920s, the emergence of California’s unique and innovative public system of higher education, with UC as the sole public provider of doctoral degrees and state funded research, also helps explain the ability of the UC system to maintain its mission and formulate what is termed a "One University" model. The Academic Senate has created coherency and shared values within UC, and a culture and expectation for faculty performance that is unique among universities around the world. This essay also offers a brief reflection on the Academic Senate’s past influence, its current status, and prospective role. The overall intent is to provide context forthe current academic community and higher education scholars regarding the past and future role of faculty in university governance and management, and what distinguishes UC in the pantheon of major research universities.
The 2035 Report: Abundant, Affordable Offshore Wind Can Accelerate Our Clean Electricity Future
Umed Paliwal, Nikit Abhyankar, Taylor McNair, Jose Dominguez Bennett, David Wooley, Jamie Matos, Ric O’Connell, Amol Phadke. "Abundant, Affordable Offshore Wind Can Accelerate Our Clean Electricity Future" August 1, 2023.
Plummeting costs and technical performance improvements of offshore wind have dramatically enhanced the prospects for near-term power sector decarbonization. The high resource quality of offshore wind in the United States, coupled with rapidly falling technology costs, makes it possible for offshore wind to provide 10-25% of total electricity generation in the U.S. power system in 2050 without substantially impacting wholesale electricity costs. This report, 2035 Report 3.0, examines the prospect of achieving 90% clean electricity by 2035 and 95% clean electricity by 2050. Three scenarios — Low, Medium, and High Ambition — detail the electricity system impacts of increased offshore wind growth providing 10-25% of total generation.
Global carbon emissions must be halved by 2030 to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change (UN IPCC, 2023). While the United States continues to make progress on national decarbonization trends, with increases in clean energy produc- tion delivering cuts in power sector emissions, 2022 still saw a slight rise in the nation’s overall greenhouse gas emissions (Rhodium Group, 2023). For the U.S. to achieve net zero emissions, in which the nation emits no more carbon into the atmosphere than can be removed, the U.S. must significant- ly ramp up clean energy production while electrifying other sectors of the economy, such as buildings, transportation, and industry — likely causing U.S. electricity demand to triple by 2050.
Around the globe, nations have begun to grasp the opportunity on the waters. The global pipeline of offshore wind projects that have been announced or are in pre-construction phases now stands at over 700 GW (GEM, 2023). The European Union will endeavor to build nearly 400 GW of offshore wind by 2050, while China installed 20 GW in the last two years alone (European Commission, 2023; GWEC, 2023). While the Biden Administration has a target to deploy 30 GW of offshore wind by 2030 and 110 GW by 2050, increasing offshore wind ambition beyond these current goals could accelerate the nation’s transition to net zero emissions.
Reminders, but not Monetary Incentives, Increase COVID-19 Booster Uptake
with T. Chang, M. Jacobson, M. Kopetsky, R. Pramanik, and S. Shah, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 2023, 120(31).
Despite substantially decreasing the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID-19, COVID-19 booster vaccination rates remain low around the world. A key question for public health agencies is how to increase booster vaccination rates, particularly among high-risk groups. We conducted a large preregistered randomized controlled trial (with 57,893 study subjects) in a county health system in northern California to test the impact of personal reminder messages and small financial incentives of $25 on booster vaccination rates. We found that reminders increased booster vaccination rates within 2 wk by 0.86 percentage points (P = 0.000) or nearly 33% off the control mean of 2.65%. Monetary incentives had no additional impact on vaccination rates. The results highlight the potential of low-cost targeted messages, but not small financial incentives, to increase booster vaccination rates.
Comprehensive review of carbon quantification by improved forest management offset protocols
Barbara K. Haya, Samuel Evans, Letty Brown, Jacob Bukoski, Van Butsic, Bodie Cabiyo, Rory Jacobson, Amber Kerr, Matthew Potts and Daniel L. Sanchez. (2023). Frontiers in Forests and Global Change. DOI: 10.3389/ffgc.2023.958879