The Conversation U.S.

Gen Z craves meaningful work, not just a paycheck. Experts warn that dismissing this as entitlement could be a costly mistake for managers. By Kelly Kennedy and Cathleen Swody, University of Connecticut:

Or for a glass half-full view, the US government used to account for 2/3 of scientific research grants #research #researchfunding

Bottlenose dolphins in Sarasota Bay in Florida and Barataria Bay in Louisiana are exhaling microplastic fibers. Tiny plastic pieces have spread all over the planet –?on land,?in the air?and even?in clouds. An?estimated 170 trillion bits of microplastic?are estimated to be in the oceans alone. Microplastic particles exhaled by bottlenose dolphins are similar in chemical composition to those?identified in human lungs. Whether dolphins are exposed to more of these pollutants than people are is not yet known. In humans, inhaled microplastics can cause?lung inflammation, which can lead to problems including?tissue damage, excess mucus, pneumonia, bronchitis, scarring and possibly cancer. Since dolphins and humans inhale similar plastic particles, dolphins may be at risk for the same lung problems. As?top predators with decades-long life spans, bottlenose dolphins help scientists understand the impacts of pollutants on marine ecosystems – and the related health risks for people living near coasts. This research is important because?more than 41% of the world’s human population?lives within 62 miles (100 km) of a coast. - Leslie (Burdett) Hart, Associate Professor of Public Health, College of Charleston - Miranda Dziobak Instructor in Public Health, College of Charleston Collaborators: Brookfield Zoo Chicago Hope Research Lab Sarasota Dolphin Research College of Charleston School of Health Sciences National Marine Mammal Foundation The Citadel Foundacion Oceanografic Douglas Austin

“#NationalLeadershipDay, which takes place every Feb. 20, offers a chance to reflect on what truly defines leadership – not just strategy or decision-making, but the ability to build trust. Fortunately for managers – and workers – there’s a lot of research into how to be a more trustworthy leader. Here are a few insights: ? Empower your team. Let employees take ownership of their responsibilities and make decisions within their roles. This not only boosts their engagement but also aligns their objectives with the broader goals of the organization. Empowerment is a key strategy in building trust. ? Be fair and transparent. Managers should strive to be consistent in their actions, address concerns promptly and distribute rewards equitably. Those practices can create a psychologically safe and supportive work environment. ? Promote collaboration. Encourage an atmosphere in which employees can openly share ideas and support one another. Activities that promote team cohesion and open communication can significantly enhance trust within the team. ? Measure and manage trust. Implementing regular surveys or feedback sessions can help assess and manage trust levels within an organization. Consider integrating trust metrics into performance evaluations to emphasize their importance.” Yufei Ren, Associate Professor of Economics, Labovitz School of Business and Economics, University of Minnesota Duluth Now it's your turn: What qualities define a great leader? #leadership #trust

“Information on the internet might seem like it’s there forever, but it’s only as permanent as people choose to make it. That’s apparent as the second Trump administration ‘floods the zone’ with efforts to dismantle science agencies and the data and websites they use to communicate with the public. The Public Environmental Data Partners, a coalition of nonprofits, archivists and researchers who rely on federal data, are working to ensure that data remains available to the public. In just the first three weeks of Trump’s term, agencies removed access to at least a dozen climate and environmental justice analysis tools. The new administration also scrubbed the phrase ‘#climatechange’ from government websites, as well as terms like ‘resilience’. Groups have been archiving climate datasets our community has prioritized, uploading copies to public repositories and cataloging where and how to find them if they go missing from government websites. The End of Term Web Archive team has captured snapshots of millions of government webpages and made them accessible through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine. The group has done this after each administration since 2008. If you’re looking at a webpage and you think it should include a discussion of climate change, use the ‘changes’ tool“ in the Wayback Machine to check if the language has been altered over time, or navigate to the site’s snapshots of the page before Trump’s inauguration. While data archiving efforts can stem the tide of removals to some extent, there is no replacement for the government research infrastructures that produce and share climate data.” Eric Nost, University of Guelph and Alejandro Paz, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Read the story: https://lnkd.in/e_eFhfXT

“Because of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut staff and spending, Congress’ “power of the purse” has been in the news lately. Many of these actions have been challenged in court. I’m a law professor who has written about Congress’ power of the purse and some of the legal and constitutional issues that surround it. Here’s a brief explanation of the concept – and of why you should care about it. Under the U.S. Constitution, Congress holds what’s commonly called the “power of the purse.” Congress, in other words, holds the authority to control government expenditures. Although the Constitution forbids any appropriation for the Army that lasts longer than two years, Congress can choose in other contexts whether to provide an appropriation permanently or only for a prescribed length of time. James Madison, the fourth president and a leading figure in the Constitutional Convention, wrote in the Federalist Papers that the power of the purse was “the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people, for obtaining a redress of every grievance, and for carrying into effect every just and salutary measure.” This sort of leverage over policy still matters. Annual appropriations also give rise to the frustrating phenomenon of government “shutdowns”: If annual funding runs out before Congress enacts new appropriations, government agencies generally must halt operations. On the whole, however, annual appropriations continue to serve much the same purpose in the United States that they did in Britain: They provide a potent check on the executive branch. Trump may be hoping that Congress will cure any legal problems by ratifying these actions after the fact in its next round of appropriations legislation. But if Trump is indeed defying Congress’ spending laws and yet faces no consequences, his actions could chip away at Congress’ authority to check presidential policies in the future through its spending choices. James Madison would not have been pleased." — Zachary Price, University of California, College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings)

When people think of wildlife trade, they often picture smugglers sneaking in rare and endangered species from far-off countries. Yet most wildlife trade is actually legal, and the United States is one of the world’s biggest wildlife importers. Over the last 22 years, people in the U.S. legally imported nearly 2.85 billion individual animals from almost 30,000 species. Some of these wild animals become pets, such as reptiles, spiders, clownfish, chimpanzees and even tigers. Thousands end up in zoos and aquariums, where many species on display come directly from the wild. Medical research uses macaque monkeys and imports up to 39,000 of them every year. The fashion trade imports around 1 million to 2 million crocodile skins every year. Hunting trophies are also included in wildlife. Species that aren’t native to the U.S. may also escape or be released into the wild. Invasive species can cause billions of dollars in damage by consuming and outcompeting native wildlife and spreading diseases. E-commerce platforms such as Etsy and Instagram have become hotspots of wildlife trade and can be challenging to monitor, although Etsy announced in 2024 that it would remove listings of endangered or threatened species.? Story: https://lnkd.in/eyv8WakP #wildlife #birds #reptiles #mammals Photo: Macaques, used in medical research, are the most-traded primates globally, according to an analysis of U.S. Fish and Wildlife data.?Davidvraju,?CC BY-SA

Behind Elon Musk’s talk of cost-cutting and regulatory streamlining in the US government lies a troubling scenario, according to the author of the book “Who Elected Big Tech?”, Middlebury College professor Allison Stanger https://lnkd.in/eqj472kC #DOGE

Think Donald Trump can’t be president after his second term is up in January 2029? Think again. Philip Klinkner, a professor of government at Hamilton College, breaks down unlikely but plausible ways Trump could try to stay in power after his second term ends.?#Trump #politics #elections

?? ?? Super Bowl ads cost $7M for 30 seconds and not all score a touchdown. University of Tennessee, Knoxville professor Matthew Pittman breaks down 5 of the biggest Super Bowl ad flops. Which one do you remember? ?? #SuperBowlAds #SuperBowl