Local governments in developing countries are crucial for providing public services that promote human development and address challenges like extreme weather, unemployment and crumbling infrastructure. Yet, they often face difficulties in implementing cost-effective programs that meet citizens’ diverse needs, particularly in areas with significant socioeconomic inequalities. A recent study led by University of Notre Dame researcher Krister Andersson explored the impact of economic and social inequalities on local government performance in Chile (a country with very high socioeconomic inequalities), assessing the effectiveness of external policies to alleviate the negative effects of inequality on the quality of local public services.

Despite their reputation as buzzing nuisances, flies serve a critical role as some of the Earth’s most prolific pollinators — and new research led by Penn State scientists suggests they are increasingly at risk due to rising global temperatures.

A combination of good timing, great advice, and a novel opportunity changed Dawson Berger's career trajectory. He is now a full-time PhD student in mechanical engineering and one of the first participants in the NSF-funded Stakeholder Engaged, Equitable, Decarbonized Energy Futures Training Program (SEED EF) at Lehigh University.

Conventional wisdom assumes the ratio of gases in a planet’s atmosphere should match the ratio of gases in the natal disk that birthed it. For the first time, researchers compared gases in a still-forming planet’s atmosphere to its natal disk. Team found the planet surprisingly was less carbon-rich than the disk.

University of Cincinnati Professor Daniel Buchholz is using a National Science Foundation grant to study the hormones that trigger the dramatic change called metamorphosis in tadpoles. The research could provide insights to puberty and other human development.