Notre Dame News | News

Statement on national championship game from University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

2025-01-20T23:30:00-05:00

“On behalf of the University, I want to congratulate Ohio State University on their national championship. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to our Notre Dame football players, coaches, and staff for their incredible dedication and congratulate them on everything they have accomplished during this historic season. Special thanks to Vice President and James E. Rohr Director of Athletics Pete Bevacqua and the Dick Corbett Head Football Coach Marcus Freeman for their tremendous leadership. The entire Notre Dame community takes pride not only in this team’s achievements, but also in what this team stands for: faith, perseverance, selflessness, and a steadfast commitment to Notre Dame. Go Irish!”

Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.
President, University of Notre Dame

A global majority trusts scientists, wants them to have greater role in policymaking, study finds

2025-01-20T07:14:00-05:00

In what is considered the most comprehensive post-pandemic survey of trust in scientists, researchers have found a majority of people around the world carry widespread trust in scientists — believing them to be honest, competent, qualified and concerned with public well-being.

Researchers surveyed more than 72,000 individuals across 68 countries on perceptions of scientists’ trustworthiness, competence, openness and research priorities.

The results, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, also showed the general public’s desire for more engagement from scientists through communication and policymaking.

“This was a major collaborative study, involving dozens of labs from across the world, all of them asking the same questions to specific audiences, in their specific languages according to their own customs,” said Tim Weninger, the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Professor of Engineering and director of graduate studies in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. “This is the first time I have seen such a distributed and collaborative effort in the social sciences. Our results show that, generally, denizens worldwide do indeed trust scientists.”

Tim Weninger

Weninger is an expert in disinformation and fake news and one of 241 researchers who contributed to the study as part of the Trust in Scientists and Science-Related Populism (TISP) Many Labs project, an international, multidisciplinary consortium of researchers at 179 institutions around the world.

Researchers sought to identify levels of trust in scientists, how demographic and country-level factors impact trust and vary between countries, perceptions of scientists in societal roles and policymaking, and which issues people believe scientists should prioritize.

A challenge to a ‘popular, dominant narrative’

The study challenges a “popular, dominant narrative claiming a crisis of trust in science and scientists,” the authors said. Building on previous studies, primarily focused on attitudes in the United States and Europe, the survey also includes individuals and countries long underrepresented in research.

An overwhelming majority of respondents (83 percent) believe scientists should communicate scientific concepts and research findings with the public. More than half (52 percent) believe scientists should be more involved in policymaking.

According to the study, “higher levels of trust were found among women, older people, residents of urban (vs. rural) regions,” higher-income earners, individuals who identify as religious and those with left-leaning or liberal political views. Education also positively correlated with trust.

In most countries, however, political orientation is unrelated to trust in scientists, the study found — one of several results that provided insight into global views.

Additionally, whereas some people might assume religion and science to be at odds, the TISP study found a positive association between trust and science and religious identity.

“That was the most surprising thing to me,” Weninger said. “Religiosity positively and significantly correlated with trust in science. Science and religion are often seen as being at odds with one another. This global study shows that religiosity and trust in science are commonly held in tandem by people across the world.”

The desire for more engagement

Overall, attitudes reveal a desire among the public to see scientists engage in science communication and policymaking — advocating for policies that address specific issues such as climate change and communicating research findings to government officials and politicians.

People also want to see scientists prioritize improving public health, solving energy problems and reducing poverty. The survey showed that people generally believe the scientific community prioritizes defense and military technology above all other research goals, which was found to be a lesser priority for most respondents.

Previous studies have shown trust in science and scientists as critical to managing global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Weninger and the study’s authors said the results of the TISP survey “can help scientists and science communicators better tailor their communication to different audiences” and stressed the need for international research that includes underrepresented and understudied populations.

Challenges and recommendations

While the results of the TISP study strongly challenge current narratives, the consortium noted their findings reveal some areas for concern.

Though 57 percent of global respondents believed scientists are honest, and 56 percent believed scientists are concerned with public well-being, only 42 percent believe scientists are receptive to feedback or pay attention to others’ views.

“Anti-science attitudes, even if held by only a minority of people, raise concerns about a potential crisis of trust in science, which could challenge the epistemic authority of science and the role of scientists in supporting evidence-based policymaking,” the authors stated in the study.

With that in mind, the consortium suggested scientists find ways to be more open to feedback and dialogue with public audiences, increase public science communication efforts to highlight ongoing research in public health and energy, consider ways to reach conservative groups in Western countries and consider the role of the scientist in setting priorities aligned with public values.

The survey’s full dataset is available via a comprehensive dashboard, providing insights on science-related populism, science communication behavior and public perceptions about climate change. Through the dashboard, users can explore specific data at the country level and compare results.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Lilly Endowment grant supports expansion of Robinson Center’s Talk With Your Baby program

2025-01-16T11:00:00-05:00

Notre Dame senior Lydia Liang works with a pair of preschoolers at the Robinson Community Learning Center in South Bend. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame has received a $3.7 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. in support of the Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) and its Talk With Your Baby program.

The grant will be used to scale and expand the parent education program based on four key objectives:

• Expand the existing parent curriculum from a single module of eight lessons to four modules with a total of 32 lessons delivered in English and Spanish.

• Develop a parallel curriculum specifically for early care providers and those responsible for preparing and licensing early care providers in both English and Spanish.

• Grow the program regionally through expansion into neighboring Elkhart, Marshall and La Porte counties, and across the state through the early care provider program.

• Develop a robust online platform to complement in-person learning.

The lump-sum grant is the largest ever awarded to the RCLC, significantly enhancing its capacity for community outreach within the context of the University’s strategic framework.

“We are deeply grateful for Lilly Endowment’s support of the Robinson Community Learning Center’s Talk With Your Baby program to promote language development for our youngest neighbors,” said Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C. “We know that investing in early childhood programs can have a profound impact on children’s future learning outcomes. We are delighted to collaborate with local partners to expand access to these critically important resources.”

Managed by the RCLC since 2013, Talk With Your Baby educates parents and caregivers on the importance of frequent interaction with children through talking, reading and singing from birth to age 3.

91��Ƶ increasingly underscore the importance of such interactions for bonding, brain structure and function, language development, reading readiness and social and emotional development.

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development ... This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

Classes cover a variety of topics and tips for new and expecting parents and are available in both English and Spanish.

“Thanks to Lilly Endowment’s ongoing support, the Talk With Your Baby program can expand its vitally important work of bolstering language development in young children,” said Susan Devetski, director of the RCLC. “Adults interacting meaningfully with young children promotes the development of essential language skills, nurtures social and emotional development and puts young children on the path to success in school. This grant will allow us to give more parents and caregivers in the South Bend-Elkhart area and beyond a playbook that they can use with their children to develop their young brains.”

This is the second major grant for Talk With Your Baby in as many years.

In 2023, Early Learning Indiana, with support from Lilly Endowment, awarded $500,000 to the RCLC to expand the program in partnership with the city of South Bend and other local stakeholders.

The grant, which was part of Early Learning Indiana’s Early Years Initiative, allowed the RCLC to hire a full-time coordinator and two part-time parent educators for the program, and to expand participation in the program from 125 to 400 parents annually.

Early Learning Indiana also supports the RCLC’s preschool program.

Robinson Community Learning Center

“From the outset, the RCLC has been committed to preK-12 and parent education as part of a holistic approach to early childhood development,” said Tim Sexton, associate vice president for public affairs at Notre Dame. “This includes Talk With Your Baby as well as a variety of multilingual after-school, evening and summer tutoring and enrichment programs, robotics and theater programs, and a high-quality preschool program geared toward fostering the social, emotional, physical, cognitive and creative development of every child. This commitment is part of a broader focus on the entire South Bend-Elkhart region, and is only possible through the generous support of individuals and organizations like Lilly Endowment and Early Learning Indiana.”

As a trusted local provider of early childhood care and resources, the RCLC partners with local organizations to deliver Talk With Your Baby to hundreds of parents and caregivers annually, with a focus on reading, emotional coaching and other aspects of good parenting.

Parents and caregivers learn to use books as a medium for imaginative interaction, verbal exploration, vocabulary building, receptive and expressive language skills, and emotional closeness, leading to better achievement in reading, school, relationships and other aspects of learning and life.

Building on the important work of the TMW Center for Early Learning + Public Health, Talk With Your Baby was originally established as an initiative of Memorial Health Foundation, now Beacon Health Foundation, in 2009.

Since then, more than 3,000 parents and caregivers have participated in the program, along with more than 150 facilitators, the majority of them trained by the RCLC. More than 22,000 books have been distributed through the program.

The RCLC is an off-campus educational initiative of Notre Dame in partnership with Northeast Neighborhood residents, offering a variety of programs for children and adults as well as classes, clubs and lectures for seniors.

For more information, visit rclc.nd.edu.

Protective actions need regulatory support to fully defend homeowners and coastal communities, study finds

2025-01-15T16:00:44-05:00

As climate change drives increasingly severe hurricanes, U.S. coastal communities are bearing the brunt of mounting losses. With regulations failing to curb the damage, homeowners have become the front line of defense — but their efforts often fall short, a recent study reveals.

Led by Tracy Kijewski-Correa, professor of engineering and global affairs at the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame, the study, published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, explored how homeowners respond in the aftermath of hurricanes when reconstruction becomes necessary. Focusing on Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana — a community still recovering from a sequence of disasters beginning with Hurricane Laura — the research introduced a new methodology to document homeowner actions, the damage they experienced and their recovery paths.

Why homeowners are key to reducing losses

“With no mandates to upgrade at-risk homes, homeowners will be responsible for adapting their properties to halt mounting climate-driven losses in the housing sector,” said Kijewski-Correa, who also serves as the director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at the Keough 91��Ƶ. “Unfortunately, we have no idea what decisions households are making and why — this study created a methodology to answer those questions so we can better incentivize them to adapt before the next storm.”

Since 1980, U.S. losses from tropical cyclones have reached $1.3 trillion, exposing how underprepared the country remains in addressing weather and climate disasters. This growing vulnerability is compounded by rapid population growth in coastal areas and outdated or inconsistent building codes.

Gaps in protection and future risks

Using indices developed for the study, researchers measured protection levels for a number of critical home components at key points: at the time of purchase, pre-disaster and after post-disaster repairs, as well as future intended upgrades.

The study found that, on average, homeowners took proactive steps to protect their properties before the hurricane, enhanced those protections after the storm and expressed intentions to continue investing in resilience. Roofs, windows and other external components were the primary focus of these improvements. However, the typical home achieved only about half the measures needed to withstand future storms effectively.

Visible damage in neighborhoods and the experiences of family and friends also influenced voluntary homeowner decisions to invest in protective measures. Motivated by observing widespread destruction across the community, even homeowners who escaped damage in Hurricane Laura expressed intentions to invest in resilience.

Policy and incentives: closing the protection gap

“Homeowners are making efforts to ‘build back better’ — strengthening roofs, adding hurricane clips or straps and replacing standard windows with impact-rated alternatives,” said Kijewski-Correa. “Unfortunately, most investments still leave homes only moderately protected against future hurricanes.”

The study’s methodology, which includes a flexible survey tool and evaluation methods to analyze homeowner decisions, provides a framework for future research. Next steps include identifying the factors that most effectively motivate homeowners to adopt comprehensive protections.

“Policies need to incentivize comprehensive, whole-house upgrades while ensuring clear messaging about the importance of these measures,” Kijewski-Correa said. “We also need to address barriers such as affordability and awareness, which often prevent households from taking action.”

Study co-authors include civil engineering Ph.D. student Rachel Hamburger and Debra Javeline, professor of political science, both from the University of Notre Dame. The research is funded through a National Science Foundation grant under the Strengthening American Infrastructure program.

Originally published by April Toler at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 15.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Habitat partnership bears fruit for homebuyers in South Bend

2025-01-14T08:39:00-05:00

Joel Gibbs was about five years into his job as a maintenance technician at the University of Notre Dame when the message arrived in his inbox.

“Find out if you qualify to build a new home with Habitat,” read the headline in the March 7, 2023, edition of NDWorks Weekly, the weekly e-newsletter for Notre Dame faculty, staff, and their families.

Notre Dame, via its public affairs, treasury services, and University relations offices, had recently partnered with Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County to increase access to affordable housing in South Bend. Now, it was asking employees if they wanted to join with the local nonprofit too.

A single father, Gibbs was intrigued.

“I saw the post in NDWorks Weekly and thought, ‘Let’s give it a shot,’” he said.

Less than two years later, Gibbs is the proud owner of a new home on Turnock Street in South Bend, five blocks south of campus in the city’s Northeast Neighborhood, which encompasses Eddy Street Commons and the rapidly developing Indiana 23 corridor.

Read the story

Simple changes to social media messaging can help persuade people to heed wildfire evacuation orders

2025-01-09T16:54:00-05:00

Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

As deadly wildfires rage in Southern California and evacuation orders expand throughout the region, disaster response organizations are charged with providing regular updates on the magnitude of destruction and resources used in response efforts.

Effective communication during disasters is critical to saving lives, but getting people to heed warnings and follow evacuation orders can sometimes prove difficult. Relief organizations’ updates can inadvertently heighten fear and reduce public compliance with safety instructions.

According to research from the University of Notre Dame, simple tweaks to social media messaging can make a huge difference in getting people to take safety mandates seriously.

Reporting the numbers of people, fire engines and helicopters being deployed to fight the fires increases public fear due to a psychological phenomenon known as negativity bias, which causes people to pay more attention to the negative implications of this information (e.g., the fire is growing). That fear can reduce compliance with safety warnings. However, listing the crew’s previous firefighting experience significantly reduces fear and improves public intention to heed warnings, according to a forthcoming study from Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, the Greg and Patty Fox Collegiate Professor of IT, Analytics and Operations at Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business.

Pedraza-Martinez conducted the study, “How Operational Updates Shape Emotional and Behavioral Responses to Disasters,” along with Sebastian Villa from the University of Colorado, independent researcher Patricia Moravec, and Eunae Yoo and Lu (Lucy) Yan from Indiana University.

According to the National Emergency Communications Plan established by the Department of Homeland Security in 2008, relief organizations such as CAL FIRE (California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) must provide operational updates during emergencies to keep the public informed. The messaging overwhelmingly is distributed via social media. In 2022 close to 70 percent of people in the U.S. turned to social media for information during disasters.

By analyzing response data from 27 California wildfires that happened in 2017, the team finds that CAL FIRE’s status reports as well as its information on the deployment of people and machines increased fear among social media users, discouraging them from heeding official warnings.

“CAL FIRE’s Palisades Fire Incident Update today (Jan. 9) at 4:39 a.m. read, ‘Numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the state are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow,’” Pedraza-Martinez noted. “Stating the following: ‘Average crew expertise is (xyz) years, with more than (xyz) fires contained’ would have helped to greatly reduce fear and increase people’s intention to heed warnings when shared on social media — an inexpensive and easily implementable intervention.”

Previously published research from Pedraza-Martinez also examined social media communications during wildfires, offering improved strategy regarding timing.

That study found user engagement increases when a disaster relief organization’s national headquarters leads the production of messaging and the organization’s local accounts follow by sharing that messaging to either a matching or a mismatching audience. The national and local channels both should target the same audiences during the early wildfire response when uncertainty is very high, but they should individualize audiences during recovery while the situation remains critical but uncertainty has decreased.

“Research aside, if you have been ordered to evacuate, do it as fast as possible,” said Pedraza-Martinez, who specializes in humanitarian operations and disaster management. “It would be tough to outrun the deadly combination of an uncontrolled wildfire and strong winds heading in your direction.”

Contact: Alfonso Pedraza-Martinez, 574-631-8734, apedraz2@nd.edu

Using robots in nursing homes linked to higher employee retention, better patient care

2025-01-08T12:51:00-05:00

Facing high employee turnover and an aging population, nursing homes have increasingly turned to robots to complete a variety of care tasks, but few researchers have explored how these technologies impact workers and the quality of care.

A new study from a University of Notre Dame expert on the future of work finds that robot use is associated with increased employment and employee retention, improved productivity and a higher quality of care. The research has important implications for the workplace and the long-term care industry.

Yong Suk Lee, associate professor of technology, economy and global affairs at Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs, was the lead author for the study, published in Labour Economics. Most studies of robots in the workplace have focused on manufacturing and the industrial sector, but Lee’s research broke new ground by analyzing long-term care — and by looking at the different types of robots used in this setting. Researchers drew on surveys of Japanese nursing homes taken in 2020 and 2022.

“Our research focused on Japan because it is a super-aging society that provides a good example of what the future could entail elsewhere — a declining population, a growing share of senior citizens and a declining share of working-age people,” Lee said. “We need to be ready for this new reality.”

In 2022, for instance, more than 57 million U.S. residents were 65 or older, according to the National Council on Aging. The Census Bureau forecasts that by 2050, this number will grow to 88.5 million.

The impact on workers

In a future where there are more senior citizens requiring care, using robots in a targeted fashion could benefit workers and patients alike, Lee said. The study analyzed three types of robots that are increasingly used in assisted living facilities:

Transfer robots, which nurses use to lift, move and rotate patients in beds and around rooms.
Mobility robots, which patients use to move around and to bathe.
Monitoring and communication robots, which include technologies such as computer vision and bed sensors that can monitor patient data such as movement and share it with care providers.

Robots now help nursing home workers complete a variety of care tasks, reducing employee turnover and improving the quality of care patients receive.

“We found that robot adoption complements care workers by reducing quit rates,” Lee said. “This is important because turnover is a big concern in nursing homes. Workers typically experience a great deal of physical pain, particularly in their knees and back. The work is hard and the pay is low. So robot use was associated with employee retention.”

While robot use was associated with an overall employment increase, Lee said, the trend seems to have helped some workers more than others: It was associated with an increased demand for part-time, less experienced employees and with less demand for more experienced workers.

Improving patient care

Patients benefited in facilities that have used robots, according to the study. The nursing homes that Lee’s team studied reported a decrease in the use of patient restraints and in the pressure ulcers or bedsores that nursing home residents commonly suffer, largely because of a lack of mobility. Both metrics are widely used in the long-term care industry to measure patient outcomes, Lee said.

By removing the physical strain associated with certain tasks, Lee said, robots may have made room for care workers to focus on tasks better suited for human beings.

“Robots can improve productivity by shifting the tasks performed by care workers to those involving human touch, empathy and dexterity,” Lee said. “Ultimately, robots can help workers provide a higher level of patient care.”

“This research provides critical insights into how societies can successfully navigate the challenges of caring for aging populations”

The future of work

Lee co-authored the study with Toshiaki Iizuka from the University of Tokyo and Karen Eggleston from Stanford University. The study received funding from Stanford’s Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International 91��Ƶ Japan Fund and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, as well as the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ and Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ.

This latest research fits into Lee’s ongoing work to examine how new technologies, including artificial intelligence and robotics, affect inequality and the future of work. Lee serves as program chair in technology ethics for the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, a key element of the Notre Dame Ethics Initiative. He is also a faculty affiliate of the Keough 91��Ƶ’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business and a faculty fellow of the school’s Kellogg Institute for International 91��Ƶ, Pulte Institute for Global Development and Liu Institute for Asia and Asian 91��Ƶ.

“This research provides critical insights into how societies can successfully navigate the challenges of caring for aging populations,” Lee said. “It will help inform the work of the long-term care industry and help us better understand how technologies impact workers and patients.”

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Jan. 8.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

As temperatures rise, research points the way to lower energy costs, better living conditions for low-income households

2025-01-02T15:00:00-05:00

Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, collect several monitors from a home in South Bend. The monitors were used to collect data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels from the home. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Due to poor and outdated housing infrastructure and lack of material resources, lower-income individuals are less prepared than those with higher incomes to weather the coming climate crisis — in particular, the increasing risk of heat-related death and illness from longer and hotter summers and more severe heat waves.

But with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), researchers at the University of Notre Dame — including Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture; Chaoli Wang, professor of computer science and engineering; Matthew Sisk, associate professor of the practice of data science; and Eugenio Acosta, senior associate director of the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate — are using data and analytics to lower energy costs and improve living conditions for those living in older, less efficient homes, starting in South Bend.

Ming Hu

Led by Hu, also the dean for research, scholarship and creative work within the 91��Ƶ of Architecture, the BUILT2AFFORD initiative is pairing advanced computational technology and strong community partnerships. The goal is to develop, test and validate a tool that uses machine learning and Google Street View to identify housing units suitable for low-cost passive retrofits — things such as improved insulation and air sealing, new windows, upgraded ventilation systems and exterior shading.

The group, which also includes faculty from the Center for Broader Impacts, is partnering with the city of South Bend, the Near Northwest Neighborhood (NNN), South Bend Heritage Foundation and Oldtown Capital Partners to target single-family homes and apartment buildings downtown and on the city’s near northwest side, an economically diverse area with pockets of wealth but high overall levels of poverty.

In lower-income neighborhoods especially, older homes tend to suffer from inadequate insulation; leaky ducts; cracked floors, ceilings and walls; drafty doors and windows; outdated HVAC systems; and other effects of age and disrepair, leading to higher energy costs and less safe and comfortable living conditions.

“We’re all living in the same housing stock. So when there’s research to come up with low-cost solutions to what are probably going to be common issues, it’s really very important to us because, a lot of times, it seems like if you’re trying to scratch the surface of energy efficiency in your home, you’re looking at a $50,000 or $60,000 bill.”

“Generally speaking, older buildings do not have the same thermal properties as newer buildings in terms of absorbing heat and resisting heat transfer from inside to outside and vice versa,” said Hu, who also is a concurrent associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and earth sciences. “So this can create higher risks for indoor heat exposure.”

Pregnant women and children, the elderly and those with respiratory or other health issues are especially vulnerable, Hu said, as are those living in traditionally colder climates, where buildings and other infrastructure are less resilient to extreme heat.

Hu noted that people spend about 80 percent of their time indoors. For elderly people, the number is closer to 90 percent. Our homes, she said, have an outsize influence on our health.

Kathy Schuth, a Notre Dame graduate in architecture, is the executive director of the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc. She noted that, from a structural standpoint, the neighborhood looks much the same today as it did in the 1920s.

“We’re all living in the same housing stock,” Schuth said. “So when there’s research to come up with low-cost solutions to what are probably going to be common issues, it’s really very important to us because, a lot of times, it seems like if you’re trying to scratch the surface of energy efficiency in your home, you’re looking at a $50,000 or $60,000 bill.”

A data-driven approach

Part of the NSF’s Civic Innovation Challenge, the BUILT2AFFORD project involves the creation of representative layouts for thermal comfort simulations — essentially, models of relative comfort based on a home’s size, layout, location and orientation, among other factors.

To do this, researchers partner with property owners to collect and analyze data from a variety of housing types.

Leveraging multiple computer vision models developed by the team since 2023, they begin by using Google Street View to extract the physical characteristics of housing that influence energy use and indoor thermal comfort. These data points, combined with additional housing property data from open-source databases, form the foundation of the prediction tool BUILT2AFFORD.

To ensure the tool’s accuracy and robustness, the research team conducts field audits. These audits start with the creation of a 3D scan of the relevant house or apartment unit. Next, the team members take thermal images, measure for moisture content and document building materials and insulation. Finally, they place sensors around the house to measure temperature, humidity and air quality for one week.

The resulting data are then analyzed to identify problem spots, with the goal of creating an exposure model to predict risk across housing types.

“The idea is really around, what are low-cost solutions we can use to find where the problems are, and then low-cost solutions that we can use to help address those problems?”

So far, around a dozen property owners, including South Bend Heritage Foundation and Old Town Capital Partners, which owns the Mar-Main apartment building downtown, have agreed to participate in the project.

“The idea is really around, what are low-cost solutions we can use to find where the problems are, and then low-cost solutions that we can use to help address those problems?” said Sisk, the team’s data science professor who leads the Geospatial Analysis and Learning Lab within the Lucy Institute for Data & Society. “So it’s largely about targeting resources to the proper locations.”

As a resident of the Near Northwest Neighborhood, Sisk is well aware of the challenges that come with owning and living in an older home. His house, within the Chapin Park Historic District, was built in the late 1800s, before air conditioning, foam insulation and double-pane windows, among other modern materials and conveniences.

“I run into a lot of the same sorts of issues” as other homeowners, Sisk said, “like places that are ridiculously hot for no good reason, that the AC doesn’t do anything for, and it’s basically unmanageable in the summer.”

That said, every house is unique.

Siavash Ghorbany, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, uses his cell phone to scan a data monitor at a home in South Bend. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Early on in their research, Hu and her team collected data from two houses of similar size, age and location — one fully renovated, including new heating and cooling systems and added insulation; the other largely untouched — with surprising results: Compared with the renovated house, the unrenovated house performed much better in terms of temperature and air quality.

Among other things, Hu said, “this just tells us that the conventional wisdom, the conventional solution of just adding insulation everywhere in the house does not necessarily work.”

Reed Lyons is among the homeowners participating in the project, having learned about it during a presentation Hu gave to NNN residents in early October.

A software developer, Lyons lives with his wife and two children in a two-story house on Cottage Grove Avenue. The house was built around 1914. The NNN, as part of its affordable housing program, acquired and renovated the property in 2012. The Lyonses bought it in 2019.

“We’ve noticed some issues with efficiency and some issues with air quality, just knowing that it’s an older home,” Lyons said. “So we’re just curious to see what the data show.”

He said working with Hu and her team — which in addition to Sisk and Wang includes Lucy Graduate Scholar Siavash Ghorbany, a doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering; doctoral candidate in computer science Siyuan Yao; and multiple undergraduate research assistants — has been a breeze.

“It’s really been a low investment in terms of our time and resources, and they’ve been really easy and wonderful to work with,” he said.

Notre Dame has a long relationship with the NNN, having partnered with the organization on a number of projects in the past. Notably, the Notre Dame Lead Innovation Team has worked closely with the community development organization and de facto neighborhood association to reduce lead exposure in the neighborhood, particularly among children.

“The NNN is kind of optimal for these kinds of projects,” Sisk said. “They have an extremely engaged neighborhood organization, and their president is an architect by training. They’ve been a key partner for years in many grants and many projects with us.”

For the purposes of this project, Sisk said, the neighborhood is also “very representative” of a Rust Belt neighborhood — socially and economically diverse, with brick-lined streets of well-preserved homes in Craftsman, Tudor and Victorian styles next to “some of the most historically troubled blocks in the city.”

Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, and Matthew Sisk, associate professor of the practice at the Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society, leave a home in South Bend after collecting a several monitors that were placed there the week before. The monitors were used to collect data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels within the home. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Next steps

In collaboration with the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, Hu and her team are already applying for a phase 2 NSF grant to validate their research, with plans to retrofit a certain number of homes and analyze the results. The grant would pay for at least 80 percent of the cost of the retrofits, with local programs potentially covering the rest.

The city of South Bend, in partnership with enFocus, currently pays for some energy upgrades as part of Greener Homes, a pilot program for low-income, elderly homeowners who are part of Habitat for Humanity of St. Joseph County’s Aging in Place Program. The program was established with support from the Community Foundation of St. Joseph County.

Alexandro Bazán is the director of sustainability for the city.

Working from a lab at Walsh Family Hall of Architecture, Ming Hu, associate professor of architecture and engineering, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, analyze data as part of a project aimed at reducing energy costs for low-income households in South Bend. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

“The city of South Bend is looking forward to continued collaboration with Notre Dame,” Bazán said, adding, “This project is a great opportunity to advance our community’s goals on climate action.”

Using the indoor heat exposure model, Hu and her team ultimately plan to create an online tool, or dashboard, to quickly and easily identify housing units suitable for passive, low-cost energy upgrades based on design indications, energy efficiency and health risks — without the need to actually enter the homes and collect data.

“The dashboard will be tied to the indoor heat exposure model, so the indoor heat exposure predication is the key,” Hu said.

Separately, Hu is also collecting data outside of South Bend, in Chicago and elsewhere, so that once the dashboard is up, it can be adapted to other regions of the country.

“We’re also committed to a series of training workshops for policymakers, developers and residents to show them how to use the dashboard if they want to,” Hu said. “So that is continued training that is for South Bend and for Indiana in particular.”

Social responsibility

Hu’s research is incredibly timely.

According to the United Nations, by hitting the poorest hardest, climate change increases existing economic inequalities and causes more people to fall into poverty. A World Bank report estimated that an additional 68 million to 135 million people could be pushed into poverty by 2030 because of climate change.

From a public health perspective, a warming planet increases the risk of heat-related illnesses such as heat stroke — particularly among vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women and older adults. It also worsens air quality, which can lead to asthma attacks and other respiratory issues, and it contributes to unhealthy concentrations of ground-level ozone, which can damage lung tissue, reduce lung function and inflame airways.

“When I was trained, at least at Notre Dame, we were taught a lot about the social responsibility of architecture. The building is not merely an art piece; even when it aspires to be artistic, it serves as civic art, designed with a profound responsibility to its users, rather than existing as a mere monumental sculpture."

Heat even affects sleep, the most fundamental of human needs.

But it’s not just the heat — extreme cold is a concern as well.

“We all have to realize that things are going to be way more variable moving forward,” Sisk said. “We’re going to have weeks of 95-degree summer weather, but then also sub-zero weeks during winter, and we have to be prepared for both, which is super hard.”

According to Hu, the most recent climate report for Indiana predicts average temperatures in the state will rise by 5 to 6 degrees over the next 30 years, increasing the frequency, duration and intensity of heat waves. The average hottest day of the year is projected to increase to 105 degrees.

“Our infrastructure, including our housing, is not built for excessive heat. Our energy grid is not built to accommodate higher peak load during the summertime,” Hu said. “So what we’re worried about is the domino effect. If the grid goes out, there’s no cooling in those houses. What happens if that lasts a couple of weeks? Where do people go?”

A native of China, Hu holds multiple degrees in architecture from Notre Dame and elsewhere. She has a doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Maryland.

Ming Hu, associate professor of engineering and architecture, and Siavash Ghorbany, doctoral candidate in civil and environmental engineering, collect monitoring equipment from a home in South Bend's Near Northwest Neighborhood, about a mile from campus. The equipment was used to record data such as temperature, humidity and CO2 levels in the home over the course of several days. (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

Prior to joining the Notre Dame faculty, she spent several years in private practice, designing signature buildings for high-profile corporate clients and working on urban redevelopment projects around the globe. She also taught at Maryland as well as at Catholic University of America and the Rochester Institute of Technology.

She returned to Notre Dame, she said, out of a sense of social responsibility.

“When I was trained, at least at Notre Dame, we were taught a lot about the social responsibility of architecture. The building is not merely an art piece; even when it aspires to be artistic, it serves as civic art, designed with a profound responsibility to its users, rather than existing as a mere monumental sculpture,” Hu said. “So I always wanted to go back to social responsibility as a part of architecture, and I was always interested in how beauty actually functions. What is the experience of the occupants?”

That same philosophy — consistent with a fundamentally Catholic concern for the common good — animates the Lucy Institute as well.

“This is an ideal situation for a Lucy collaboration project, because we’re very deeply involved in the research part of it, but also in the ‘for societal good’ part,” Sisk said. “This kind of sums up those two sides of what we are designed to do.”

Research on Colombian peace accord shows that addressing gender issues strengthens peace agreements

2025-01-02T12:04:21-05:00

When it comes to peace processes and negotiations, U.N. Women highlights a stark reality: All too often, women remain invisible and excluded. But a new study by University of Notre Dame political scientist Madhav Joshi draws on evidence from Colombia to show that addressing gender-related issues helps peace agreements succeed.

Gender-inclusive peacebuilding: lessons from Colombia

The study, published in Policy 91��Ƶ Journal, is the first peer-reviewed research that examines Notre Dame’s ongoing work to monitor the Colombian peace accord. It has implications for strengthening peace agreements as well as the women, peace and security agenda that was inspired by a landmark U.N. resolution more than two decades ago.

“An inclusive approach that sees women as changemakers and addresses gender-specific concerns empowers other marginalized groups and cultivates meaningful buy-in from more people,” said Joshi, research professor and associate director of the Peace Accords Matrix, part of the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. “When you prioritize gender, you end up addressing the broader society’s needs.”

Monitoring progress on Colombia's peace agreement

Madhav Joshi, research professor and associate director of the Peace Accords Matrix, part of the Kroc Institute for International Peace 91��Ƶ at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The study is a natural progression for Notre Dame researchers. Since the 2016 Colombian peace agreement ended 50 years of conflict, the Peace Accords Matrix has had primary responsibility for technical verification and for monitoring the implementation of the agreement through its Barometer Initiative.

In his latest research, Joshi analyzed monthly monitoring data for provisions outlined in the Colombian accord. He examined approximately 70 reforms and programs designed to support more than 570 key stipulations in the agreement.

Joshi found that a higher implementation status for gender-related measures (for instance, identifying obstacles that kept women from voting) was related to the agreement’s overall success rate.

Investing in safeguards for gender provisions

Importantly, Joshi also confirmed that negotiators must invest the resources needed to overcome resistance.

When he examined stipulations in the Colombian agreement, he found that the implementation of gender-specific provisions lagged behind the implementation of gender-neutral ones. This indicates a level of societal resistance to changing norms, Joshi said, and the need for policymakers to invest in safeguards.

“This study highlights that gender measures and women’s mobilization are not sufficient without proper safeguards to ensure their implementation,” Joshi said. “But with the necessary support, they will succeed and strengthen peace agreements. And the resulting quality of peace could be really impactful, particularly for transitioning societies such as Colombia.”

Advancing women, peace and security debates

Joshi said the study provides data and methods that other researchers can draw upon as they build on this work.

“My research will advance women, peace and security debates in peace processes,” Joshi said. “This study will help researchers identify factors that help or hinder women’s inclusion in peacebuilding.”

Joshi’s support team for the study included research assistants Clare Barloon, a 2024 Notre Dame graduate who majored in global affairs and art history, and Grace Sullivan, a sophomore majoring in global affairs and minoring in peace studies and gender studies. Jenna Sapiano, a specialist on women, peace and security and a visiting fellow at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Kroc Institute, provided feedback to help guide the study.

The Peace Accords Matrix Barometer Initiative in Colombia received funding from the U.S. Department of State, Humanity United, the U.N. Multi-Partner Trust Fund and the European Union.

Originally published by Josh Stowe at keough.nd.edu on Dec. 20.

Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu

Statement on New Orleans incident from University President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

2025-01-01T11:34:00-05:00

“Our prayers are with the family members and loved ones of all those impacted by the terrible attack in New Orleans early this morning. We also pray for all those injured and extend our deepest gratitude to the brave first responders who risked their lives to protect others. To be in solidarity with those who suffer is to exemplify the spirit of Notre Dame. Today, we are in solidarity with all those impacted by this tragedy.”

Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C.

President, University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame mourns the passing of President Jimmy Carter

2024-12-29T19:54:00-05:00

Former President of the United States Jimmy Carter speaks during a tribute ceremony for the late President Emeritus Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. in 2015 (Photo by Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

The University of Notre Dame’s president, Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., joined today with leaders worldwide in mourning the death of former President Jimmy Carter at age 100 at his home in Plains, Georgia.

“President Carter was a cherished friend of Notre Dame, and, in particular, of our longtime president, Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.,” Father Dowd said. “The Notre Dame community joins in mourning the passing of our 39th president while also celebrating his remarkable service to our nation and the world, both in and out of the Oval Office. We extend our deepest condolences to the Carter family.”

Notre Dame’s relationship with Carter began in the summer of 1976. Soon after accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Carter called Father Hesburgh late one evening seeking advice on a variety of issues. Carter appreciated the insights Father Hesburgh shared, so much so that he provided the priest-president with his home phone number in Plains and asked for any recommendations he might have for people to serve in his administration if he were to win the election.

Soon after Carter was elected in November, Father Hesburgh met with the president-elect in Washington, D.C., to discuss recommendations made by the Presidential Clemency Board, a panel to which Father Hesburgh was appointed by President Gerald Ford.

After Carter was inaugurated in January 1977, Father Hesburgh invited the new president to Notre Dame’s commencement ceremony in May to deliver the principal address and receive an honorary degree. Carter accepted and gave what many regard as the most important foreign policy address of his presidency, advocating for the creation of new global alliances and championing human rights, policies built upon the “new reality of a politically awakening world.” He also spoke about his desire to decrease tensions with the Soviet Union, work for Middle East peace and reduce the danger of nuclear war.

Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., talks with President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office

During his one-term presidency, Carter appointed Father Hesburgh to head a delegation of Americans to a United Nations conference on science and technology for development, held in Vienna in 1977, and as chair of the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy. Father Hesburgh also joined Rosalynn Carter on a fact-finding mission to Southeast Asia that led to a plan that averted mass starvation among Cambodian refugees.

The Carters returned to Notre Dame in 1992 as the inaugural recipients of the Notre Dame Award, which recognizes men and women of any faith or nationality whose life and deeds have shown exemplary dedication to the ideals for which the University stands: faith, inquiry, education, justice, public service, peace and care for the most vulnerable.

At a memorial tribute to Father Hesburgh after his death at age 97 on Feb. 26, 2015, the Carters joined with other dignitaries in honoring the Holy Cross priest who led Notre Dame from 1952 to 1987. Among several anecdotes, Carter recalled how he made the “mistake” in 1979 of asking Father Hesburgh if there was anything he could do for him. Father Hesburgh told Carter he wanted a ride on an SR-71 supersonic reconnaissance jet, known as the Blackbird.

“I said, ‘Father Hesburgh, it’s not customary for civilians to ride on top-secret aircraft,’” Carter recalled with a smile. “He said, ‘That’s all right. I thought you were commander in chief.’”

With that, Carter stood by his word and arranged for the flight. As he recalled at the tribute: “I sent word to a pilot of an SR-71 that he would be having his first civilian passenger who was a special friend of mine. And, I asked him how fast the Blackbird had ever flown. He said 2,193 mph. It was the fastest plane on earth. I said I would be very pleased if he could go a little faster than that when he took up Father Hesburgh. And, on the last day of February 1979, Father Ted went up in an SR-71 Blackbird airplane and he and the pilot went 2,200 mph, which set a new world record.”

Carter last visited the University in 2018 when he and Rosalynn worked alongside Notre Dame and other community volunteers on 38 Habitat for Humanity homes.

Notre Dame in 2024

2024-12-26T17:00:00-05:00

As the University of Notre Dame stands on the threshold of its next bold iteration, we celebrate breakthroughs in research and the launch of key strategic initiatives in mental health, democracy, poverty, and more. We celebrated the start of a new era of leadership while making bold commitments to increase affordability and access. Anchored by our mission to be a force for good in the world, Our Lady’s University stands poised to take on a new year. But first, we reflect.

View the year in review

Using anti-racist messaging boosts credibility of human rights groups, Notre Dame study shows

2024-12-20T08:00:00-05:00

How can human rights groups criticize governments' human rights violations without appearing racist or fueling racism toward diaspora groups? New research by a University of Notre Dame human rights expert sheds light on the complex relationship between race and human rights, especially as it plays out between human rights groups and governments.

“If public criticism by a human rights group, known as shaming, could be perceived as racist, it could threaten these organizations’ impartial, unbiased reputations,” said Zoltan Búzás, associate professor of global affairs at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs. “Maintaining a reputation for fairness is critical for enabling these organizations’ important work: raising funds, recruiting volunteers and mobilizing Americans to pressure their representatives against human rights violations.”

In a study published in the American Journal of Political Science, Búzás and Lotem Bassan-Nygate of Harvard University found that when shaming by human rights organizations, such as Amnesty International, included anti-racist cues denouncing racism, survey respondents perceived the shaming as less racist. For example, a February 2022 Amnesty report labeling Israel an “apartheid state” but condemning antisemitism and clarifying that its criticism was aimed at the government, not Jewish people, reduced perceptions of racism by 5 percent when compared to a report with no anti-racist cues.

“Human rights organizations should seriously consider emulating Amnesty’s use of anti-racist cues in shaming messages,” Búzás said. “Although shaming with such cues is slightly less effective at mobilizing the public against human rights violators than shaming without cues, the price seems worth paying to lower perceptions of racism.”

The researchers conducted two U.S. survey experiments involving nearly 7,000 respondents and interviews with 11 individuals from the prominent human rights organizations Amnesty International, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch. Survey results showed that shaming of the Israeli and Chinese governments for human rights violations reduced support for the governments themselves but did not increase antisemitism or anti-Asian sentiment.

“If shamers face a racial dilemma, it is less about how to shame without fueling racism, and more about how to shame without appearing racist,” said Búzás, though he noted that more research is needed to explore the issue of fueling racism among diasporas.

The researchers also investigated “countershaming” — when targeted governments accuse human rights organizations of racism — and found that governments can partially win back foreign support by making accusations of racism.

In the case of China, for example, racial countershaming by the Chinese government increased overall support by nearly 3 percent, almost completely eliminating the adverse effects of shaming.

Búzas recently shared the study’s findings with several prominent human rights organizations in a meeting at the Keough 91��Ƶ’s Washington Office. Future research on this topic should explore additional tactics for minimizing perceptions of racism beyond anti-racist cues, Búzás said.

“These cues are just one instrument,” he said. “Organizations could also look into internal reform such as diversifying their staff and their boards, creating strong accountability mechanisms and embracing inclusive organizational cultures. This question of developing and protecting a good reputation came up repeatedly and deserves more sustained study. Ultimately, however, human rights organizations should strive to become genuinely anti-racist organizations, rather than simply engage in superficial reputation management.”

Research was funded by the Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights and the Keough 91��Ƶ of Global Affairs.

Originally published by Renée LaReau at keough.nd.edu on Dec. 20.

Merry Christmas from Notre Dame

2024-12-19T15:14:00-05:00

May we be the seekers of truth, the sustainers of hope, and the builders of bridges that our world needs.

– Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., University President

New global tool measures climate resilience at the city level

2024-12-19T12:15:00-05:00

Jakarta, Indonesia, faces a paradox. Its economy and population are soaring, but the city itself is sinking. Excessive groundwater use is causing land to sink by up to 10 inches annually. Experts warn that by 2050, this sinking, combined with rising sea levels and extreme weather, could leave a third of the city underwater. In response, the Indonesian government is weighing plans to relocate the capital at an estimated cost of $35 billion.

Jakarta’s climate-related conundrum may be extreme, but the underlying question it raises is relevant to urban areas around the world: What is the best use of limited resources for cities to adapt to climate change?

To help answer this question, governments and organizations now have a critical new resource developed by a team at the University of Notre Dame: the Global Urban Climate Assessment (GUCA). It is a decision-support tool that offers leaders a way to understand and compare city vulnerabilities, assess adaptation plans and develop resilience.

“Cities are realizing the question isn’t ‘if’ they’ll face the effects of climate change—it’s ‘when’ and ‘how,’” said Danielle Wood, associate professor of practice at the University of Notre Dame’s Environmental Change Initiative.

According to Wood, who leads the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), what those investing in climate adaptation need is evidence-based guidance.

“The challenge for investment is a lack of reliable, comparable data, making prioritizing difficult for those managing climate investment,” she said.

A more granular approach to climate resiliency

GUCA builds on the foundation of ND-GAIN’s Country Index, which measures climate vulnerability and readiness for more than 180 countries. The GUCA pilot provides city-level metrics for 12 cities, incorporating data from multiple sources, including remote sensing. Like ND-GAIN, GUCA is free and open-source, so stakeholders across the public, private and nongovernmental organization sectors can identify priorities and direct funding where it is most needed.

GUCA measures vulnerability and resilience across a number of globally comparable metrics. Vulnerability includes specific hazards such as flooding, extreme heat and landslides. It also measures sensitivity to climate change, which can refer to potential impacts on people (including specific groups, such as children, seniors, migrants or low-income residents) as well as features of urban areas, such as the rate of urban expansion.

Resilience, on the other hand, is the capacity of a city to withstand shocks and adapt over time. It includes disaster planning, water access, governance systems and economic stability, recognizing that cities with robust systems can respond more effectively to climate-related challenges.

A tool with global implications

GUCA’s 12-city pilot phase focused on Abuja (Nigeria), Amman (Jordan), Beijing (China), Berlin (Germany), Bogotá (Colombia), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kinshasa (DR Congo), Mogadishu (Somalia), Mumbai (India), Panama City (Panama), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Shenzhen (China). With additional funding, ND-GAIN aims to expand the GUCA framework, enabling a deeper understanding of vulnerabilities and resilience in more cities across the globe.

Wood emphasized that this expansion is critical because as more people migrate to urban environments, the need to identify and target funding for climate adaptation in the most impacted cities is becoming an even more widespread and urgent concern.

“At the start of the 20th century, only 13 percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. By 2050, that number is expected to rise to 60 percent, with an estimated 4.9 billion people living in cities,” she pointed out. “Our team at Notre Dame is eager to see the tool evolve with feedback from partners around the world.”

GUCA is the latest addition to ND-GAIN’s already robust suite of data-driven climate tools and resources, which includes the U.S. Urban Adaptation Assessment, a tool assessing more than 270 U.S. cities’ climate risks and social vulnerabilities by neighborhood.

ND-GAIN is a program of the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI). At ND-ECI, more than 60 faculty across several disciplines are pursuing research solutions for some of the key environmental challenges of our time. ND-ECI focuses on globally significant, multidisciplinary research that can be translated into management and policy solutions to help make the world a better place for humans and the environment upon which people depend.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

AmeriCorps awards Notre Dame funding to connect tutors with evidence-based practices

2024-12-19T10:00:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame has received a $640,108 grant from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. This funding, provided through the Volunteer Generation Fund (VGF), is part of a total award of $1,001,812, with 63.895 percent financed by federal sources and 36.105 percent by nongovernmental sources. The grant will support the capacity-building efforts of Tutor-ND, Notre Dame’s learning design hub that connects tutors with cognitive science and evidence-based tutoring practices.

Through this grant, Tutor-ND will collaborate with schools and community organizations to recruit, train and support 500 volunteers who will serve preK-8 students from diverse backgrounds. These volunteers will work in the greater South Bend region and in schools and after-school programs across the country, including those partnered with the Alliance for Catholic Education.

This marks Notre Dame’s second year of funding from AmeriCorps VGF. Last year, 570 skilled volunteers served 25,782 hours across 25 community organizations, delivering educational services valued at nearly $2 million.

AmeriCorps provides support to community organizations to help them to alleviate poverty, expand capacity in organizations and build economic opportunity through community-driven efforts across the country. Volunteer Generation Fund grants are used to strengthen community-based entities’ ability to recruit, manage and support skilled volunteers. At a time of social need, when Americans of all ages are looking for ways to give back, AmeriCorps seeks to fund effective approaches that strengthen the capacity and impact of volunteers and invest in innovative volunteer management practices.

“This new funding allows us to support volunteer tutors through learning design teams,” said Michelle Luna, assistant research professor and managing director of Tutor-ND. “These teams start with evidence-based programs and practices and draw on the expertise of teachers, principals, cognitive scientists, clinical psychologists and teacher educators to continuously improve tutoring. It’s a triple win: expanding access to high-impact tutoring, making scientific discoveries that enhance the quality of the tutoring programs, and addressing workforce readiness by providing apprenticeships for future leaders in education and science.”

Kati Macaluso, director of the ACE Teaching Fellows Master of Education program at Notre Dame, emphasized the benefits for aspiring teachers. “We’re blessed to have a program that brings volunteer tutors, many of whom are aspiring teachers, face-to-face with students, allowing them to immerse themselves in the relationship building, evidence-based practices, planning and preparation vital for fostering growth in literacy and math.”

One notable example of the impact of AmeriCorps VGF funding is Darden Elementary, a Title I school in South Bend. Over the past three years, Darden has focused on ensuring its students achieve reading proficiency by third grade, aligning with Indiana’s new reading law. By implementing several improvement strategies, including high-impact tutoring, Darden’s third-graders achieved a 76.2 percent pass rate on IREAD-3 last year, up from 62.4 percent in 2022, significantly outpacing both the district’s and the state’s average growth during this period.

Darden’s principal, Patty Karban, expressed her gratitude: “I love South Bend students and know they are our future. Thanks to the support provided by Notre Dame’s AmeriCorps VGF grant, our students are making great gains and building bright futures. Each student has formed a lasting connection with their tutor, and many can now see themselves attending college.”

Originally published at ace.nd.edu.

Researchers detect elevated levels of PFAS in some fitness tracker and smartwatch bands

2024-12-18T08:01:00-05:00

In a study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, researchers reported elevated levels of forever chemicals were detected in a sample of smart watch bands purchased in the U.S. from various brands and at a range of price points.

Fitness trackers and smartwatch bands are the latest consumer products found to contain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to new research from the University of Notre Dame.

In a study published in Environmental Science & Technology Letters on Wednesday, researchers tested 22 watch bands purchased in the U.S. from various brands and at a range of price points. Many of the bands were manufactured using fluoroelastomers, a synthetic polymer used to make rubber material resistant to sweat, skin oils and lotions. Results showed that nine of the 22 bands tested contained elevated levels of a type of PFAS called perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA). Elevated levels of PFHxA were more prevalent in higher-priced watchbands, or those costing more than $15.

The study is the first to address PFAS in fitness trackers and smartwatch bands.

Graham Peaslee (Photo by Peter Ringenberg / University of Notre Dame)

“The most remarkable thing we found in this study was the very high concentrations of just one PFAS — there were some samples above 1,000 parts per billion of PFHxA, which is much higher than most PFAS we have seen in consumer products,” said Graham Peaslee, co-author of the study and professor emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

PFAS have been widely used in consumer and industrial product applications since the 1950s. With a nearly unbreakable chemical structure, they do not degrade or break down, contaminating soil and groundwater systems and persisting in the environment for decades — earning them the name “forever chemicals.” Manufacturers use forever chemicals to make products resistant to water, heat and stains. Over the years Peaslee and his lab have detected PFAS in several industrial and consumer products, including fast-food wrappers, cosmetics, feminine hygiene products, eye drops, dental floss, plastic containers, textiles, firefighter gear and artificial turf.

The chemicals also migrate from treated surfaces onto skin and into dust and air, creating multiple paths of exposure including inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption. Peaslee and his team cited this as a significant concern regarding wearable consumer products.

“Few studies so far have been published regarding the dermal absorption of PFAS,” said Alyssa Wicks, a graduate student in Peaslee’s lab and lead author of the study. “One article published earlier this year by a European research group found that a couple types of PFAS had significant transfer through the skin. That initial study only examined around 20 of the 14,000 known types of PFAS, and more studies are needed to better understand how PFAS travel through the skin.”

An estimated 1 in 5 Americans wear smartwatches or fitness trackers, according to a 2019 Pew Research study. Another study found consumers wear their wearables an average of 11 hours per day.

Peaslee’s lab tested samples using particle-induced gamma-ray emission ion beam analysis and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry to determine the material’s total fluorine content and identify the specific type of PFAS present. High fluorine levels are a telltale sign of the presence of PFAS.

New and used bands were included in the study. The samples were also broken down by price point. Bands with price points less than $15 were listed as “inexpensive,” while those between $15 and $30 were considered “midrange” and those more than $30 were classified as “expensive.” Three of the bands tested were considered expensive, and all three contained significantly elevated levels of fluorine.

“Fifteen of the 22 bands we tested had a high percentage of total fluorine concentrations, and nine contained PFHxA,” Wicks said. “The others used some other unidentified surfactant that wasn’t in our targeted analysis.”

All three of the bands identified at the expensive price point and 12 of the 14 bands at the midrange price point contained highly elevated quantities of measurable fluorine. All five inexpensive bands contained very little total fluorine, measuring less than 1 percent.

Forever chemicals have been linked to multiple health conditions including immunosuppression, hormonal dysregulation, developmental delays in children, low birth weight and accelerated puberty, high blood pressure in pregnant women, and an increased risk of certain cancers, such as kidney and testicular cancer.

Peaslee said the results suggest that a more comprehensive study is needed to test the levels of PFAS band wearers are exposed to.

Heather Whitehead, a Notre Dame graduate and former doctoral student in Peaslee’s lab, was also co-author of the study.

Contact: Jessica Sieff, associate director of media relations, 574-631-3933, jsieff@nd.edu

Philanthropy class students award $58,000 to local nonprofits

2024-12-17T19:53:00-05:00

University of Notre Dame students awarded $58,000 to five local nonprofits through this year’s Philanthropy and the Common Good class. The award ceremony Dec. 9 was led by Jonathan Hannah, term assistant teaching professor of political science and assistant director for operations of the de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture.

Philanthropy and the Common Good is an experiential learning course in collaboration among the Department of Political Science, the Hesburgh Program in Public Service and the Potenziani Minor in Constitutional 91��Ƶ. The primary sponsor, The Philanthropy Lab, helps fund similar courses around the country.

“Teaching this course and having this experience with our students is truly an honor and a privilege,” Hannah said. “They exemplify everything it means to be Notre Dame students, and I know they will go on to impact their communities and the world by working with and for nonprofit organizations.”

Students in this class engage and learn from local nonprofit organizations in the South Bend region by conducting site visits and requesting funding proposals. Students spend time analyzing the proposals and work as a board of directors to award real grants.

At the award ceremony, students presented checks to the nonprofit recipients, and Notre Dame President Rev. Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., delivered remarks.

“This event is a culmination of everything that we have been working toward this semester,” said Maya Tuviera, a Notre Dame sophomore who was assigned to Our Lady of the Road.

“At Notre Dame, we shouldn’t just be striving toward giving people the opportunity to survive. Here, it’s about human flourishing and how we can best achieve that and work as a community to do that. I am proud of everything that has happened, and I am happy to see these funds go to great causes in this community,” she said.

The students awarded grants to the following nonprofits that are making significant strides in addressing critical community needs:

Center for the Homeless — $5,000
Christ Child Society — $6,375
Dustin’s Place — $13,625
Our Lady of the Road — $15,000
Dismas House — $18,000

“It’s such a great gift to participate in this project,” said Jonathan Schommer, executive director of Our Lady of the Road.

Schommer, who worked directly with Tuviera and other students throughout the class, said the funds will go toward the organization’s work to ensure people experiencing homelessness have survival supplies and other critical resources needed during the winter months. He praised the class for its ability to foster stronger connections between Notre Dame and the South Bend region.

“This class is a really great example of the connection between Notre Dame and the community,” Schommer said. “It’s a tangible way for our nonprofits to partner with the University to work toward the common good in our community.”

Since its inception in 2019, the Philanthropy and the Common Good course has awarded more than $400,000 in grants to local nonprofits. At the ceremony, Hannah announced that the course will be offered again in the fall 2025 semester for its seventh iteration.

The course was supported by several University offices, including the Office of Public Affairs, de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture, Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, Department of Political Science and Sheedy Family Program in Economy, Enterprise and Society, and by 1976 alumnus Brian Hegarty.

Originally published by Colleen Wilcox, Office of Public Affairs, at publicaffairs.nd.edu on Dec. 15.

University of Notre Dame receives $10 million grant to strengthen faith-based service opportunities for youth and young adults

2024-12-17T09:00:00-05:00

The University of Notre Dame has received a $10 million grant from Lilly Endowment to fund the new Pathways to Communion Program at the McGrath Institute for Church Life. This program aims to strengthen the ecosystem of theologically informed service opportunities for young Catholics in the United States.

Notre Dame is one of 12 organizations being funded through Lilly Endowment’s National Youth and Young Adult Initiative on Faith & Service, which is designed to nurture and deepen the faith of Christian young people through intentional service and reflection about the meaning of service in their lives. Funding to Notre Dame will enable the institute to develop a support hub for 10 partner organizations that provide youth service opportunities and conduct national research designed to generate insights about young people’s experiences.

Katherine Angulo, program director of the Thriving in Ministry Initiative at the McGrath Institute, will lead the Pathways to Communion Program. Michael Baxter, a visiting associate professor at the institute, will serve as faculty adviser. Research will be implemented by Timothy O’Malley, the associate director for research at the institute, and Laura Upenieks, a sociologist from Baylor University.

John Cavadini (Photo by Matt Cashore/University of Notre Dame)

The McGrath Institute, which partners with Catholic dioceses, parishes and schools to address pastoral challenges with theological depth and rigor, is uniquely suited to oversee this program, said John Cavadini, the McGrath-Cavadini Director of the institute.

“The Church is one of the principal agents of service in this country and worldwide, yet there is no easy way for service organizations within the Church to form their people in a properly theological ideal of service. This grant will allow us to do precisely that,” Cavadini said. “The McGrath Institute is well-positioned to respond to this need because of its access to the insights of leading scholars as well as its record of collaboration with dioceses and organizations across the nation.”

The McGrath Institute will become a hub of support, offering subgrant funds to allow partner organizations to create or expand programming in their communities. These organizations are Alive in You, Andre House of Hospitality, the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, the Diocese of Charleston, the Diocese of Helena, the Diocese of Honolulu, the Diocese of Orange, ESTEEM (a joint partnership between Leadership Roundtable and Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale University), Iskali and the McGrath Institute’s Notre Dame Vision program.

Katherine Angulo (Photo by Steve Toepp/University of Notre Dame)

“We believe this program’s articulation of the theology of Christian service can help to set up programming that will explore the deepest roots of this theology,” Angulo said. “The program will be flexible enough to develop formation opportunities that are not one-size-fits-all and that can match the local cultures of each individual organization while emerging from a universal vision of Christian faith and service.”

Over five years, the leaders of the 10 partner organizations will participate in gatherings on Notre Dame’s campus, receive on-site visits by program managers and experience ongoing supervision with robust guidance in program evaluation and improvement. The institute will also develop a community of collaboration among these leaders that will continue beyond the grant.

At the same time, researchers led by O’Malley and Upenieks will have access to the leaders of the partner organizations, while partner organizations will have the opportunity to shape research questions and gain access to findings.

“You often hear people say that young people in the Church today are rigorously committed to service as part of their religious lives. But we have to admit that we don’t quite know as much as we think about the religious lives of young people in the Church today,” O’Malley said. “How do they pray? What’s the connection to service? How has COVID-19 changed their relationship to the Church? These are the kind of questions that our research will take up, in a longitudinal project that includes quantitative and qualitative dimensions alike.

“This research will help our partner organizations respond to the deepest needs and desires of the young adults they’re working with. The research we will undertake and the development of the support hub are designed to support each other.”

Cavadini noted that Christian service is modeled by Jesus Christ, who came into this life “in the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7), and is thus an intrinsic element of Christian life.

“Service has a Eucharistic dimension because the Church is united by Christ’s self-giving love received in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Such love brings us to care for the least of these as an act flowing forth from Christian worship.”

Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private philanthropic foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. In keeping with the founders’ wishes, the Endowment supports the causes of community development, education and religion and maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana. The principal aim of the Endowment’s religion grantmaking is to deepen and enrich the lives of Christians in the United States, primarily by seeking out and supporting efforts that enhance the vitality of congregations and strengthen the pastoral and lay leadership of Christian communities. The Endowment also seeks to improve public understanding of diverse religious traditions by supporting fair and accurate portrayals of the role religion plays in the United States and across the globe.

Contact: Carrie Gates, associate director of media relations, c.gates@nd.edu or 574-993-9220.

Reasons to serve

2024-12-16T13:30:00-05:00

History, West Point, and 9/11 memorial inspire ND ROTC students in New York

About two dozen seniors in the Notre Dame Army ROTC program were impressed with the mealtime rituals at the United States Military Academy at West Point: the corps formations with drums and bugle, the historic Washington Hall that reminds visitors of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts, and the efficiency and precision of feeding 4,000 cadets in a matter of minutes.

But when the Notre Dame students in school gear waded into the cavernous mess hall with the gray-clad Army cadets, a chorus of boos erupted.

James Lindell, a senior from Hawaii who wore a Notre Dame Glee Club jacket, said he didn’t mind. He expected it on the Thursday before Army faced Notre Dame in a football game at Yankee Stadium in late November.

“I understood it was all in the spirit of competition,” Lindell said. “Once we all sat down at lunch, I got to meet the cadets I was sitting with. The football rivalry was quickly an afterthought to learning about each other’s college experiences.”

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