Research Highlights
Mitch Power on Global Cooling
Though previous theories suggest that the drop in fires was caused by disease, Geography Assistant Professor Mitchell Power thinks otherwise. Powers’ latest study suggests that the decline in fires was actually due to climate cooling on global and continental scales. The National Science Foundation funded the study, and findings from it will be published in The Holocene journal in August.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54576379-78/power-fire-charcoal-climate.html.csp
Cynthia Berg Takes on Diabetes
Psychology Professor Cynthia Berg and colleagues Deb Weibe, Yana Sucky, and Jonathan Butner have been collaborating on a research project known as The Self-Regulation Approach to Adherence Into Emerging Adulthood. Nicknamed READY, the four-year longitudinal project received funding from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and is focused on adolescents with diabetes and their transition into adulthood. READY follows on the heels of Berg’s previous study known as Adolescents with Diabetes and Parents together (ADAPT).
http://csbs.utah.edu/features/cynthia-berg.php
Haimanti Bhattacharya Earns Faculty Fellow
The University Research Committee recently awarded Economics Professor Haimanti Bhattacharya with a Faculty Fellow Award for 2012-2013. With this award, she will receive funding for her latest research project: “The Household Status of Women in South Asia”—a project that includes examining different dimensions of women’s status as compared to their household and individual status.
http://econ.utah.edu/faculty-spotlight.php
Sexting: More Common Than We Think
According to a study by Psychology Professor Donald Strassberg, nearly 20 percent of students as young as 14 have taken part in the phenomena of “sexting.” Strassberg and team recruited over 600 students to complete a questionnaire about their experiences with the concept. The findings suggest that a significant number of teenagers are sending and receiving these explicit photos without understanding the possible psychological and legal implications of their actions.
Barbara Brown and Healthy Neighborhoods
With a $2.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, Family and Consumer Studies Environmental Psychologist Barbara Brown is working on a study to determine the health of neighborhoods. The five-year study, known as Moving Across Places Study (MAPS), measures current travel and activity patterns and residents’ perceptions about their neighborhoods. It is currently looking for research participants in selected blocks surrounding North Temple where there has been construction for a new TRAX light rail.
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=21202199
The Future of DIGIT Lab
With its premier geospatial and cartographic centers in the nation, the Geography Department’s Digitally Integrated Geographic Information Technology Laboratory (DIGIT) and the David Eccles School of Business have collaborated to build an online system meant to serve as a portal for various demographic, housing, and socioeconomic estimates. This system will serve to meet the overwhelming demands for more data in each of these areas and provide data sets and other products for the state.