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Assessing Undergraduate Perceptions of the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC): Attitudes Across Academic Disciplines
Get PDFWith climate change as one of the most pervasive issues of contemporary times, literacy in climate topics is crucial for decision-makers in all professional fields. Undergraduate students, poised to enter the world and workforce, serve as the leaders of tomorrow, making climate knowledge an essential part of the required toolkit for informed and impactful decision making. Despite the need for climate literate students, little is known about how well students grasp and understand important climate concepts, such as the Social Cost of Carbon (SCC). Carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change, and the SCC is a way to monetize the economic damages of emitting one additional ton of CO2 into the atmosphere. The SCC serves as a way to measure the costs and benefits of either reducing or increasing carbon emissions; it is the cornerstone of responsible decision-making in the context of the climate crisis. This thesis seeks to understand how well students across academic disciplines understand the SCC, as well as their attitudes towards its implications and importance. Undergraduate students enrolled at UMass Amherst were invited to participate in a survey implemented through Qualtrics. The survey asked students to share their academic backgrounds, course history, and knowledge and opinions on the SCC and its related topics. Survey results were analyzed to gauge student perceptions and valuations of the cost of carbon emissions, in order to gain insight into overarching climate literacy levels in undergraduate students across academic disciplines. The results of this thesis can be used to inform future curriculum enhancements at UMass Amherst in an effort to create more informed and empowered future leaders
The Green Transformation and the Costs of Market Fundamentalism
No full textThe structural theory of green transformation acknowledges the complexity of the transformation process and suggests a state-led approach with green industrial policy at its core. In contrast, the market-fundamentalist approach to the transformation problem relies on carbon pricing and the assumption of smooth adjustment to rising market prices. We argue that the recent energy crisis in Germany provides a test of market fundamentalism. We show that the behavior of key macroeconomic variables contradicts the market fundamentalist theory of green transformation. We also detail how mainstream economists and the policy establishment held on to their belief in self-regulating markets despite the empirical failure of market fundamentalism, which led to policy mistakes with large economic and political costs. Policy making based on market fundamentalism caused substantial damage to Germany’s economy and helped the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) double its political support
Making nursing education more accessible and equitable through OER, a collaboration between OpenStax and the THECB
No full textThe Open Educational Resources Nursing Essentials (ONE) Project is a partnership between the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and OpenStax, the world’s largest publisher of OER. This project was created to address the crisis-level nursing workforce shortage, driven largely by immense financial barriers to undergraduate nursing education. Through this project, the THECB and OpenStax worked alongside 94 authors and 152 reviewers to develop and publish 8 free, high-quality, open, and accessible nursing textbooks. These books align with AACN standards and competencies and offer NCLEX preparation support. During this session, we will discuss the collaborative end-to-end approaches and practices employed to achieve project outcomes. We will discuss how this collaboration began, the project’s goals and phases, the nursing textbook development process, and the quantitative outcomes achieved. We will also describe the needs analysis, user engagement, learning design, and review processes that drove the project
The Role of Insurance and Property Value as Drivers of Managed Retreat: The Case of Mill Basin and Bergen Beach, NY
No full textAs climate change accelerates, rising sea levels, intensifying storms, and increasing flood risks present urgent challenges for coastal communities. Managed retreat, the planned relocation of people and infrastructure away from areas vulnerable to climate hazards, has emerged as a key adaptation strategy. However, research and implementation have largely focused on communities that have already experienced disaster or displacement, often lower-income areas historically situated in high-risk zones. In contrast, pre-disaster retreat in wealthier communities remains underexplored, largely because these areas have had the financial means to rebuild and stay in place despite escalating risks. This pilot study examines how residents of two affluent coastal neighborhoods in New York City, Mill Basin and Bergen Beach, perceive the feasibility of managed retreat in light of increasing flood risk, declining property values, and rising insurance costs. Using a 23-question online survey distributed via local social media groups, a community board meeting, and direct outreach, 34 responses were collected from homeowners. While half of the respondents identified as “very aware” of their flood zone designation, only three (8%) had previously heard of managed retreat as a climate adaptation strategy. Most expressed a preference for infrastructural solutions like flood barriers (85%) or financial interventions such as insurance subsidies (47%), with only seven respondents (20%) supporting retreat. Emotional attachment to neighborhood identity emerged as a significant barrier to relocation. In contrast, financial concerns—especially increased flood frequency (74%), environmental hazards (68%), and declining property values (59%)—were frequently cited as potential triggers for moving. Ten respondents (29%) reported that insurance costs had become a financial burden, and twelve (35%) indicated they would consider relocating if insurance became unavailable. These findings suggest that while economic pressures tied to climate risk are growing, deeply rooted place attachment and limited familiarity with retreat strategies continue to hinder broader acceptance. Effective adaptation planning must address both financial vulnerability and the social meaning of place to be viable in affluent contexts
Feeling Lucky? New Library AI Tools
No full textGenerative AI systems are exciting, transformational, disruptive, and emergent. In recent months, many library vendors including EBSCO, JSTOR, and ProQuest have released new AI tools as part of library subscriptions and services. Other vendors have hinted at or promised to release AI tools in the near future. It is easy to imagine how new tools will continue to be released, and with greater frequency mirroring the rapid advancements of generative AI systems.
Library AI tools, especially ones trained using high-quality content within library databases, may provide better outputs than tools trained on open-web data and subject to garbage in, garbage out (GIGO) problems leading to AI hallucinations or mirages. Many library AI tools have been rolled out as service enhancements as part of regular subscriptions and without added costs. Libraries are lucky to be able to experiment with new tools in library subscriptions in place of experimenting with fee-based tools in open-web environments.
This session will provide an insider’s view of the release of three or more library AI services deployed within subscription-based services at Worcester State University. The presenters will provide short demos of each service and will compare and contrast service offerings. They will provide their analysis of the current and future state of AI library tools. The session will conclude with Q&A and a call to colleagues to share what they know about the exciting future of AI library tools
Immunogenetic diversity and transcriptomic response to fibropapillomatosis in Hawaiian green sea turtles
No full textSea turtles are one taxon of high conservation concern that encounter many pathogens, but their disease ecology is understudied, hindering our ability to predict impacts of disease on population viability. Fibropapillomatosis (FP) is a neoplastic tumor-forming disease that has been documented in all sea turtle species, with an especially high prevalence in green turtles Chelonia mydas. Here, we use Hawaiian green turtles (honu) as a study system to examine the roles of immunogenetic diversity and transcriptional modulation in sea turtle disease responses. Specifically, we quantified gene expression profiles associated with FP and characterized host diversity of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHCI) immune loci. We found 65 genes differentially expressed in blood between clinically healthy (n = 5) and FP-afflicted turtles (n = 5) with enriched biological processes of the innate immune system, aligned with expectations of reptilian immune systems and active disease resistance. Our results also suggest a role for disease tolerance in response to FP, as evidenced by enriched biological processes related to regulation of immune and metabolic homeostasis, increase in cellular detoxification, and increased tissue repair mechanisms. Honu (n = 89) had 23 unique MHCI alleles belonging to 3 distinct functional supertypes, but none were significantly associated with FP; this could be a result of intrinsic demographic properties of the population or reflect a lesser/differing role of the reptilian adaptive immune system. Our study advances the understanding of reptilian disease response and evolutionary mechanisms underlying immunogenetic diversity, both of which are important for promoting the adaptive potential of species vulnerable to extinction.UMass SOAR Fun
No Evidence on Association Between Prospective Exposure to Out-of-Pocket Cost Information and Appointment Cancelations or No-Shows: A Case-Control Pilot Study
No full textHealth care price transparency aims to empower patients to make better-informed purchasing decisions. However, the prospective availability of patients’ out-of-pocket costs may lead to an increased rate of forgone care. The objective of this study was to examine whether obtaining a prospective out-of-pocket cost estimate is associated with the likelihood of canceling or not arriving at a scheduled outpatient health care appointment. We surveyed adult individuals with scheduled outpatient imaging appointments at a large health care system in Georgia. In this case-control pilot study, we estimated the adjusted association between obtaining an out-of-pocket cost estimate for a scheduled imaging appointment (did not obtain an estimate, did not seek an estimate but received it via an unsolicited phone call from the health care system, and actively sought and obtained an estimate) and not attending the appointment using multivariable logistic regression that controlled for the type of primary health insurance and patient demographics. Actively seeking an out-of-pocket cost estimate was not associated with appointment cancelation or no-show (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.81, P = .75). Passively receiving an out-of-pocket cost estimate via an unsolicited phone call from the health care system was marginally associated with lower odds of appointment cancelation or no-show (aOR = 0.24; P = .076). This study did not find evidence of an association between prospective exposure of patients to out-of-pocket cost information and the likelihood of health care appointment cancelation or no-show.UMass SOAR Fun
A COMPARISON OF METHODOLOGY FOR ROOT EXUDATE COLLECTION OF GRASSES
No full textRoot exudates are an ephemeral yet important part of plant physiology and plant interactions with the environment. Root exudates have a variety of forms and functions that serve to aid the plant in survivability, nutrient acquisition, endophyte attraction, and more. The aim is to create a low-cost and easily reproducible method to collect said root exudates for future work as well as under a preliminary stress treatment. The combination of methods involving leachate and semi-hydroponic is to compare popular methods as well as weigh the viability of each, while attempting to have an accurate analysis of what is being exuded.No SponsorsMaster of Science (M.S.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Dynamic Optimal Timing Fertility Awareness Based Method for Family Planning and Contraception
No full textObjective: Electronic fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs), such as the Dynamic Optimal Timing (DOT) app, are increasingly popular as non-hormonal alternatives for pregnancy prevention. A clinical trial (NCT02833922) evaluating DOT’s effectiveness for pregnancy prevention reported a 1.0% perfect-use and 5.8% typical-use failure rate over 13 cycles. However, these estimates did not explicitly define “use” and how to account for additional methods of use such as withdrawal or condoms. This analysis reevaluates who should qualify as a “user” based on behavior during low-risk days and explores how different inclusion criteria affect failure rate estimates. Our goal is to improve comparability with other FABM research and better evaluate the app's efficacy by dividing participants into behavior-based approaches and implementing behavior-specific censoring restrictions.
Methods: We analyzed data from the original DOT trial using a stratified life-table approach among 718 participants across up to 13 menstrual cycles of follow-up. Separate analyses were performed using three different approaches to determine which cycles were included, based on participants’ contraceptive behavior on low-risk days.: (1) those with at least one unprotected sex event, (2) those who only had unprotected sex without any backup methods, and (3) those who used withdrawal or had unprotected sex.
Results: Failure rates varied based on a censoring approach. The original study reported a 5.8% failure rate across 5,397 cycles. In our analysis, users who had unprotected sex on low-risk days without any backup methods had a failure rate of 13.4% (836 cycles). Those who used withdrawal or had unprotected sex had a 7.2% failure rate (2,681 cycles), while those with any unprotected sex on low-risk days had a 13.8% failure rate (1,752 cycles).
Conclusion: DOT’s effectiveness varies by how users behave on low-risk days as a proxy for use of other contraceptive methods. The original 5.8% typical-use failure rate included all participants who did not meet perfect-use criteria, regardless of how they used other methods of contraception. Restricting analysis and stratifying contraceptive behavior during low-risk days resulted in higher failure rate estimates, ranging from 7.2% to 13.8%. These findings highlight the need for clear user definitions in FABM studies for comparability with existing literature and behavior-based counseling.Master of Science (M.S.
How Household Separation and Dispersion Affect the Well-being of Left-behind Parents in Rural China?
No full textEvidence has shown that departure of adult children from households has profound, yet contradictory consequences for left-behind parents’ well-being. This study argues that dispersion, i.e. close or distant separation of households, is the key to understanding the divergent evidence for both positive and negative influence from separation. Drawing on longitudinal data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2018), this study reveals that household separation improves parents’ financial conditions through increased monetary transfers but deteriorates mental health challenges, while physical health remains unaffected. Critically, the spatial dispersion of children shapes these outcomes. Parents with children residing in the same village experience stronger financial and physical health benefits compared to those with children farther away, while this loss of health benefit can be mitigated by regular contacts. The findings highlight families’ adaptive strategies to sustain intergenerational solidarity through spatially dispersed yet mutually supportive ties.Master of Arts (M.A.)2026-09-0