The 25 Happiest U.S. City Park Systems, Ranked by Scientists
“Being in nature offers restorative benefits not available for purchase in a store, or downloadable on a screen,” says UVM’s Chris Danforth, a Mathematics professor and Gund Fellow. This study brought together multiple UVM research groups, including the Gund Institute for Environment, Vermont Advanced Computing Center, The Spatial Analysis Lab, the MassMutual Center of Excellence in Complex Systems and Data Science, and the Hedonometer, in an effort to measure global happiness using Twitter.
Putting People Into Climate Models
Scientist Brian Beckage is part of a team that published a study in the journal Nature suggesting that as the planet gets hotter, our climate policies will increase in ambition and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will accelerate. "We can't forget the human capacity to react and adapt," he says. "We're part of the climate system and our models should take that into account." a professor with joint appointments in the Department of Plant Biology and Computer Science, as well as a fellow in the Gund Institute for Environment.
New Survey Findings Released from Innovative Prison Research Project
The University of Vermont, the Vermont Department of Corrections, and the Urban Institute have released initial findings from the first phase of the Prison Research and Innovation Network (PRIN) in Vermont, one of five states participating in the five-year effort (with support from Arnold Ventures) to build evidence and spur innovation to make prisons more humane, safe, and rehabilitative. Mathematics and Statistics Research Assistant Professor Abigail Crocker is a lead on the project.