Research Blog

Meet the Scientists Conserving Sharks & Sea Turtles in Latin America

On April 8, 2025

In Animals, Biology, Climate/Global Change, Data, Environment/Sustainability, Field Research

I had just spent the weekend at the Duke Marine Lab, listening to my classmates discuss solutions to the shrinking population of a critically endangered porpoise species. So when I attended the March 25 Oceans Week panel immediately after, marine megafauna were already at the forefront of my mind.

Organized by Duke’s Working Group for the Environment in Latin America, the panel brought together several experts, comparing and contrasting their challenges across countries and species.

*Image from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0*

The open and interconnected nature of the ocean already presents unique conservation issues compared to terrestrial ecosystems, but it’s even more difficult to work on policies for marine megafauna that regularly traverse oceans. Countries establishing coastal estuaries or coral reefs as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) can be effective for inhabitants like reef sharks that have limited ranges. However, protecting highly migratory animals like whale sharks and blue whales often requires international agreements and collaboration between countries.

To better protect these species, Dr. César Peñaherrera launched the nonprofit MigraMar, which researches them through extensive tagging in the Eastern Pacific and partners with a large network to share and aggregate data. They’ve tagged 642 hammerhead sharks so far, according to their website, and this is just one of the migratory species they work with. Peñaherrera, whose background is in quantitative marine science, spends much of his time when he isn’t in the field making sense of the vast sets of data points. One of MigraMar’s main goals is to provide evidence for greater connectivity between Marine Protected Areas. Think wildlife corridors, but underwater. By mapping out the most predictable migration routes for marine megafauna, they can inform the best routes for these “Swimways.”

*Peñaherrera shared an image of a diver approaching hammerhead sharks with a pole spear, which helps them attach an acoustic tag to a shark.*

Conserving sea turtles is a little different than other species–they face different threats throughout life as they go from land to sea and back to land to lay eggs. Carlos Diez, who researches turtles extensively at the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, outlined four “unresolved” main threats within terrestrial ecosystems: coastal development, light pollution, exotic species, and conflicts over habitat use.

Climate change also poses a potential threat, since sex determination in sea turtles is dependent on temperatures. As many parts of their range warm, the sex ratio of turtles in some locations has leaned increasingly female. That’s one area that Diez has conducted research in: determining when, where, and how much the balance of turtle sexes is changing.

While collecting accurate data on wildlife is necessary, the complexity of marine conservation hinges as much on the behavior of people as it does wildlife.

Perhaps that’s why shark researcher, science communicator and Puerto Rican native Melissa Cristina Márquez said one of her focuses is on the “human dimensions of shark conservation.”

Deep connection to the inhabitants of the oceans leads to more active conservation. Indigenous cultures, for example, have fished sustainably for ages. Márquez, who is currently based in Australia, said, “We’ve seen that a lot in Fiji, in Papua, New Guinea, with sharks and their cultural connection to sharks, and how that kind of spurred forward a bit more protection of those animals.”

“The cultural, historic and political contexts in conservation… these factors really shape the value placed on marine biodiversity, the policies that are developed and the resources that are allocated for conservation efforts,” she said.

As a fisheries officer for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Carlos Fuentevilla has a more specific focus when it comes to the human dimension: reconciling sustainable management with the need to feed people.

“We currently now eat around 20.7 kilograms per capita per day of food,” said Fuentevilla, pointing out that the world would have to ramp up production if this rate is to remain the same at 2050. “So it’s not a question of we have to eat less… It’s a question that we have to produce more–how can we do it sustainably?”

Much of it will have to come down to how we manage our fisheries. While most fish aren’t technically megafauna, Fuentevilla pointed out that marine megafauna regularly interact with, and are affected by, our fishing activities.

Fishery scientists will tell you they don’t manage fish, they manage people.

Scientists like Fuentevilla and those in government use ecosystem based management, which considers the species in an area as well as the stakeholders and competing interests that affect them, including fishermen and coastal developers. “You know, fishery scientists will tell you they don’t manage fish, they manage people, and that’s right,” Fuentevilla said.

The overarching theme is that the ocean is an open system, and nothing in marine conservation occurs in a vacuum. Fulfilling this work means having to go beyond national policy to international frameworks and understanding the other key players in sea and on land.

By Crystal Han, Class of 2028

College basketball can be hard to predict. That didn’t stop these student data whizzes from trying

By Robin Smith

On April 8, 2025

In Computers/Technology, Data, Statistics

Blue Devils fans are still making sense of Duke’s stunning late-game loss to Houston in what was a wild Final Four game.

But for some fans of men’s college hoops, predicting this season’s nail-biters, closest contests — and even the biggest blowouts — was a worthwhile competition in itself.

The Blue Devils during the 2025 ACC men’s basketball regular season matchup against UNC on March 8. Credit: Duke Athletics

In the first-ever Triangle Sports Analytics competition, 15 teams of undergraduates and master’s students from Duke, UNC and NC State competed to make predictions about the 2024/25 ACC basketball season, and in a way most armchair fans don’t — using data science.

For these contestants, it wasn’t just a question of which teams would survive and advance.

The idea was to predict not only who would win, but by how much. That number is called the point spread. Anyone who wanted to compete had to submit, back in January, their point spread predictions for each of the remaining regular season games involving any one of the three Triangle teams. Everything from the razor-thin margins to the landslides. The winners were the ones whose predictions most closely mirrored the results.

They also had to come up with a confidence interval for their spreads, based on probability and the data at their disposal. In a nutshell, it’s a way to show how reliable their estimates were by saying, “we’re pretty sure the real margin of victory is somewhere between X and Y.” Teams that predicted the point spreads more accurately were given an edge.

“Predicting results weeks or months in advance is a really difficult task,” said Duke statistical science professor Alexander Fisher, who co-led the competition together with professors Mario Giacomazzo of UNC and Elijah Meyer of NCSU.

You don’t need to be an expert coder to enter. “We have some tutorials and resources to get you started, even if you have little to no experience programming,” Fisher said.

“The two skills that are really emphasized in a competition like this are data wrangling ability and model building,” he added. And while data skills are important, it’s just as critical to “love the game and be creative.”

One student who used his passion for the game and penchant for data crunching to test his mettle was Chris Johnson ’25, a senior majoring in economics.

“I’ve been watching college basketball since I was a kid,” Johnson said. “March Madness is my favorite time of year.”

To make his predictions, Johnson used Barttorvik.com, a website that contains a wealth of college basketball data. He built a model in Python that took into account statistics on each team’s offensive prowess and defensive strength, along with the pace at which they tend to play. Using these, he was able to estimate the final points for each team and calculate the point spread from there.

What started out as a fun side project will soon become a day job for this Duke student. Chris Johnson was the first place winner in the first-ever Triangle Sports Analytics competition, and will be starting a job as a data analyst with DraftKings this summer.

Of course, data and statistics can only capture so much of what makes basketball exciting — the unquantifiable human element also plays a role. Factors such as injuries and roster shifts can also have a significant impact on the outcome of a game, but they’re hard to anticipate in advance, Johnson said.

This year, the top three teams in the Triangle Sports Analytics competition were all from Duke. “I think we had a pretty sweeping victory this year,” Fisher said.

There’s no prize money; “this was just a ‘do it for the glory’ competition,” Fisher said.

“Bragging rights are really important,” said Dillan Sant, co-president of the Duke Sports Analytics Club, in a workshop he and co-president Anmol Sapru hosted to help students prepare for the competition.

Johnson finished first in this year’s contest, which didn’t include the NCAA tournament. So what was his reaction to Duke’s loss in the Final Four?

“The ending was definitely surprising,” said Johnson, who will be going on to a career in sports analytics after graduation, working as a data analyst for DraftKings.

“Any statistical model would tell you that Duke had more than a 90% chance of winning going into the final two minutes,” Johnson said.

“Pretty sad being a Duke fan, but it’s also part of the craziness and unpredictability that makes college basketball fun in the first place,” he added.

By Robin Smith, Marketing & Communications

So Much More Than Growing Plants: Gardening as a Practice of Reclamation, Identity and Legacy

By Gabrielle Douglas

On April 7, 2025

In Climate/Global Change, Environment/Sustainability, History

“The Garden is a healer… that’s just a fact.”

“When people come into my garden they see me.”

“The people in charge are not the ones that look like us.”

These were just a few of the powerful truths shared during the African American Legacy in Gardening and Horticulture Symposium on Saturday, March 29. In a space filled with stories, resistance and regeneration, I witnessed how gardening is much more than cultivation– it’s reclamation, identity and legacy.

Organized by the North Carolina Botanical Gardens, Durham County Library, Sarah P. Duke Gardens, and other community partners, the symposium brought together community members, horticulturalists, scholars, leaders and activists to exchange knowledge and experience. The day featured three rich sessions, each exploring different aspects of African American connections to land history and healing.

The Wisdom of Trees: Urban Forestry and Black Land Ownership in the Subaltern South

The first session explored the deeply rooted issues of Black land ownership, forestry, and land expression in the South. Moderated by Darrell Stover of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and North Carolina State University, the panel featured a series of powerful and passionate leaders and practitioners: Alton Perry, Director of the Roanoke Cooperative’s Sustaining Forestry and Land retention Project; Tyrone Williams, a third-generation landowner and nationally recognized tree farmer; and Michael Gibson, an internationally recognized topiary and property artist.

Gibson kicked off the discussion by reflecting on his personal relationship with nature. Beginning with simple yard work at just seven years old, he described how “what [he] thought was just a chore turned into a passion.” His words echoed a common theme among the panelists– many found healing and direction through their connection to forestry and the land.

Perry soon turned the conversation in a structural direction, detailing what it was like to be among the mere 4% of men in forestry who are African American. He explained how it was this disparity that motivated his work to support other Black landowners in managing their forest land and to “give them the empowerment to know their land matters.”

Williams shared similar sentiments as he described his journey towards making a name for himself within the field. He spoke of the significance of being part of the African American Tree Farm System and the importance of awareness within the community. “Everyone deserves to have beautiful stands of trees on their property,” he said, underscoring the need for both visibility and access in environmental spaces.

(From L to R: Darrell Stover, Michael Gibson, Tyrone Williams, and Alton Perry)

Black Roots in Gardening and Horticulture

The second session shifted from land to legacy, highlighting the power of storytelling, passion, and tradition in gardening and horticulture. In this conversation, gardens went beyond physical spaces and served as personal and cultural archives.

This session was moderated by Grammy Award-winning vocalist and founding member of the Earthseed Land Cooperative, Justin Robinson. The session brought together a group of incredibly talented and dynamic voices including: Wambui Ippolito, founding principal of Wambui designs; Derek Haynes, affectionately known as the “Chocolate Botanist,” a botanist with a vibrant social media presence; and Teri Speight, the author of the “Urban Garden” and “Black Flora.”

The conversation was heavily centered on African American influences in gardening and horticulture. Speight began the conversation, detailing her initial inspiration for gardening. She explained how the hydrangea served as a manifestation of a love for nature and work in the gardens, instilled by her parents. She further explained how the “bloom is endless,” amplifying the ways in which gardening spans across generations.

Following this, the conversation shifted into the inspirations held in gardening. Ippolito said what inspires her is “anything unspoiled by human hands.” She went on to explain how we often forget the ways that we are innately wired to perceive and appreciate natural landscapes—something she believes we must consciously reconnect with.

Haynes shared a key lesson that gardening has taught him: patience. He acknowledged how failure sometimes is inevitable, but clarified that patience allows him to recognize that his efforts “weren’t in vain.” Instead, he views each setback as a chance to “learn and process” making growth–both personal and botanical–possible.

(From L to R Justin Robinson, Wambui Ippolito, Derek Haynes, and Teri Speight)

Reclaiming Our Narratives: Amplifying Black Voices in Environmental Literature and Media

The final session shifted to focus on the deeply rooted relationship between African Americans and the natural world– despite long-standing narratives suggesting otherwise. This session was moderated by Dr. Zelda Lockhart, a writer, musician, and teacher. The session brought together a powerful group of thinkers and creators such as Dr. Jarvis McInnis, an Associate Professor of English at Duke University, and Dr. Chérie Rivers, an Associate Professor of Geography and Environment at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.

The conversation was centered on reclamation—of memory, space, and identity. Professor Rivers offered powerful insight that drew from Ross Gay’s “Inciting Joy” to reflect on the role of stories as seeds carried by our ancestors through every path of life. She described how we each hold stories someone saved for us, meant to nourish and grow our narratives again and again. She emphasized how these narratives are rooted in love and reflected through storytelling and conversation. For Rivers, education expands the repertoire of what we are capable of loving, and it is through education that she sees the most potential for transmitting and sharing these vital stories. “If we believe we are in a garden to sustain life then we will enact truth,” Rivers said.

McInnis challenged the notion that Black communities are disconnected from nature, emphasizing how stories and landscapes serve as bridges between past and present. He described this by pointing to literary traditions that capture Black ecological thought, reminding us that “it’s about beauty.” For McInnis, reclaiming the therapeutic nature of the land is deeply personal. He spoke of the desire to touch soil, to feel deeply connected, and to follow one’s intuition—acts that affirm both presence and belonging in the natural world.

(From L to R: Dr. Zelda Lockhart, Dr. Chérie Rivers, and Dr. Jarvis McInnis)

In tracing the land, legacy and storytelling, these conversations highlight how gardening goes beyond its physical act– it is a cultural practice, a form of resistance, and a path towards healing. For many African Americans, reclaiming connections to the Earth is not simply about growing plants, but nurturing memory, identity and community. Through these narratives, we are able to see that a garden is not only a site of cultivation, but also of restoration, power, and possibility.

*Post by Gabrielle Douglas, Class of 2027*

How Churches and Communities Are Teaming Up for Climate Resilience

By Noor Nazir

On April 5, 2025

In Climate/Global Change, Religion

As record-breaking heat waves spread across the nation, a new movement is rising.

Houses of worship have long served as anchors during times of crisis. Now, they’re becoming hubs for climate resilience.

At a March 27 gathering in Duke’s Goodson Chapel, faith leaders, organizers, and energy advocates—Pastor Neil Bernard (New Wine Christian Fellowship), Angella Dunston (Warren County Environmental Action Team), and Reverend Leo Woodberry (Kingdom Living Temple and New Alpha Community Development)—came together to discuss powerful initiatives, from solar-powered sanctuaries in Louisiana to grassroots environmental justice campaigns in North Carolina.

The message was clear: no one can do this alone. But together, we can do everything.

Bernard, pastor of a congregation in Louisiana’s St. John the Baptist Parish—one of the most disaster-prone areas in the U.S., opened the evening with urgency and vision. He recalled when Hurricane Ida hit the Bayou State in 2021, and reflected on the death toll from extreme heat. But then he spoke of hope: Community Lighthouses—solar-powered hubs anchored in houses of worship, built to offer electricity and refuge in times of need.

“Right now, we have 19. But the goal is one in every vulnerable community,” Bernard said, his voice rising. “When everyone has power—we have power.” His words weren’t just about electricity. They were about collective strength. Heads nodded. The room hummed in agreement.

These lighthouses didn’t materialize from one church alone—they were born from partnerships across city agencies, utilities, organizers, and faith groups. That’s the model. He said, “The power of teamwork is what makes the dream work.”

Duke’s Ashley Ward (L to R) hosts a panel with Pastor Neil Bernard (New Wine Christian Fellowship), Angella Dunston (Warren County Environmental Action Team), and Reverend Leo Woodberry (Kingdom Living Temple and New Alpha Community Development). Photo by Ashley Stephenson

Woodberry reminded the audience, his voice echoing through the chapel, “Jesus said, I give you power.” He added, “The most common way people give up their power is by believing they don’t have any.” These lighthouses are more than climate infrastructure—they are spiritual anchors grounded in the belief that resilience is holy work.

He argued that religious institutions are America’s greatest untapped asset. “They own land, buildings, communication tools—and they reach more people than any NGO,” he said. “If we fail to activate them, we leave the door open for exploitation.”

These institutions already know how to organize. They’ve been here before.

Dunston, an energy cooperative leader and longtime community advocate, brought the room back to the 1980s in Warren County, North Carolina. When state officials decided to dump toxic soil in her majority-Black neighborhood, the fight started not in courtrooms—but in her church.

“It was the women of our church who stood up,” she said, her voice ringing clear. “We don’t get the acknowledgment, but we do it anyway.”

Faith-based organizations have long played a vital role in responding to crises in our region, experts say. The conversation was part of Duke’s Cooling Communities project advancing community-driven solutions to extreme heat. Photo by Ashley Stephenson

The landfill closed permanently in 2003, but the damage—rising illness, distrust—remains. Still, Dunston has never stopped advocating. Today, she fights utility bills as high as $800 a month in the same communities. Her faith grounds her work, but she also knows that faith alone isn’t enough.

“If policy isn’t working for us, how do we organize our churches and communities?” she asked. “We must fight for those who cannot fight for themselves.”

Dunston stressed the need for partnerships—with government, scientists, and especially universities. Duke University students, for example, have supported advocacy efforts in Warren County. But she noted that faith communities won’t accept help from institutions they don’t trust. “Build relationships before the next crisis,” she urged. “We need data, yes—but we need trust more. Move at the speed of trust.”

The panel left me with an urge to offer this as a call to action: If you’re part of a faith institution, ask yourself—is your house of worship ready to become a community lighthouse? According to them, the climate crisis isn’t coming—it’s here. And the time to act, together, is now.

How the Humanities Helped This Duke Grad Become the Doctor She Hoped to Be

By Stone Yan

On March 28, 2025

In Humanities, Medicine

“I see you, you see me, I trust you to know me.”

This phrase was one of many that underscored the powerful testimony Dr. Jennifer Hong, Massachusetts General Hospital physician and Duke alumna, shared on March 23 in a talk on West Campus. Invited by Duke’s Humanities in Medicine club, Hong spoke eloquently about the importance of humanities in medicine, leaning on her undergraduate experience as an English/Neuroscience pre-med and her medical training. Her moving stories about patients and her perspective on the American medical system captivated the entire audience.

Dr. Jennifer Hong (‘14), MGM primary care physician and Duke alumna

Hong opened her discussion by underscoring the power of language—and the potential of wielding narrative writing as a “weapon of resistance.” She shared how, as an undergrad, her most memorable, impactful academic lessons were ones in the English realm, where she explored how historical narratives of female physicians revealed the pervasive patriarchy underlying medicine. Hong reflected that the skills required to be an adept doctor are much akin to those needed to write a good essay: one must be able to relate to people and experiences that are very different from one’s own.

To back up her claim, Hong shared a story from her early days of residency. One day, she and her team were overwhelmed by two Code Blues—the highest level of medical alerts—and a rapid response, which she was handling alone. As a slew of medical professionals rushed into the patient’s room, Hong noted that the patient and her partner had no idea what was happening, as they spoke no English. Connecting with the patient’s son over the phone, Hong tried to explain to the best of her ability the situation and her perspective—the patient’s metastatic cancer prognosis would be best approached with comfort care, not more ventilators.

“You’re hurting them. Stop hurting them,” was the son’s short reply.

This was a landmark moment in Hong’s training, one she described as “shell shocking” and “demonstrating to people who want control that they have no control”. In a rapidly evolving environment where so many elements demand physicians’ attention, Hong notes that it’s incredibly easy to act in a way not aligned with one’s personal values. This foreshadowed one of her responses to a later question regarding what exercises or habits prospective medical students should adopt before stepping into graduate education: she suggested that students should periodically check in on their values and how they plan on upholding them.

The captivating lecture continued to include many remarks on the current state of medicine in America. As an aspiring pre-med student, I find it enlightening and disturbing to hear about the unignorable forces at work every day in physician offices and the hospital setting. Hong carefully described how, despite medicine being “the last frontier” where societal wrongs could be remedied and addressed, capitalist institutions, like private equity investors, are forging ahead with standardizing care and prioritizing profit in medical spaces. Yet, she reminded the audience that hope is present and what drives her work are the physician-patient relationships she treasures. She emphasized the presence of humanities education in medical work, highlighting the skills of translating between “medical speak and patient speak”, seeing human dignity in every patient, and telling patients’ case histories as narratives.

I cannot conclude this blog without mentioning the powerful story Hong shared before she finished her remarks. Since her years as a resident, Hong has frequently met with a patient suffering from numerous chronic illnesses. Despite his many struggles, he maintained a lively sense of humor, evoking joy from every small moment. He was regularly hospitalized, sometimes up to months in duration, and he leaned on Hong to tell his story—his illnesses, his past medication history, and his resilience—to his different care teams. This was what drove the “I see you, you see me, I trust you to know me” quote: in his weakest moments, the patient wanted Hong to tell his story instead of telling his own experiences.

The patient passed away last year. Shortly before his passing, he still messaged Hong, sharing pictures of his youth. This patient was surely not the healthiest of Hong’s patients, but he was among the most memorable and impactful. Even as an audience member, I cannot help but root and feel fondness for this patient.

In my humble opinion, what made this lecture so motivational was not Hong’s advice and encouragement to a room full of pre-meds but her skilled recounting of firsthand experiences. Her testimony is proof that the humanities are still critically valuable, especially in medicine, providing food for thought for Duke students.

Food, Health, and Environmental Justice Intertwine in Atlanta

By Crystal Han

On March 26, 2025

In Environment/Sustainability, Lecture, Medicine

Some researchers get hooked into a niche and spend their entire career specializing in it. Others, like Dr. Eri Saikawa, go wherever the research takes them. On February 28, the Emory University professor spoke about her broad experiences in environmental science for Duke’s Integrated Toxicology & Environmental Health Program (ITEHP). Her research journey has hardly been restricted to any one subject–she’s modeled air pollution, investigated plastic burning, and tested alternatives to synthetic fertilizers that release excessive nitrogen. Yet, what I found most interesting was the work that occurred, and subsequent story that unfolded, just a half hour away from Emory in the Westside of Atlanta.

Within the U.S., areas of high food insecurity are predominantly located in the Southeast. By allowing residents to “adopt” vacant properties to create urban farms and gardens, the City of Atlanta has made efforts to increase access to local, fresh food through their AgLanta “Grows-A-Lot” program.

*Food Deserts in the US as defined by the USDA. US Department of Agriculture*

“We thought, that’s a great idea,” Saikawa said. But there was a potential issue. “Are you testing [the soil in] these places before you let people grow?”

As it turns out, the answer was no.

In a very ordinary looking lot, Saikawa found soil containing 430.9 parts per million (ppm) of lead, easily exceeding the EPA screening level of 400 ppm at the time (which has since been lowered to 200 ppm). Immediately concerned, she sought more testing.

In 2018, she and her team at Emory partnered with local organization Historic Westside Gardens to collect samples in both residential areas and community gardens. Most of these were located in Westside Atlanta, which is predominantly Black and low-income. Out of the 19 test sites, three contained lead beyond EPA screening levels and the majority exceeded the state gardening screening level of 75 ppm.

“What was very disheartening for us was that…one of [the three] was a children’s garden,” Saikawa said. While state and federal guidelines are subject to change throughout time, there is no safe level of lead for children.

How much was this impacting the neurological development of local kids? She couldn’t find the answers. “I realized that this is something that I, as a modeler…was not trained to do,” Saikawa said. “I thought that I would be simulating, and then telling the results as it happens in the model. I was not trained to talk to people about the real issue.”

Thus began a sort of pivot into more community-engaged work. Residents began bringing their own samples to be tested, many of which were rock pieces that contained roughly 3000 ppm of lead. They weren’t just rock, but slag–a waste product of smelting.

It was now evident how soil concentrations could’ve reached such levels. “After this…we actually went around the neighborhoods and we saw these everywhere…This was apparently dumped in the 50s or 60s, and they’ve been dealing with it without knowing that that’s what they have,” Saikawa said.

Sam Peters, one of Saikawa’s doctoral students at the time, reported it to the EPA. Now, a portion of Westside Atlanta is a Superfund site on the National Priorities List. Through further testing and investigation from the EPA, the site grew from an initial 60 properties to 2087, most of which exceed the 400 ppm threshold.

*Vine City and English Avenue are the main neighborhoods affected by the Superfund site. Westside Future Fund*

However, it’s not accurate to paint Westside as an environmental success story. Saikawa points out that the EPA cuts down trees on the site during the remediation process, increasing heat exposure to an already vulnerable population.

More importantly, many fear that gentrification will follow remediation, which often pushes out renters as the area opens up to development for the wealthier. As much as 40% of affected residents live below the poverty line. When community members have to weigh health with economic impact, the latter sometimes wins out. “One of the residents told me that the pushback to testing the soil in the Westside is because this happened 25 years ago as well…When that happened, people were displaced,” Saikawa said. For this reason, some have chosen not to have their soil tested.

Hesitance to testing also steps from mistrust build up over the years. Saikawa said, “A lot of research has been done on these underserved communities without providing the results back, and they were definitely being taken advantage of. And so when I say I’m from Emory, some people are like, why would I work with you?” This issue presented a challenge when they collected soil samples initially, and it presented a challenge as the Saikawa Lab and community organizations sought to increase blood testing for lead in children.

Beyond lead and contaminants in general, neighborhoods in Westside Atlanta face a far higher cumulative health risk. While these wicked problems evade easy solutions, it’s clear that addressing such issues will require deliberate engagement and collaboration on those most affected. “[Community partners] have taught me a lot…So if anybody is interested in working in the community, like community-based participatory work, it’s really hard now. But I do encourage you to do that,” Saikawa said.

By Crystal Han, Class of 2028

The Imperfect Ways of a Perfectionist

By Sarah Pusser

On March 18, 2025

In Behavior/Psychology, Faculty, Field Research, Neuroscience

Perfectionism, although a way to control our surroundings, can often control us. As a student in the stressful and competitive environment of college, I’ve seen the pursuit of perfection overwhelm me and those around me. These incidents caught the attention of Duke psychiatry and behavioral science professors Nancy Zucker and Rachel Alison Adcock. The two decided to do an in-depth study of perfectionism, and how perfectionists can better handle their stress and be more productive.

Photo credits: *Halyna Dorozhynska* via Canva

When first trying to measure perfectionism, Zucker and Adcock found that “…the core essence of perfectionism was the sphere of failure,” meaning that out of everyone they studied, the majority of participants tended to be pushed to perfectionism because of a fear of failing. Given this, Zucker and Adcock were able to show a correlation between one’s concern over mistakes and their anxiety, social anxiety, and depressive symptoms.

Rachel Alison Adcock, M.D., Ph.D., and Nancy Zucker, Ph.D. *Credit: Duke*

Even with these correlations being present, “If given the choice between being a perfectionist and not being a perfectionist, 62.5% [of perfectionists] would choose to stay.” This means that in order to better support perfectionists in their everyday lives, Zucker and Adcock had to find ways to support perfectionists without trying to change them–in other words, you can’t just tell perfectionists to not be perfectionists anymore. So together, they created four different solutions to help minimize the harm of perfectionism:

Solution 1: Increase resource

Zucker and Adcock note that this is usually advice given for better mental health; “Go do something fun. Hang out with your friends. Go do yoga…” While these tips can be helpful, Zucker and Adcock were more interested in the opposite side of the issue–how instead perfectionists can work on optimizing their demands

Solution 2: Defining demands

Again, Zucker and Adcock mention some limitations to this argument. It is not expected that perfectionists will reduce their standards–for example, “Duke. A slightly less than exceptional education, Duke Health. Slightly less than exceptional care.” Therefore this solution of defining demands relies on both the perfectionist and those in the position to assign work to the perfectionist. An example of this is a professor reevaluating the importance of the work they are assigning–does the work really need to be completed by this date? By ensuring the work assigned and completed “respect[s] our own resources, prioritize[s] stamina and [is] orient[ed] to growth and progress,” the standards of work become more realistic and achievable.

Solution 3: Change the reward value (and distress) of making mistakes via self-regulation

Through testing how individuals responded to high confidence versus low confidence errors (or in other words, individuals who confidently answer a question that is incorrect are more likely to remember the correct solution after being told than those who answer a question with low confidence and are incorrect), Zucker and Adcock found that “high perfectionism individuals are less sensitive to error than low perfectionism individuals” and “high perfectionism individuals are only sensitive to error after negative or positive framing.” This means that changing how perfectionists are made aware of their mistakes (showing them how mistakes are learning opportunities) can “increase perfectionists’ sensitivity to surprising feedback in updating beliefs,” and thus help those individuals learn from their mistakes better–so as to show how mistakes are crucial for learning.

Solution 4: Change reward value and distress of mistakes via social contingencies and milieu

Similar to solution three, solution four’s goal is to change the perception of mistakes, however, this solution proposes a change through group support instead of self-regulation. This could look like peer support groups for perfectionist individuals. Zucker and Adcock emphasize the importance of the message, “We are more than a single moment in time,” which can be beneficial for a perfectionist individual to hear from their trusted peers.

The importance of mistakes was a theme that continued to pop up throughout Zucker and Adcock’s presentation. And while that can seem cliche, it’s something that we as students, professors, and people, should listen to more (thanks to Zucker and Adcock, we’ve also seen how making mistakes is scientifically proven to teach us the correct answer).

As the researchers wrapped up their talk, they left us with one more quote that stuck with me. “We are in the pursuit of the unknown. Hope is medicine. Imperatives are not hope.”

In a place like college, where just one failure can feel like the end of the world, Zucker and Adcock’s research encourages us to grow comfortable with the unknown so that our mistakes too can be something to be proud of.

Sarah Pusser Class of 2028

Reimagining the Language Classroom

By Gabrielle Douglas

On March 3, 2025

In Lecture

“Language is being a effectiveest tool for political controls.” If that opening sentence made you cringe, you’re not alone. Many people instinctively react to “incorrect” grammar, but have you ever questioned why certain ways of speaking are deemed wrong? Who determines the rules, and who gets silenced in the process?

These are some of the questions that LJ Randolph is striving to answer. A professor in World Language Education at UW Madison, Randolph argues that his own “language journey influences the way [he] approaches work.”

In a recent talk in Rubenstein Library, he outlined his efforts to challenge traditional education methods, advocating for an approach that affirms all linguistic identities rather than policing them. “We exist in this world where we are bombarded by language ideologies.” This recognition has led him to approach language as not merely a technical skill to be corrected but as a political and social tool that shapes power structures. For Randolph, language is “an act of abolition, liberation, and joy.”

*Randolph in Duke’s Rubenstein Library.*

Randolph describes abolition not as simple reform but as a fundamental restructuring of harmful systems– including those embedded in language. He argues that dominant linguistic norms dictate whose language is considered valid and whose is not. For example, key features of African American Vernacular English (AAVE), such as unique verb tenses – “I been did that”– are often dismissed as incorrect, despite their grammatical consistency within the dialect. Meanwhile, common errors in Standard American English, such as “Please speak to Jim or myself if you have any questions”, are rarely criticized in the same way. Randolph attributes this discrepancy to the way in which language is inherently political.

Randolph’s commitment to dismantling language policing is most evident in his classroom. He structures his teaching around the framework developed by Gholdy Muhammed, an associate professor of language and literacy at Georgia State University. Muhammed’s model, known as the “Five Pursuits,” focuses on Identity, Skill, Intellect, Criticality, and Joy as the key elements needed to foster an inclusive and empowering learning environment.

*Gholdy Muhammed’s book on the 5 Pursuits.*

Identity: Within his own classroom, Randolph uses identity to encourage students to reflect on their own linguistic identities. Through the use of “Can Do” statements, students explore how they understand themselves within different linguistic contexts. Additionally, students engage with texts by selecting passages that evoke strong reactions– such as joy, discomfort, and even curiosity.

Skill: In his classroom, language proficiency is also approached with flexibility. Randolph has his students select challenge levels based on their personal learning goals. Some of the activities that he has his students complete include summarizing passages into a single word, titling the sections of a text, and explaining the connection between key elements in passages.

Intellect: Additionally, Randolph works in discussions on what he refers to as translanguaging, which describes the practice of fluidly moving between languages and dialects. With this, students analyze examples and describe how and why translanguaging can appear within the real-world context.

Criticality: He also emphasizes the importance of developing intercultural communication skills within his students. To develop these skills he has his students create graphic organizers which seek to highlight the intersections between language, identity, and power structures.

Joy: Finally and arguably most importantly, Randolph aims to foster a sense of linguistic celebration among his students by encouraging them to create artistic pieces that highlight the joys of their communities. In these projects, students are able to incorporate their full linguistic repertoires allowing the idea that all forms of language have value to remain at the forefront.

Through centering abolition, liberation, and joy in language education, Randolph challenges the conventional approaches to teaching and learning languages. His work reveals that languages do more than serve as a means of communication– they shape identity, community, and access to power. He shows how rather than policing, students being empowered allows them to recognize the validity of all linguistic identities. Randolph’s methods align with what the classroom that author and activist Bell Hooks describes: “The classroom with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility.”

Protecting Your Work 101

By Noor Nazir

On March 3, 2025

In Entrepreneurship

A Disney star waves their wand, tracing three glowing circles in the air—Mickey Mouse’s head. With that Disney smile, they say, “You’re watching Disney Channel.”

Iconic, right? Instantly recognizable? Absolutely.

Protected? Without a doubt.

Disney holds patents on a variety of innovations—including fireworks that explode into specific shapes. Intellectual property (IP) protections like patents, trademarks and copyrights allow companies to safeguard their creative and technological ideas.

If you think you’ve just come up with the next big breakthrough, the first step isn’t just to celebrate and start working on it—it’s to patent it.

When Jodi Psoter, head of Duke’s Marine Lab Library and an expert in science research strategies, gave a talk on patents, she broke it down for people like me—someone who knew next to nothing about them.

Jodi Psoter, Head, Marine Lab Library and Librarian for Marine Science

Here’s what I learned:

What Are Patents?

A patent is a legal tool that grants inventors exclusive rights to their inventions for a set period. An important disclaimer, in Psoter’s words, “I wish I had a good meme for the fact that I am not a lawyer – and this is not legal advice.” As a science expert, however, she comprehensively laid out the essentials: what a patent is, how it differs from research articles, when to apply for one, and the steps to do so.

Protecting your work 101 broken down:

Patents protect inventions, such as a new chemical compound or a technological innovation.
Trademarks cover branding elements like logos and names (yes, Duke has one!).
Copyrights safeguard creative works, such as literature, music, and even game designs.

Patents vs Trade Secrets

In addition to patents, another key form of intellectual property protection is trade secrets. Unlike patents, which require public disclosure in exchange for exclusive rights, trade secrets protect valuable, confidential information that gives a company a competitive edge. Jodi Psoter highlighted Coca-Cola’s secret formula as a classic example—closely guarded and never patented to ensure indefinite protection. For something to qualify as a trade secret, three elements must apply:

1. It must have value by the fact that it is not known. If the information were public, it would lose its competitive advantage.

2. Others must want the information. If competitors could benefit from knowing it, it has economic significance.

3. Efforts must be taken to maintain its secrecy. Companies must actively safeguard trade secrets through confidentiality agreements, restricted access, and legal measures.

Unlike patents, which expire after a set period, trade secrets can last indefinitely—as long as they remain secret. If disclosed, whether intentionally or through a breach, they lose protection. This makes them a crucial but high-risk form of intellectual property for businesses aiming to maintain an advantage in their industry.

Similar to patenting, trade secrets are also a crucial step to possibly protect your future work!

Types of Patents

I’m no researcher, quite the opposite in fact. In the simplest terms, for you and me, here are the types of patents:

1. Utility Patents: They cover new processes, machines, or compositions of matter (this is what Disney has for their fireworks!).

2. Design Patents: They protect the visual appearance of a product (Nike, for example, has patented sneaker designs rather than the sneakers themselves).

3. Plant Patents: they apply to new plant varieties produced through asexual reproduction.

Patents must be novel and non-obvious. Psoter explained, “It has to be a new idea. It has to be non-obvious—‘not something where everyone just says, oh well, of course that can happen.’”

When Should You Protect Your Work?

As early as possible!

Psoter emphasized the importance of timing when it comes to patents: “If you show it to the public, that becomes public information, and then you won’t qualify for a patent in the U.S.” In other words, once an invention is fully disclosed—whether in a research paper, presentation, or casual conversation—it may no longer be patentable.

However, researchers often face a dilemma: How much can you publish while still securing a patent? The answer isn’t straightforward, and legal guidance is key. Psoter noted that lawyers can advise on striking the right balance—ensuring that enough information is shared for academic progress without compromising the ability to protect an invention.

If something can’t be patented, there may be alternative protections, such as trade secrets or copyrights. But for patentable innovations, securing rights early is critical to preventing others from capitalizing on your work.

Is Your Idea Already Patented? Find Out Early

Psoter recounted a personal experience: while making long drives to pick up her stepson, she brainstormed an app for finding clean bathrooms along the way—only to discover it already existed. This process, often called a prior art search, involves looking at existing patents to see if someone else has already claimed a similar innovation. The idea is to make sure your concept hasn’t already been patented or publicly disclosed, which would make it ineligible for protection.

“You have to check if your idea has already been patented,” she said, recommending Google Patents and databases like Derwent. She compared patent language to drug names: “Koosh ball? That’s ‘floppy filaments.’ If you look at a drug patent, it’ll be 21 letters long, but in the end, it turns out to be Tylenol.”

But looking for patents may not be that easy.

When searching for patents, using classification codes can be far more effective than relying on keywords alone. Every patent is assigned a specific classification number that categorizes it based on its function and design, helping researchers find related patents and track prior innovations. Jodi Psoter highlighted this through the example of the Beerbrella, a patented umbrella attachment for a beer bottle, classified under A45B11/00—which covers “umbrellas characterized by their shape or attachment.” Additional codes, like A47G23/00 for “other table equipment” and A45B17/00 for “tiltable umbrellas,” further refine the search. Using these classification numbers in Google Patents or Derwent allows researchers to uncover prior patents, identify competitors, and ensure their idea is truly novel before filing a patent application.

Final Thoughts: Why Protecting Your Work Matters

Whether it’s Disney securing its fireworks, Nike patenting sneaker designs, or researchers at Duke innovating in their fields, intellectual property protection is what turns ideas into assets.

Understanding patents, trade secrets, and copyrights isn’t just for corporations—it’s for anyone looking to protect their work, claim credit, and ensure that their innovations make an impact.

As Psoter emphasized, the key is acting early. If you have an idea that could change the world, don’t let it slip into the public domain before securing your rights.

So, next time inspiration strikes, celebrate the idea—but protect it first.

Think you may have an invention?

The Office for Translation and Commercialization helps Duke inventors with IP, startups, and more.

You can also check out Google Patents to explore existing patents.

Or visit the patent resources from Duke Libraries for additional guidance.

Nature On the Brain: Green Space, Cities and Depression

By Crystal Han

On March 1, 2025

In Behavior/Psychology, Engineering, Environment/Sustainability, Lecture, Neuroscience

Though I’ve yet to explore all of Duke’s nooks and crannies, I feel confident that my favorite corner of campus will always be the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Nature, and green space generally, is good for us as humans. Most of us understand this on an intuitive level, but what’s the underlying reason? How might it be built into our brains?

Psychology professor Marc G. Berman looks for the answers. At the University of Chicago, Berman directs the Environmental Neuroscience Lab, in which he investigates interactions between our brains and our physical surroundings. In a recent virtual Grand Rounds lecture in Duke’s Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Berman spoke about the broad scope of his research and its implications for a better society.

Attention Restoration Theory

Researchers have proposed various theories for why we love nature. For example, the biophilia hypothesis states that humans have an innate attraction to nature on a genetic and evolutionary basis. However, Berman is focused primarily on the Attention Restoration Theory, a concept he’s contributed to significantly. Under this theory, attention is split into two types: directed and involuntary.

The first type is finite––think about the amount of energy it takes you to deliberately concentrate on something. “The first five minutes of lecture, everybody’s very focused on me,” Berman said, using the example of his own classes. Forty-five minutes later, and people inevitably begin to nod off.

*Mingo Falls, North Carolina. Author photo*

On the other hand, involuntary attention is not really under our control and isn’t as susceptible to becoming drained. Within stimuli that capture our involuntary attention, some are softer or harsher than others, like a stream compared to flashing lights (the stream being a softer attention capture, which we call soft fascination).

The cornerstone of Attention Restoration Theory is that nature provides an ideal environment for the restoration of directed attention; full of “softly fascinating” features, it stimulates involuntary attention without placing demands on directed attention.

A Walk in the Park

Roughly 20 years ago while Berman was a researcher at the University of Michigan, he and his colleagues wanted to test out the Attention Restoration Theory. So, after asking study participants to perform a backwards digit span task (a test for memory that would require directed attention), they told them to take a walk. Participants were directed to either a route through downtown Ann Arbor, or through the Nichols Arboretum. Then another digit span test. A week later, they repeated the whole procedure, this time walking in the other environment. Interestingly, walking through the arboretum proved more beneficial for memory. “We see about a 20% improvement in this task after people go on this brief 50-minute walk in nature versus walking in the urban environment. So that’s pretty impressive,” Berman said.

Many of us wouldn’t be surprised by this–certainly, I know a walk in the Gardens on a pleasant day recharges my ability to focus. Time in green space and warm weather often lifts our moods, but they discovered that this cognitive benefit occurs regardless of how you feel afterwards. Walkers turned cranky from the winter cold demonstrated improvements on par with those who gladly embraced sunny weather in June.

Berman saw even more of a positive effect for the park-goers when repeating the study with participants diagnosed with depression, contrary to a concern that walks alone might induce rumination on negative thoughts.

Cities: Better Than You Think They Are

In the Environmental Neuroscience Lab, Berman and doctoral students look at everything from brief interactions with nature to the long-term effects of living in large cities. Given everything thus far, it would seem logical that the latter would be far worse for our brains than other environments. Yet, Berman found just the opposite.

As it turns out, cities are beneficial for our social connectivity. Since people tend to encounter each other more often in urban areas, an individual will likely develop more social connections on average. Prior neuroscience studies have connected a greater number of social relationships to protection against depression.

*Chicago is the third largest city in the United States, both in terms of population and metropolitan area*.

Based on this, the risk of depression might be aptly represented by an inverse model of the number of people in one’s social network. In other words, the more people you maintain contact with, the lower your risk. To test it, Berman and collaborators enlisted four different data sets regarding depression–including in-person interviews, phone interviews with personal demographics, and over 15 million tweets (converted via machine learning algorithms into a PH-Q depression inventory score). The results confirmed it. “What we see across all of these different data sets is that as cities get larger, you get less depression per capita,” he said.

“Many of us have this impression that in bigger cities like New York, like Chicago, like Los Angeles, people are not as friendly…but these results suggest the opposite,” Berman said. “It must be on average that those social interactions are positive in cities and that more is better.”

Designing Environments for Our Brains

Regarding the main conversation surrounding mental health, Berman said, “We often think about [depression] in terms of this individual scale…your genetic makeup, brain activity patterns, individual psychological patterns. Maybe things about your family. We don’t really think about your neighborhood and your city.”

Knowing what we do about nature and large social networks can ultimately help us improve mental health outcomes on a broad scale. These two factors might seem to work against each other, but they don’t have to. Ultimately, we need more green space everywhere, including in large cities. The benefits are undeniable–urban areas with more greenery consistently see less aggression and crime, even when adjusting for race, ethnicity and income.

In addition, cities tend to have a lot of harsh stimuli, but that doesn’t mean some features of urban environments can’t be potentially restorative. “We believe that certain environmental features can be designed to improve human performance and well-being, like incorporating more natural features or natural patterns in the environment, trying to figure out ways to increase social interactions,” Berman said. By mimicking aspects of nature like curved lines, we might be able to create “soft fascination” closer to home and reduce the different demands pulling on our attention.

Crystal Han, Class of 2028