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Grand Challenges research effort leverages STEM to inspire climate action

The RISE with Insects research team includes, from left, Susan Weller, director of the University of Nebraska State Museum; Sarah Roberts, Extension educator in science and nature education for early childhood; Ana María Vélez Arango, assistant professor of insect toxicology; Louise Lynch-O’Brien, assistant professor of insect biology and Extension specialist; and Holly Hatton-Bowers, associate professor of child, youth and family studies and Extension specialist. Learn more about this project in the CYFS Research Network.

After decades of work, many researchers believe climate change poses the greatest global threat to human health — and that youth are the most vulnerable to the impacts and most-dire consequences, both today and in the future.

Black, Latinx, Native American and other youth of color may be disproportionately affected by climate change with deepening inequalities in access to clean air and water, healthy foods and forced migration. Full Article

Grand Challenges research effort aims to prevent sexual violence among Indigenous youth

Funded by a $3.2 million UNL Grand Challenges Catalyst Award, Nebraska researcher Katie Edwards is leading a four-year project to establish an Indigenous-led sexual violence prevention facility on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Learn more about the project in the CYFS Research Network.

For the past six years, Nebraska educational psychologist Katie Edwards has worked with Native American communities and organizations to combat sexual violence — a trauma Indigenous peoples experience at rates higher than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S. Full Article

NAECR selects 2022-23 Policy Fellows

The Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research has selected six faculty members to serve as Policy Fellows for the 2022-23 academic year.

The NAECR Policy Fellows Program is designed to educate early childhood researchers on policy processes, impacts and relationships to research; to provide policymakers with insight into the latest early childhood research at the University of Nebraska; and to generate collaboration among researchers and policymakers to develop effective research agendas that enrich early childhood experiences. Full Article

2022 Summit on Research in Early Childhood helps connect research, practice, policy

Participants gather during the 2022 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood at the Nebraska Innovation Campus Conference Center on April 13. View photo gallery.

Creating connections among early childhood research, practice and policy — and how each can enhance the lives of young children and their families — provided the central theme of the 2022 CYFS Summit on Research in Early Childhood.

Nearly 200 attendees, including researchers from across the University of Nebraska system, practitioners, administrators, community partners and policymakers, gathered April 13 at Nebraska Innovation Campus for the daylong, sixth biennial summit, which highlighted the latest research to advance early childhood education and development, and implications for practice and policy. Full Article

NAECR selects 2021-22 Policy Fellows

The Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research has selected five faculty members to serve as Policy Fellows for the 2021-22 academic year.

The NAECR Policy Fellows Program is designed to educate early childhood researchers on policy processes, impacts and relationships to research; to provide policymakers with insight into the latest early childhood research at the University of Nebraska; and to generate collaboration among researchers and policymakers to develop effective research agendas that enrich early childhood experiences. Full Article

Findings highlight program’s success in reducing, preventing sexual violence among Native American girls

Students listen intently during an IMpower training session on a Native American reservation in South Dakota. (Photo courtesy of Brooke Duthie Photography)

Katie Edwards, a leading researcher on interpersonal violence at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, co-authored two recently published papers on the impacts of a sexual violence prevention program aimed at empowering Native American adolescent girls. Full Article

Edwards honored by American Society of Criminology for community-engaged research

From left, Katie Edwards, associate professor, CYFS and educational psychology; Lee Paiva, founder of No Means No Worldwide and IMpower United; and Ramona Herrington, Lakota Elder and activist, on a South Dakota reservation. (Photo courtesy of Katie Edwards.)

Nebraska researcher Katie Edwards has been honored by the American Society of Criminology for her community-engaged research with Native American communities.

Edwards, associate professor, CYFS and educational psychology, is this year’s winner of the ASC’s Division on Women and Crime Community Engaged Scholar Award, presented annually to a leader in teaching, outreach or scholarship initiatives defined by innovative community engagement in criminology or a closely associated discipline. Full Article

Research addresses sexual violence prevention among Native American youth

Instructors work with children on a Native American reservation as part of the IMpower violence prevention program. (Photo courtesy of Brooke Duthie Photography)

Native American youth experience high rates of sexual abuse — a problem rooted in historical trauma. Until recently, virtually no research had assessed the impact of child sexual abuse prevention programs aimed at protecting this vulnerable population. Full Article