NATIVE AMERICAN AND INDIGENOUS STUDIES—As a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and an associate professor of English at the University of Oregon, Kirby Brown blends a deep commitment to preserving his family’s personal stories with a vision for fostering Indigenous research and archival storytelling. Through storytelling and literature, he seeks to highlight moments of love, joy, humor, resistance, desire, and futurity.

POLITICAL SCIENCE - New research from the University of Oregon reveals that a person’s political beliefs affect the trust they have in their own doctors and healthcare providers. Reporting by KLCC, an NPR affiliate, highlights the work of CAS political scientist Neil O'Brian.

ECONOMICS - Researchers at the University of Oregon are collaborating with economists from Reed College and the private sector to develop a report that shows Oregonians the cost of climate change to households and government agencies. The team has been writing reports that examine the costs increased wildfires could have on households, the looming threat of flooding in Oregon and policy recommendations for how the state could adapt to climate change.

ECONOMICS - How much do Americans value clean water versus affordable meat? These are the types of tradeoffs Emmett Reynier had to weigh while participating in a research fellowship with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Reynier graduated with a PhD in economics in winter 2025 and is off to a postdoc job at Stanford University and then will be a faculty member at University of Georgia.

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES - If there’s one thing that separates today’s students from previous generations, it’s that climate change is no longer a specter looming in some distant future. It’s happening now. Despite their fear and frustration, however, many students also expressed hope—in large part because they see how they and others are making a difference.

SOCIOLOGY - Hannah Waight, an assistant professor of sociology in CAS, and her collaborators found that the use of state-planted propaganda is on the rise in China. And it’s not just a tool for spreading ideological content. It’s also used to control and constrain other kinds of information beyond political ideals, including natural disaster and public health reporting in China.