Bradley Herring is inquisitive when it comes to understanding human behavior. While some may think this would have led him to a career in psychology, sociology, or anthropology, Herring’s path instead directed him to economics, due in part to his love of math.

The 2020 New Hampshire Civic Health Index published earlier this year by the Carsey School of Public Policy highlights civic areas where the state is excelling and where it's struggling. The Concord Monitor recently released an article that offers a rundown on the areas outlined within the Index and quoted NH Listens Director Michele Holt-Shannon regarding these issues and their possible solutions.

Data breaches continue to surge worldwide, exposing customer data and individuals’ social security and bank account numbers.Not only do they pose a major privacy concern, but the average cost of a data breach in 2020 was $3.86 million, according to the Ponemon Institute.

Prior to COVID-19, New Hampshire's childcare system struggled, offering coverage for only 60 percent of what was needed. Now, the pandemic has worsened circumstances and forced facilities to close or cut back. The Sentinel Source reported that experts believe that a federal plan making its way through Congress may help and researchers from the Carsey School and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston agree that the plan may help reduce family poverty, create high quality childcare, and mitigate the workforce shortage. 

Artificial intelligence (AI), now found in everyday products such as smart watches and cloud-based virtual assistants like Alexa and Siri, continues to transform the economy and our daily life. While advances in computer processing, algorithms, and access to technology have all allowed AI to disrupt a variety of industries, few have looked at the ethical implications of this recent transformation.

Kalyn Ryll has been named the new director of military & veteran services at UNH.

For Assistant Professor of Finance ZhaoZhao He, earning Paul College's Outstanding Researcher of the Year Award in 2020 was all about hard work. “I didn’t have much of a social life,” she jokes. But after seeing her paper in a renowned research journal and earning this prestigious award just six years after earning her Ph.D., she knows it was worth it.

A UNH program that helps New Hampshire small businesses grow by accessing federal grant funding has notched its first major success. Portsmouth-based Nearview, a participant in UNH’s FOSTER program, has received $150,000 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop an artificial intelligence model for its aerial drone environmental services.

University of New Hampshire scientists have received three grants totaling $1 million that will support research addressing urgent questions in soil sustainability and, ultimately, resilient food production in New Hampshire and beyond. The projects range from using state-of-the-art instrumentation to determine components that help build soil organic matter, to increasing soil microbes' ability to increase the efficiency of nitrogen fertilizer, to understanding how plants extracts beneficial nutrients from soil organic matter. 
 

UNH researchers sample wastewater from treatment facilities around Great Bay to understand how contaminants flow into our environment and ultimately protect our drinking water.