The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy released the 2022 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects in July, which ranked several University of Minnesota programs in the top 100 worldwide including library and information science, biotechnology, psychology and mechanical engineering.

The ShanghaiRanking Consultancy is an independent organization that provides information about higher education research and consultation by publishing several sets of rankings every year. The Global Ranking of Academic Subjects is calculated based on the performance of a subject’s research output and influence, research quality, international collaboration and academic awards.

The University’s Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (EEB) and management department were in the top 12; EEB was ranked second in the world and management ranked eleventh.

Mike Travisano, EEB department head, said he wasn’t surprised by the rankings but credited the work of researchers and was happy the department was being recognized.

“We don’t do the science … for the rankings. We do the science and the rankings follow,” Travisano said.

Travisano said he believes the program’s future-forward attitude makes it stand out from other EEB programs across the world. Much of the program’s research is based on not just looking at what happened in the past, but to also understand how the past happened to shape the future, he said.

For example, making predictions about climate change starts by understanding how past changes occur to make a prediction about the future, Travisano said. In terms of biodiversity, he said making biodiversity predictions also starts by understanding how it will change based on interactions with the environment.

The high ranking would increase the program’s recognition across the University and worldwide, which would allow the program to receive more resources to continue conducting research, according to Travisano. He said he also hopes the high ranking will provide the opportunity to bring in more students to the program.

“What we’ve tried to do is support our junior researchers when they first get here so that they are successful in launching their careers,” Travisano said.

While EEB’s individual research pursuits are credited for their high ranking, Alok Gupta, the senior associate dean of faculty research and administration at the Carlson School of Management, said he believes the productivity of Carlson management’s faculty is what contributed to the department’s ranking.

Gupta said the department has very high standards for research productivity for its faculty, and the school supports them by providing essential resources such as grants and access to databases.

Gupta credited the Twin Cities metro area as the main factor that makes the University’s management program different from others around the world. He said being close to about 17 Fortune 500 companies and several medium-sized companies allows the program to gain close access to businesses, which many state universities do not have access to due to their location.
“We have very close relationships with most of these businesses, and we are able to attract them to come to our classes and share their experience with our students and occasionally teach some classes,” Gupta said.

Gupta said he hopes the ranking will influence people to apply to the program and increase the diversity of applicants coming in from two-year programs.

“We have a very high emphasis on quality of teaching and quality of education for students,” he said.

Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel Croson said the rankings were accurate given the University’s reputation as a research institution. She credited the Ph.D. students, faculty and professional research staff for the overall high ratings across the ranked programs.

“Rankings reflect what you’ve done, but they also point to opportunities for continued investment and growth,” Croson said.

She said the rankings will help the administration determine what the University’s strengths and weaknesses are and can help create a better understanding of what investments must be made to improve the overall quality of research.

The rankings serve as a reminder to Minnesota’s leaders and the general public of the research that is continuously being done at the University, interim Vice President for Research at the University Policy Library Frances Lawrenz said.

“Whether it’s the creation of apples that revitalized our fruit production, pediatric heart valves that grow with patients or the creation of more than 200 startup companies based on University technologies, the U’s standing as a research university is important to our state and our country,” Lawrenz said in an email to The Minnesota Daily.

Shashank Priya will assume the role of vice president for research at the University beginning Sept. 30. Lawrenz said he hopes Priya will continue to provide opportunities for the University to further grow and develop his research.

“[Priya] will be charged with helping to continue to refine the University’s research strategies in order to grow the University’s research footprint and to build upon the many existing strengths apparent in this latest Shanghai/ARWU report,” Lawrenz said.

Faculty researchers from the University of Minnesota are analyzing information about recent climate events from across the world and informing communities about their impacts through initiatives related to climate change and a weather station on campus.

Recently there have been record heat waves in the Pacific Northwest and deadly floods in Kentucky. Reservoirs in the western U.S. are at low level and the Twin Cities area is experiencing severe drought conditions. All of these events are part of what the United Nations called a “climate crisis”.

The University’s Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) is gathering information about changing climate patterns across the Midwest to inform communities about potential climate impacts. Local and University leaders, state and federal governments as well as private partners, formed MCAP in 2008 to develop solutions for adapting to climate change.

MCAP tries to better prepare communities to combat the consequences of climate change, such as increases in diseases and heat-related deaths, by analyzing events happening in other parts of the country and identifying risks caused by climate change.

“We expect many of these events to worsen and become longer in duration and more intense,” Heidi Roop, the director of MCAP and an assistant professor of climate science, said.

Roop said the Midwest region is expected to experience more premature deaths caused by air quality and heat-related illnesses, along with more floods, rain and damage to infrastructure.

“These patterns of events are deeply concerning because they have a human and ecosystem toll, and they impact many of the things that we, as a global society, rely on,” Roop said.

Ecosystems that the changing climate could impact include a prolonged growing season for farmers, fewer days with extreme cold weather and an increase in pests, Roop said.

In addition to MCAP, researchers from across the University have led various initiatives with the intent of analyzing climate patterns, including the College of Education and Human Development’s Center for Climate Literacy and The Swain Climate Policy Series at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

“We are really working at the interface of research and community response and working with a lot of communities, state agencies and tribal partners to prepare for or adapt to the changing climate,” Roop said.

There is also a research weather station located on the St. Paul campus which gathers data about weather conditions in the Twin Cities area. The National Weather Service (NWS) uses the data, which is available to the general public through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ website.

Assistant State Climatologist at the Minnesota State Climate Office Peter Boulay currently manages the weather station, where he measures soil and air temperatures, along with rain and snowfall rates.

Boulay is part of a large volunteer network where volunteers from across the country submit weather data to the NWS. A general interest in climate prompted him to start volunteering for the NWS and manage the weather station, which he has been doing for over 20 years.

Boulay said the station’s location on the St. Paul campus makes it easy for the public to access weather data about the Twin Cities without any human interference.

“It’s away from any paved areas, so it’s in the middle of a field. It’s a really good spot for climatological data, and it’s far from any buildings,” Boulay said.

Kenneth Blumenfeld, the senior climatologist at the Minnesota State Climate Office, said the landscape where the weather station is located is important for identifying temperature variations across the Twin Cities.

“This makes it a relatively cool spot within what’s known as an ‘urban heat island.’ Its temperatures are often lower than those at the Twin Cities airport and at some suburban locations,” Blumenfeld said.

Climatologists then use the data to predict future weather conditions, such as using snowfall rates to determine the possibility of spring flooding. Boulay said this data can benefit homeowners because they can use it to help care for their property, such as watering front yards or gardens.

The Department of Commerce recently honored Boulay for nearly 20 years of work at the station, and he said he sees value in taking observations and working with other volunteers to inform the public about what is happening in their communities.

“Everyday is a little bit different with the weather,” Boulay said. “There’s always something interesting going on.”

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The data that Boulay specifically measures can be accessed through the Minnesota DNR’s website.

The Seward Neighborhood Group, a local outreach organization that consists of volunteers from the University of Minnesota, is partnering with mosques in the area to increase the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccinations among underserved communities.

The group started doing community outreach following George Floyd’s death in 2020 and the uprisings that occurred near the Seward neighborhood. Leaders noticed the healthcare inequities facing Black communities, which weren’t able to access COVID-19 vaccines because of lack of community resources.

Besides vaccine outreach events, the group has launched other initiatives in Seward such as developing the Hub of Heaven community garden.

There is fear within the Seward community about getting the vaccine, according to Inari Mohammed, epidemiology doctoral student and volunteer with the Seward Neighborhood Group. Much of the fear surrounding the vaccination stems from misinformation spread on the Internet and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, along with general distrust towards health care experts caused by medical mistreatment of Black people, she said.

“There is fear of ‘what are they giving us?’ They are not sure if the people who are coming in to provide care are there with the right intention,” said Mohammed.

Mohammed said they do outreach to the Seward neighborhood because there is a high population of people from the Somali and Oromo communities. Most of the volunteers are from their respective community, which allows them to connect with residents about their concerns.

Mohammed said that some people in the community may not speak English as a first language or have access to transportation, so the group makes sure to provide vaccine information in their languages and provide transportation to their vaccination events.

The group’s events receive high turnout rates, which was encouraging to Mohammed because of what it meant for their vaccination rates.

“We were expecting maybe a couple dozen people, but we got around 70. We were not expecting that amount of interest, and what was great is that a lot of people were actually getting their first dose,” said Mohammed.

There are more vaccination events planned in the future, and Mohammed hopes they can continue to serve the community for a long time.

“I want to keep communities of color and marginalized communities from falling through the cracks,” Mohammed said.

The group frequently partners with mosques in the area, such as the Tawfiq Islamic Center, to host their vaccination events.

Apart from mosques, the group has also been in partnership with the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC) who helps administer the vaccine for their events.

Roli Dwivedi, the chief clinical officer and physician at CUHCC, said that approaching vaccine information in an equitable way is key to providing the right information to communities.

“It is our social responsibility that we provide authentic, clear and transparent information to our patients, especially patients of color,” said Dwivedi.

Dwivedi also said that providing culturally-specific information is an approach that the group does to provide information including brochures in their respective languages and going out into the community to encourage more vaccinations.

Opeyemi Adesida, the mobile health director for CUHCC, said having the vaccination events at local mosques has brought more encouragement within the community to get vaccinated. One instance Adesida mentioned was when 17 imams (leaders of mosques) from all across Minnesota got vaccinated at one of their events, which was televised for the community.

“It was encouraging for people to see that their religious leaders were getting vaccinated,” Adesida said.

Tajudin Aliy, a community member who attended a vaccination event on Jan. 15 at Tawfiq Islamic Center, said having someone of the same background is important to making major decisions.

“That decision [to attend the vaccination event] took me a while, but I decided to attend because I felt really comfortable seeing familiar faces that did it,” said Aliy.

Aliy attended the event with friends and other members of the Seward community and said that the biggest thing the Seward Community Group did at the event was having people from his community that would help him get vaccinated.

“It was important for me to see people who looked like me to help me make those decisions and feel like I’m not alone,” said Aliy. “It’s a warm environment filled with warm-hearted people who love what they do and want the best for you and your family.”

Gov. Tim Walz appointed Tadd Johnson to the University of Minnesota Board of Regents on Wednesday as former regent David McMillan’s replacement. Johnson is the first Native American member to serve on the board and is an enrolled member of the Bois Forte Band of Chippewa.

McMillan announced his resignation from the board on June 14, with his term expected to expire in June 2023.

McMillan represented the 8th Congressional District, which covers much of northeastern Minnesota including some tribal nations. However, a redrawing of district boundaries has led to the 8th Congressional District representing all tribal nations across the northern part of the state.

“I am proud to appoint Regent Tadd Johnson — the first Native person ever appointed to this board,” Walz said in a press release Wednesday from the governor’s office. “With a background in leadership, education and deep understanding of government on all levels, he brings a wealth of higher education expertise to this group.”

Johnson is a graduate from the University’s Law School and recently retired from the University system where he pursued many roles throughout his time. His most recent position was as the University’s first senior director of American Indian Tribal Nations Relations. He was also the director of graduate studies for the Department of American Indian Studies and a professor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth campus.

“I want to speak for the voices that are not heard often enough by the regents; the students, the educators, Native Americans, rural Minnesotans and the working class. That’s where I come from and that’s who I am,” Johnson said in the press release.

According to Dylan Young, the president of the Morris Campus Student Association and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the University has had strained relationships with tribal nations in the past but has taken some action to improve their relationship.

Some of the University’s actions to try to mend the relationship between tribal nations include the Native American Promise Tuition Program and the return of sacred objects in the University’s possession, Young said.

A boarding school for Native American children used to stand on the grounds of the University of Minnesota-Morris’ campus and banned these children from speaking their home language or practicing their cultures. After a Morris student’s research in 2018 led to the uncovering of death notices for children who died at the school and a federal investigation was launched into the U.S.’s once 350 boarding schools, the student group Circle of Nations Indigenous Association started a petition in July 2021 for Morris to search the school for the unmarked burial sites of the victims.

The petition states that Morris has a moral obligation to search the sites and “this is an essential action step towards fulfilling Morris’s policy of truth telling, understanding and healing in regards to our institution’s history as a former Indian boarding school.”

According to a June 29 update to the petition, Morris Chancellor Janet Schrunk Ericksen announced a non-invasive search of the unmarked gravesites would begin; Young said the search started last week.

Representatives from the Morris Campus Student Association drafted a letter on June 20 petitioning for Walz to appoint a tribal member from the 8th Congressional District to the University’s Board of Regents. Representatives from the Minnesota Student Association co-signed the petition.

The petition was written due to the lack of student involvement in the selection process of the new regent appointed and to work toward creating a more diverse board in the future.

Sara Davis, a student representative to the board from MSA, said Morris students have been advocating for this for a while, and ongoing collaboration between leaders had been focused on making sure that everyone’s voice is heard.

Davis said leaders requested the governor to consult with tribal leaders prior to a new appointment to ensure that the regent selection process went smoothly.

The discussions about appointing a Native American regent came as the University continues to improve relationships between tribal nations. Young said he hopes that by appointing a Native American regent, the board will prioritize the needs of Native American students and faculty.

“The seat represents those people, those people should have a say in who represents them,” Young said.

Due to tribal history and recent actions taken by the University, Young believes a Native American regent will change the makeup of the board, allowing for more diversity on the board.

“We’ve never had a better time to have Native American leadership in the Board of Regents,” Young said.

Clarification: A previous version of this article misstated who wrote the petition to Gov. Tim Walz. The Morris Campus Student Association wrote the petition and the Minnesota Student Association co-signed the petition. 

A research team led by the University of Minnesota recently launched a project that aims to study cloud vortices on Jupiter’s atmosphere. The team is relying on the general public to contribute information so more can be learned about the early days of the solar system.

The project, known as Jovian Vortex Hunter, is led by postdoctoral researchers from the University, NASA and Zooniverse. Zooniverse is a website that allows anyone to send data and observations using images from the Juno spacecraft camera to the researchers, who will use the data to learn more about Jupiter’s atmosphere.

This project comes from a recently renewed Zooniverse grant given to the University, which has been around for three years.

Citizen scientists are responsible for training computers to recognize certain features of clouds in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

“We are exploring different deep learning techniques to be used on the images of Jupiter with vortices to basically understand if the machine is able to identify different kinds of features automatically,” University researcher Kameswara Mantha said.

Having ordinary people helping to identify clouds opens up a new avenue for people to actively learn about and engage with projects related to planetary science, Ramanakumar Sankar, a postdoctoral researcher at the University and leader of Jovian Vortex Hunter, said.

“Promoting this kind of active learning in the public is really useful because it will encourage people to go into science to do research to learn these critical thinking habits,” Sankar said.

Sankar said the team is interested in studying Jupiter’s atmosphere because of what it can tell them about the origins of the solar system. Because of Jupiter’s size, its gravity enables it to preserve its original composition of gas and dust that has been around since the advent of the solar system.

“By learning about its composition, you will know exactly what happened when the solar system formed because you expect Jupiter to preserve that history within its atoms,” Sankar said.

The difference between citizen science-based projects and lab-based projects is that citizen scientists are given a problem that they have to solve, whereas researchers in lab based projects already know how to solve a problem and are experts on the issue, Sankar said.

Sankar said citizen science based projects remove biases about how to conduct research. Citizen scientists may not have a degree in a science related field or have experience in working with scientific research, so it creates the space to brainstorm new ideas about how to solve a problem, rather than having only one way of solving it.

“You’re breaking down those biases,” Sankar said. “You’re opening up science, you’re getting new ideas, you’re getting new ways of looking at the same thing.”

Shawn Brueshaber, a postdoctoral researcher at the NASA-owned Jet Propulsion Laboratory, said engaging with citizen scientists allows him to mentor people who want to participate in that kind of research but may not be officially tied to a research institution.

Citizen scientists help do the work faster than what is possible in a typical lab setting, Brueshaber said. Laboratory research requires a lot of data, and there are not enough people to help analyze the data, he said.

“The volunteers and the artificial intelligence are going to provide us with the statistics that ordinarily would take legions of people to just sit down and go through these [data sets],” Brueshaber said. “There’s not enough researchers; there’s not enough funding for professional planetary atmospheric scientists to do it all on their own.”

Citizen science projects have been around for a while but have recently surged in popularity. Brueshaber said he is amazed at the popularity of the Juno mission and said citizen science research would not have been possible without the Juno spacecraft camera.

The engagement between citizen scientists has the potential to drive more interest and funding for future spacecraft missions, which the United States leads the world in, Brueshaber said.

“I’m really excited about this project and what this can mean for the future of planetary exploration and science,” Brueshaber said.