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Fort Stewart, Georgia Southern University, sign agreement to offer graduate courses on base

Representatives from Georgia Southern University and Fort Stewart signed an official memorandum of understanding Monday morning that clears the way for Georgia Southern to offer a slate of in-demand graduate courses this fall on base. Col. Manuel F. Ramirez, garrison commander at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, and Kyle Marrero, president of Georgia Southern University, signed the agreement in front of officials from both organizations and the University’s live bald eagle mascot, Freedom, at Fort Stewart’s SFC Paul R. Smith Army Education Center. With the agreement, Georgia Southern will offer the following degree programs at the Fort Stewart education center: Master of Business Administration Master of Health Administration Master of Science in Information Technology Master of Arts in Professional Communication and Leadership Professional Communication and Leadership – Graduate Certificate Cybercrime – Graduate Certificate “This is truly a collaboration that will provide incredible opportunities and possibilities for our soldiers and our family members here on the installation,” Ramirez said. “Here at Fort Stewart, we’ve always believed in investing in our most precious asset, which is our people. And today, this partnership is a shining testament to that belief. By adding Georgia Southern to our stable of schools here at the Education Center, we’re opening doors to advanced education, professional development, and then a brighter future for all of our soldiers and their family members and all those people who call Fort Stewart home.” This partnership allows soldiers and their families to advance their career prospects by equipping them with the knowledge and skills and preparing them for increased responsibility in the Army and afterward, he said. Marrero said the courses that will be offered are being configured to allow Soldiers and their families to pursue higher education without disrupting their duties or relocating, allowing them to strike a healthier work-life balance while investing in their personal growth. Marrero thanked the teams behind the agreement and noted that the courses will be flexible and compressed to meet the unique needs of military-connected students. Marrero said this partnership between Fort Stewart and Georgia Southern University creates valuable educational opportunities for soldiers and their families by offering accessible and high-quality master’s degree programs on-site. It’s also the latest example of the University’s commitment to the military, which has led to Georgia Southern being named a “Military-Friendly” school for six years in a row and a “Gold School” for 2023-2024 by Viqtory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM Jobs and Military Spouse magazines. “We have had a rich history of partnerships here,” Marrero said. “For us, this is a beginning and a continuation of the belief in the transformational power of education. We are proud and excited to be your partner. Thank you so much for this opportunity.” To learn more about the courses being offered at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield, visit think link below: If you are interested in knowing more about this partnership or would like to speak with Kyle Marrero, president of Georgia Southern University, simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

Georgia Southern University faculty receive $1.1 million from FEMA to help firefighters prevent injuries

Bridget Melton, Ed.D., professor in the Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology at Georgia Southern University, is part of a team awarded $1.1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist with a study aimed to promote wellness in firefighters and first responders. Melton is collaborating with researchers at the University of Kentucky as part of a three-year study that builds on a decade of foundational work by Melton and the Tactical Athlete Initiative team in the Waters College of Health Professions, College of Education and the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health. The grant will help the researchers assist firefighters with injury mitigation, better work outcomes and reduction in financial burdens. “Our tactical research team has collaborated with our local fire department, Statesboro Fire Department, to create an industry-leading integrated health approach to firefighter wellness,” stated Melton. “In this model, the firefighter’s health and wellness is prioritized in a cost-effective approach.” The integrative approach brings the best human performance practices to first responders, infusing strength and conditioning coaches, athletic trainers, nutrition specialists and mental skill experts. A handful of agencies nationwide are beginning to embrace this integrated approach. Even with the model’s success, there is still limited research on benefits to the firefighter, health care costs and the organization with this new model, Melton noted. “The goal of the FEMA study is to provide agencies and government officials with evidence supporting the model,” she said. “We want to be able to demonstrate to these individuals that their return on investment will be worth it, as firefighters using the model will sustain fewer injuries; therefore, the agency’s financial burden will be reduced.” Looking to know more - we can help. To connect with Bridget Melton from Department of Health Sciences and Kinesiology at Georgia Southern  - simply contact Georgia Southern's Director of Communications Jennifer Wise at jwise@georgiasouthern.edu to arrange an interview today.

Is dark chocolate really the healthier choice? New study reveals concerns

For those who love chocolate, dark chocolate is often seen as the "better" or "healthier" option. But is it really? This past December, Consumer Reports analyzed 28 dark chocolate bars from a variety of brands and found that 23 of them contained concerning levels of lead, cadmium or both. Melissa Melough, an assistant professor of behavioral health and nutrition at the University of Delaware, recently told The New York Times: “If you’re a regular consumer of these dark chocolates, I would be concerned." This concern is especially heightened if one is pregnant, breastfeeding or have a child who enjoys dark chocolate.  For more on why dark chocolate may be concerning, reach out to Melough by clicking on her profile. 

Sixers' summer soap opera: What the Harden-Morey rift can teach us about organizational dynamics

Did star point guard James Harden quit on the Philadelphia 76ers? Or did general manager Daryl Morey break his promise that a large contract would be coming his way after the former MVP took a pay cut last season? As is almost always the case, the answer sits somewhere in the middle, and that's a complicated place for it to be. But Kyle Emich, professor of management at the University of Delaware, said there are lessons in the latest Sixers' offseason debacle that can be applied to teams and culture in the workplace: When you are part of an organization, you need to feel what's called "task significance" to be motivated to do your job. This means that you need to feel that your job has a positive impact on the organization or broader society. The problems between Harden and Morey indicate that, although playing for the fans may give him some motivation, he no longer believes that the organization is a positive entity. This will greatly decrease his motivation, which influences practice and on-the-court performance (assuming he goes back on his threat to return). There is an even larger potential influence on things he is not paid for, but that are very important for the 76ers (such as informal mentoring of players like rising star Tyrese Maxey; acting as a role model (e.g., arriving early/leaving late), giving the organization positive press and his presence and demeanor at training camp (which he says he won't attend). Whether or not people realize it, organizations are emotional environments. Different emotions do different things and this sense of betrayal and anger is likely to make Harden actively move against the Sixers. This is obviously not ideal. Because Harden is a role model, we need to also be aware of emotional contagion. It is possible teammates will look at the front office with increased scrutiny, which will harm any new players brought in or anyone affected by front office moves. Emich is available for interviews, and can be contacted directly by clicking on his profile.

ChristianaCare Chief Information Security Officer Anahi Santiago Receives Prestigious Routhy Award

ChristianaCare Chief Information Security Officer Anahi Santiago, EMBA, CISM, has been recognized with the Routhy Award, which honors one cybersecurity professional each year who delivers a profound impact within health care and the information security profession. Health-ISAC awards the Routhy. The organization is a global, member-driven non-profit that offers health care stakeholders a trusted community and forum for coordinating, collaborating and sharing vital physical and cyber threat intelligence and best practices with each other. “Anahi is a one-of-a-kind CISO,” said Randy Gaboriault, MS, MBA, chief digital and information officer and senior vice president at ChristianaCare. “Deeply committed to information security, Anahi shares her wide breadth of experience and knowledge with peers throughout the country as a gifted speaker, mentor and content expert. She is expert in the field of cybersecurity. “Through her deep commitment to patient safety and information security she has led the implementation of some of the most progressive cybersecurity safeguards within ChristianaCare. This is a well deserved recognition and we are thrilled to see Anahi receive this prestigious award.” Santiago is recognized as one of the nation’s foremost cybersecurity experts. With over 20 years in Information Technology, Santiago has extensive experience in areas of cybersecurity, privacy, regulatory compliance, program management and infrastructure services. “We are so pleased to have the opportunity to recognize Anahi for her years of leadership and selfless contributions to the community of Health-ISAC, affiliated associations, and the health care sector,” said Denise Anderson, Health-ISAC president and CEO. “She has been instrumental in sharing with her peers, participating in initiatives, and mentoring others in the sector. She is absolutely deserving of the Routhy Award. Congratulations, Anahi, and thank you!” Santiago has overall responsibility for the organization’s information security program and strategic direction. She leads a team of high performing information security professionals in supporting ChristianaCare’s strategic initiatives. Santiago does this by partnering with the business leaders and managing risks, implementing policies and controls, and generating overall awareness. “For years, I’ve watched people that I admire receive this award,” Anahi Santiago said. “I want to credit this amazing Health-ISAC organization for advancing cybersecurity in health care, protecting patients and bringing cybersecurity professionals together to share, innovate and protect.”

Bioenergy experts welcome commitment to sustainability in UK’s new Biomass Strategy

New strategy outlines role of biomass in UK’s transition to net zero, with sustainability as major theme Supergen Bioenergy Hub experts worked with government departments to provide scientific evidence and insight They welcome the holistic view of sustainability in the Biomass Strategy and call for action to deliver its ambitions. A group of bioenergy experts have welcomed the Government’s new UK Biomass Strategy, but say urgent action is now vital to shape its ambitions into deliverable policies. Researchers at the Supergen Bioenergy Hub - led by Aston University - worked closely with government departments to provide scientific evidence to inform the strategy, which outlines the role biomass will play in supporting the UK’s transition to net zero and how this will be achieved. Professor Patricia Thornley, who leads the Hub, says: “This is a comprehensive and considered biomass strategy that, rightly, places sustainability at the heart of UK bioenergy development. The challenge is now to produce actions that can deliver the sustainable system of biomass required to achieve net zero.” Sustainability is a major theme within the new strategy. It includes a review of how existing sustainability policies could be improved, as well as a commitment to developing a cross-sectoral sustainability framework (subject to consultation) to ensure sustainability across the many different applications of biomass. This follows previous work led by Dr Mirjam Rӧder, Systems Topic Group Lead in the Supergen Bioenergy Hub, calling for harmonised sustainability standards across different biomass applications, which is referenced in the strategy. Dr Rӧder says: “We need rigorous approaches to sustainability governance that go beyond emissions. Considering wider environmental, social and economic trade-offs is essential for true sustainability and building trust in bioenergy projects.” The strategy considers the amount of biomass resource that might be available to the UK in the future, highlighting the importance of both imported and domestically produced biomass resources. Professor Thornley comments: “It is important that the strategy recognises the potential of imported as well as indigenous biomass in achieving global greenhouse gas reductions. Sustainable systems should grow, convert and use biomass in the locations where they can deliver most impact, ensuring we take account of all supply chain emissions. We shouldn’t shy away from imports where the source is sustainable and the overall system makes environmental, economic and social sense.” The strategy also considers how biomass should be prioritised across a variety of applications to best support the transition to net zero. Biomass applications ranging from transport fuels and hydrogen to domestic and industrial heating are recognised as important, but in the medium to long term the focus is on integration of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS). BECCS is an emerging technology where the CO2 that may be released during the production and use of electricity, fuels or products derived from biomass is captured and stored, potentially resulting in negative emissions. Professor Thornley comments: “The priority use framework outlined in the Biomass Strategy makes eminent sense. The UK (and the global energy system) needs carbon dioxide removals to deliver net zero. BECCS has an absolutely key role to play, as reflected in the strategy. Again, while this is encouraging to see, we must not underestimate the challenges of moving towards such a radically different system at scale.” “Relying on future BECCS deployment alone to counterbalance the current excess of greenhouse gas emissions would not enable the full potential and benefits of BECCS. BECCS should be deployed alongside measures to transition away from the use of fossil fuels, not instead of them,” adds Dr Joanna Sparks, Biomass Policy Fellow at the Supergen Bioenergy Hub, who engaged closely with government departments as they developed the strategy. Dr Sparks led an extensive policy engagement and knowledge transfer process to ensure that those developing the strategy had full access to the breadth and depth of UK scientific and engineering academic expertise, ensuring a robust, independent scientific base. Professor Thornley believes continued engagement between policymakers, academics and the wider sector is vital in achieving the next steps in the delivery of the Government’s strategy. She says: “The key to successful long-term results is a close partnership between academia, industry and policy stakeholders so that we can anticipate problems and plan the pathways to success.”

Aston University crisis management expert aids disaster relief whilst on holiday

Dr Komal Aryal has been supporting mountain tribal communities in Taiwan after a typhoon hit the country, causing US$15m of damage He has been working with various groups to aid civil disaster relief Typhoon Khanun caused debris flows, floods and landslides that blocked transport links affecting thousands of farmers and hundreds of tourists. Aston University crisis management expert Dr Komal Aryal has been helping a humanitarian effort in Asia following a typhoon. Dr Aryal was touching down in Taiwan as part of his holiday when heavy rain, in the wake of Typhoon Khanun, hit the mountainous areas of the country on Saturday 5 August 2023. The typhoon caused debris flows, floods and landslides that blocked transport links affecting over 22,000 mountain farmers and left hundreds of tourists stranded. It’s estimated around US$15m worth of damage has been done following the disaster. Dr Aryal has been working with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT) to manage a local humanitarian support camp based at the Wugong Village Puli Township and aid Taiwan's civil disaster relief. He called on his expertise in crisis and disaster management to begin coordinating the humanitarian response to the typhoon, before meeting with the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, through the PCT at the local humanitarian response site. He has also helped in the clean-up at houses that have been affected by the typhoon-induced debris flow. Dr Aryal said: “As I was landing in Taiwan on Saturday night, a typhoon hit the country. “The initial disaster incident report came to Taipei from a remote mountain location and my colleagues from PCT informed me about it, so I offered my help for the initial local humanitarian repose coordination and spontaneous volunteers management. “Since then, I have helped to provided technical assistance to set up a local crisis/disaster/humanitarian coordination office and humanitarian logistic management system for immediate crisis response. “It has provided me a great opportunity to transfer Aston University’s crisis and disaster management knowledge to real crisis and disaster situation to help mountain tribe communities in Taiwan.” Dr Aryal has now returned to Taipei after handing over all the technical coordination to local experts.

Study reveals how stereotypes undermine diversity efforts in the workplace

Although they were released well before the "Barbie" movie crushed it at the box office, recent findings by a group of University of Delaware researchers could have been used as fodder for a scene in the film. Kyle Emich, a professor of management at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, along with former UD colleagues Rachel Amey and Chad Forbes, wanted to know why women’s knowledge often gets ignored in the workplace, and how to improve that situation. Drawing on both a problem-solving group exercise and measurements of brain activity, their findings, published by the journal Small Group Research, illustrate ways stereotypes and attitudes can stifle the benefits of diversity efforts. At the same time, the study also offers hope for solutions. Key takeaways: While women are often urged to fight for status, the onus should actually be placed on high-status men to respect and accept women’s expertise. - Teams in the group exercise made up of two men and one woman were less effective. Women often struggled to speak up when they were in the minority. Also, the more minority women on these teams shared key information, the less respect they got from their team. The findings, Emich and his team said, confirm the idea that a lack of respect for minorities undermines the benefit of diversity. They also argue that while the burden is often put on women to make sure they have a voice, men in power should also bear this responsibility. Emich, who studies group dynamics and performance in work settings and examines how emotions influence cognitive processing, is available for interviews. Click on his profile below to set one up.

ChristianaCare expands Health Literacy Partnership through Support from Highmark Health

ChristianaCare has received an $80,000 grant from Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Delaware to support the Health Literacy Council of Delaware. Funded through Highmark’s BluePrints for the Community grant program, the money will be used to fund education and awareness for clinicians and other caregivers on best practices in making health care information much easier for patients to understand. “Health literacy is essential to good health,” said Greg O’Neill, MSN, APRN, AGCNS-BC, director of Patient & Family Health Education at ChristianaCare. “Personal health literacy is the degree to which individuals are able to find, understand and use information and services to inform their health-related decisions and actions. At ChristianaCare we are committed to communicating with our patients in ways that enable them to understand so that they can make informed decisions and achieve their best health. “We are deeply grateful that Highmark Health Options shares our commitment to health literacy. Their generous grant will enable us to support our caregivers in their efforts to deliver clear, consistent communication to every patient in every interaction, improving their lives.” In addition to work within health care in Delaware through the Health Literacy Council, the grant also will be used by ChristianaCare to provide education in the community to support increased health literacy and enable people to make informed, healthy choices. Housed by the Delaware Community Foundation, Highmark’s BluePrints for the Community has contributed over $35 million to the community since its inception in 2007. It was established to increase access to care and reduce health care disparities in Delaware. In addition to ChristianaCare, the Health Literacy Council of Delaware is supported by the Delaware Division of Public Health and the University of Delaware’s Partnership for Healthy Communities. “Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware and Highmark Health Options are actively engaged with statewide literacy improvement efforts and are pleased to support the Health Literacy Council of Delaware,” said Nick Moriello, president of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware. “By ensuring Delawareans have the tools and resources they need to understand their health information, while simultaneously making inclusive accommodations as health care organizations, we can promote better health decisions and ultimately improve health outcomes.”

Is AI Censoring Us?

Artificial intelligence has been hogging headlines around the world in recent months. In late March 2023, an unprecedented coalition of tech CEOs signed an open letter calling for a moratorium on AI training. The race to empower powerful artificial minds should be paused, argued signatories (including Elon Musk) to give humanity time to review and reassess the potential risks of developing “human-competitive intelligence”–intelligence that “no one–not even their creators–can understand, predict, or reliably control.” Concerns about the unchecked rise of AI are not new, and global media is increasingly sounding the alarm, citing concerns that range from invasion of privacy to an existential threat to human existence. Weighing in on this with compelling new evidence around the “unintended consequences” of AI is research by Goizueta’s Ramnath Chellappa and Information Systems PhD candidate, Jonathan Gomez Martinez. Uncovering the Threat Their paper, Content Moderation and AI: Impact on Minority Communities, takes a hard look at how the use of AI in social media could disadvantage LGBTQ+ users. And what they find is worrying. Chellappa, who is Goizueta Foundation Term Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management, explains that he and Gomez Martinez homed in on Twitter to explore how unchecked artificial language moderation might (mistakenly) censor the use of “otherwise toxic” language by failing to understand the context or nuanced use of the LGBTQ+ lexicon. Examples of this include “reclaimed language”—verbiage that would be a slur in other contexts—but is reclaimed and prosocial if used by the originally targeted community. Their paper, Content Moderation and AI: Impact on Minority Communities, takes a hard look at how the use of AI in social media could disadvantage LGBTQ+ users. And what they find is worrying. Chellappa, who is Goizueta Foundation Term Professor of Information Systems & Operations Management, explains that he and Gomez Martinez homed in on Twitter to explore how unchecked artificial language moderation might (mistakenly) censor the use of “otherwise toxic” language by failing to understand the context or nuanced use of the LGBTQ+ lexicon. Examples of this include “reclaimed language”—verbiage that would be a slur in other contexts—but is reclaimed and prosocial if used by the originally targeted community. “This is a community that has ‘reclaimed’ certain words and expressions that might be considered offensive in other contexts. Terms like ‘queer’ are used within the community both in jest and as a marker of identity and belonging. But if used by those outside the community, this kind of language could be deemed inflammatory or offensive.” Gomez Martinez adds: “We wanted to measure the extent to which AI’s lack of a nuanced understanding of what is ‘acceptable’ affects minority users’ online interactions. As humans, we understand that marginalized communities have long used ‘reclaimed words’ both in jest and as a kind of rallying cry. Our intuition was that the machine simply wouldn’t understand this without context—context that is more immediately apparent to people.” Determining the Impact of AI-Based Moderation To test this, he and Chellappa looked at data from social media behemoth, Twitter. During the pandemic in 2020, the platform made a significant shift to AI-based content moderation to accommodate stay-at-home measures. Data from Twitter’s proprietary Academic Research API afforded Gomez Martinez and Chellappa access to a complete listing of historical tweets and replies before, during and after this period. Together they analyzed a total of 3.8 million interactions (1.8 million tweets and 2.0 million replies) from a panel of 2,751 users, of which 1,224 self-identified as LGBTQ+ in their Twitter bios. Their study ran over four months, from January to May 2020, before, during and after the switch to machine-based moderation. Using the same tools that Twitter moderators deploy to moderate interactions, Gomez Martinez and Chellappa were able to measure any increase or decrease in pro-social, in-group teasing and toxic language among LGBTQ+ users: terms such as “bitch” or “queer,” which research shows to be a form of ritualized insults—dubbed “reading” by the community—which can appear inappropriate or incoherent to outsiders, says Chellappa. “Analyzing the language, we find a notable reduction in the use of terms that could be considered toxic. When the AI moderation is in effect, you see these users’ language become more vanilla,” he adds. Quantifiably so, in fact. Chellappa and Martinez find a 27 percent reduction in the use of reclaimed language among LGBTQ+ users. And while that doesn’t sound like much, it’s significant for the community, says Gomez Martinez. Using in-language and reading each other is one way for this marginalized group to create a sense of community and social status. Not just that, we know from research that LGBTQ+ people use slurs and insults as a way of preparing themselves emotionally and psychologically for hostile interaction with heterosexual individuals. This kind of teasing and playing helps build resilience, so any reduction in it is significant.” Jonathan Gomez Martinez Good Intentions May Breed Unexpected Consequences So what does this mean for social media, for the LGBTQ+ community or any marginalized group for that matter, that might be prone to automated censorship? And how does any of this play out in the context of broader concerns around AI? For Chellappa and Gomez Martinez, there is a major hazard in granting technology any degree of control over how human beings interact. And it’s rooted in the mismatch between good intentions and unexpected consequences. Their paper, one of the first to dig into the impact of AI on actual business and society, lays bare some of the real-world impact AI has already had on marginalized people. While this study looks at the LGBTQ+ community, it could equally apply to any group that is prone to bias or exclusion—racial minorities or any other underrepresented demographic. “Wherever you have user-generated content, you are likely to find communities with their own, unique way of interacting. We looked at LGBTQ+ Twitter users, but you could also look at the African American community, for instance.” Ramnath K. Chellapa At a time when social media platforms have become almost newslike in their influence, this is a concern. On the one hand, censoring certain demographics might earn Twitter et al an unwanted reputation for being anti-LGBTQ+ or racist, he adds. But there are even bigger stakes here than bad publicity. “Twitter has long aspired to be a kind of global town square,” says Gomez Martinez. “But you end up pretty far from that scenario if only some voices are truly heard, or if you start reinforcing biases because you are using a time-saving technology that is not equipped yet to understand the complexity and nuance of human interaction.” AI isn’t there yet, say Chellappa and Gomez Martinez. And they caution against using AI indiscriminately to expedite or streamline processes that impact human communication and interchange. If we don’t keep track of it, their research shows that AI has the potential to start dictating and moving people into normative behavior—effectively homogenizing us. And that’s a problem. Looking to know more? Ramnath Chellappa is available to speak with media. Simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.