WFU in the news: Aug. 8-14

FEATURED NEWS

Where are the high-paying ‘green’ jobs? Often in the states fighting against them
By Rachel Koning Beals | MarketWatch
Research by economics professor Mark Curtis, and Ioana Marinescu, who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, indicates that Green jobs tend to be created in occupations that pay about 21% more than the average U.S. salary. “Overall, our results suggest that the renewable energy boom will create high-paying job opportunities, especially for low-skilled workers and workers who live in areas with a high share of employment in the oil and gas industry.” – 8/09/2022

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL

The path from college to career
By Karin Fischer | The Chronicle of Higher Education
When students come to college, they are thinking mostly about what they are going to get out of it – a job. Landing a good job is the single most important reason students give for going to college. Some colleges, including Wake Forest, have incorporated plans for curricular and co-curricular career education into their strategic plans. Andy Chan’s role as vice president for innovation and career development is part of the presidential cabinet. Cabinet-level positions like Chan’s aren’t the norm. – 8/10/2022

The Inflation Reduction Act Is a huge deal for the climate
By Paul Krugman – Opinion | The New York Times
The Inflation Reduction Act isn’t enough to avert climate disaster, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Furthermore, it’s a strategy that seems likely to pay political dividends in the future. One new study, by Wake Forest economics professor E. Mark Curtis and Ioana Marinescu, finds that “the growth of renewable energy leads to the creation of relatively high paying jobs, which are more often than not located in areas that stand to lose from a decline in fossil fuel extraction jobs.” – 8/08/2022

Already-strained EPA workforce would be tested by climate bill
By Mark Labbe | Bloomberg Law: Environment
The expected passage of the Inflation Reduction Act is going to strain an EPA workforce that’s already under pressure to carry out the mandates in last November’s infrastructure bill. The additional workload raises questions about the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to cope without quickly bringing on many more employees, according to Stan Meiburg, a former EPA acting deputy administrator. – 8/08/2022

Bullied abroad: How foreign researchers can fight back
By Nic Fleming | Nature
“International graduate students and postdocs are more vulnerable to bullying because the power differential with their principal investigator (PI) is greater,” said Sherry Moss, an organizational-studies researcher at Wake Forest. “They are often at the mercy of their PI due to reliance on a visa and a paid lab position, both of which could be taken away at short notice. Cultural and language issues exacerbate their risks of mistreatment.” – 8/10/2022

REGIONAL & TRADE

Biden faces time crunch to fill EPA leadership team
By Kevin Bogardus, Kelsey Brugger | E&E News
“You just can’t guarantee the future,” Stan Meiburg, formerly acting deputy administrator for the Obama EPA and now the executive director of the Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Wake Forest, said. “For good government’s sake, these nominees should be acted upon.” – 8/11/2022

Rising demand for business analytics education programs
TechTarget
The profusion of graduates with business analytics degrees could have a substantial effect on smaller organizations looking for analytics expertise, said Jeff Camm, associate dean of business analytics at the School of Business. “There’s so much opportunity in even understanding what data those companies need to start collecting so they can start making better business decisions,” he said.8/08/2022

LOCAL

Reynolda official appointed to national board by President Joe Biden
By Fran Daniel | Winston-Salem Journal
President Joe Biden has appointed Allison Perkins, executive director of Reynolda House and Wake Forest University associate provost for Reynolda House and Reynolda Gardens, to the National Museum and Library Services Board. Perkins is one of 11 people named to the national board. – 8/12/2022

The news was also shared by the Triad Business Journal and WFMY.

Fast-growing green jobs pay more, Wake Forest economist says
By Paul Garber | WFDD-FM (Winston-Salem, NC)
“Renewable energy jobs tend to be disproportionately located in regions of the country that have high numbers of fossil fuel jobs,” said economics professor Mark Curtis. “This suggests that as we transition away from fossil fuel jobs and towards renewable jobs, that there’s the potential for workers to transition from the fossil fuel industry to renewable jobs, and that the communities that rely on fossil fuel for a large chunk of their economy might be able to transition…to a renewable economy.” – 8/11/2022

Changing times, changing churches
Winston-Salem Journal
Church membership has dropped from hundreds in the 1950s and ’60s — including Wake Forest students, faculty and staff — to a few dozen today, not enough to keep paying the rent. Between now and the time the church folds, it will meet in the smaller Davis Chapel rather than Wait Chapel. – 8/10/2022

WAKE FOREST NEWS

Paying for exercise coaching now keeps older adults out of hospital
By Alicia Roberts and Cheryl Walker | Wake Forest News
When it comes to helping older adults maintain mobility, research based on Wake Forest University’s standard-setting LIFE study has found that a simple, relatively inexpensive exercise and education program pays for itself by preventing major mobility problems and reducing the need for health care services. – 8/11/2022

A cloudy forecast for political futures markets
By Kim McGrath | Wake Forest News
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) told PredictIt, one of the most widely followed political forecasting markets, that it would have to shut down. The move upended the political gambling industry. In this Q&A, economics professor Koleman Strumpf explains political futures and why closing PredictIt may be problematic. – 8/12/2022