The BCTR (and Urie!) in Human Ecology Magazine

The spring issue of Human Ecology Magazine features the BCTR prominently - including a cover story on Urie Bronfenbrenner, for whom the center is named. Also inside are: a story on BCTR director Karl Pillemer's new book, 30 Lessons for Loving (p.28); briefs on the Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life and the new Obesity Prevention Center in the Division of Nutritional Sciences with multiple BCTR ties (p. 10 and p. 11, respectively); a photo of John Eckenrode with Bronfenbrenner Lecturer Richard Lerner and one of Iscol Lecturer Maria Pacheco (p. 51).

As a child on walks with his father in the woods, they played a game, guessing why certain plants grew in certain places and not others - light, water, and soil determining which plants thrived where. These early hikes with his amateur botanist father were fundamental in forming Urie's perspective that human development must be viewed in a wider context of interacting influences to be understood. The HE Magazine cover article expands on Urie's forming his ecological systems theory of human development, his influence as a professor on today's top thinkers in the field, his passionate and open work ethic, and his strong conviction that research must engage with and affect policy and practice. BCTR director Karl Pillemer notes,

We have the good fortune of being named after an individual whose life and career epitomizes the work our center does. People working in agencies, health care settings, and social services help scientists set scholarly priorities, find the most interesting research questions, and help us get our research findings out to people who can actually use them. Urie modeled that.

Human Ecology Magazine - Spring 2015

Whitlock quoted in Maclean’s article on depression and suicide in college student populations

The September 10th issue of Maclean's Magazine (Canada) features a cover story on depression and suicide in college students. Janis Whitlock, Ph.D., director of the Cornell Research Program on Self-Injurious Behavior, is quoted twice in the article, which suggests that a variety of stresses are causing an increase in depression in college students.

The stress of it all is a huge burden to bear. In preliminary findings from an unpublished study involving several U.S. schools, Cornell psychologist Janis Whitlock found 7.5 per cent of students who started university with no history of mental illness developed some symptoms. About five per cent who did have a previous history of mental illness saw symptoms increase while at university. She says, “there’s probably never been a more complicated time to be growing up than right now.”

The full article can be read online here.

BCTR featured throughout Spring ’12 issue of Human Ecology Magazine

The cover story describes 4-H's recent move to the BCTR and 4-H's and Human Ecology's commitment to base 4-H programs on research.  In the article Stephen Hamilton describes this perspective,

The idea is to embed research in every facet of 4-H. The content young people learn at 4-H, whether about robotics or nutrition, should be rooted in sound science, an the entire system under which 4-H operates should be tested and improved to maximize positive impacts on youth.

The In Short section (pp. 2-3) includes items on

• the new book, Research for the Public Good co-edited by Elaine Wethington and Rachel Dunifon
• the 2012 Parenting in Context in-service conference

In the Afterword (p. 25) Jennifer Tiffany writes about the CCE Summer Internship Program.

The full magazine can be viewed online here.