Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 24, 2025) — The latest developments on University at Albany faculty and staff who are receiving research grants, awards and other noteworthy attention:

• Carlo Cafaro, associate professor in the Department of Nanoscale Science & Engineering, earned a Springer Nature Editorial Contribution Award and Springer Nature Author Service Award for his work as an associate editor for the International Journal of Theoretical Physics, as well as an Honorable Mention from the Gravity Research Foundation for an essay he penned with SUNY Polytechnic Institute's Christian Corda titled “Universality of black hole thermodynamics beyond the thermal approximation." Cafaro also recently co-authored an article with UAlbany students Emma Clements and Abeer Alanazi titled, "Aspects of complexity in quantum evolutions on the Bloch sphere,” that was published in The European Physical Journal - Plus.
• Sociology Professor Joanna Dreby has authored a new book, Surviving the ICE Age: Children of Immigrants in New York, which draws on her interviews with young adults with foreign-born parents to better understand what it was like to grow up during a time of heightened U.S. migratory control. The book, published by the Russell Sage Foundation, was released earlier this month. For more information see www.joannadreby.com.
• Center for Technology in Government researchers Mila Gascó-Hernandez, Aryamala Prasad, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia and Theresa Pardo have edited the Research Handbook on Open Government (2025), a comprehensive overview of scholarship on open government, with insights into novel concepts, approaches and trends.
• CTG UAlbany researchers Mila Gascó-Hernandez, J. Ramon Gil-Garcia and Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy doctoral student Zong-Xian Huang presented on “How Could Public Libraries Empower Communities to Participate in Government AI Initiatives?” for the 26th Annual International Conference on Digital Government Research in Porto Alegre City, Brazil in June.
• Janell Hobson, professor in the Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, has authored a new piece titled, "The Feminist Leadership Syllabus: Where History, Politics and Pedagogy Meet," in Ms. Magazine. The public syllabus, assembled by Hobson and students in her graduate research seminar, serves as a resource for educators and students on feminist leadership and movements around the globe both currently and historically.
• Institute for Social and Health Equity researchers Paul Morgan and Eric Hu published a new study analyzing disparities in disability identification along racial and ethnic lines among U.S. elementary school students. They found that students who are Black or Hispanic, or who live in non-English-speaking households, are less likely to be identified as having disabilities compared to similar peers who are white or live in English-speaking households. The work was published in the journal Educational Researcher earlier this month.
• A new study published by Melissa Piper and Ryan Torn in the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences found that hurricane forecasts incorporating data from NOAA’s Gulfstream IV jets were as much as 24 percent more accurate than forecasts without the data. The study was mentioned in Scientific American on Friday.
• Qingqing Yang, a research scientist at the Institute for Social and Health Equity, received $70,000 from the Spencer Foundation to explore job satisfaction among early childhood teachers. By analyzing large-scale datasets, including one that follows teachers before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, Yang will assess how teacher well-being has changed over time, what factors shape teacher well-being, and how it affects children’s learning and social-emotional development. The work aims to generate steps to promote a more equitable early education system.