Faculty Research

Lisa Meierotto, associate professor in the School of Public Service, and Rebecca Som Castellano, professor in the School of the Environment, were recently interviewed about conditions facing Idaho farmworkers. The article explains new federal labor rules intended to protect farmworkers by improving safety and working conditions, and how Idaho’s Attorney General, along with 16 other states, recently halted the implementation of these rules through a lawsuit.

Read the full article

The U.S. Department of Energy selected a Boise State-led team to begin negotiations for a $1.9 million award to create a hub for Idaho Clean and Resilient Energy Siting Teams. The hub will connect Tribal, state and county governments in Idaho with the resources needed to make community-driven and fact-based energy infrastructure planning and siting decisions. It will leverage existing expertise, develop needed resources and offer unbiased technical assistance to communities across Idaho.

Stephanie Lenhart with the Energy Policy Institute is the principal investigator for the three-year project. Co-principal investigators are Stephanie Witt with the School of Public Service and Matt Williamson with the School of Environment. Boise State will provide a neutral institutional home for a hub that is supported by core partners at the Tribal, state and county levels. The Idaho Tribal Nation Research Network, the Idaho Governor’s Office of Energy and Mineral Resources, and the Idaho Association of Counties will serve as trusted points of contact and connections to additional resources and expertise.

“This opportunity is important for Idaho and for advancing decision-making on clean and resilient energy,” indicated Kathy Araujo, director of the Energy Policy Institute. “With rapid energy growth and changing conditions, decisionmakers at all levels are pressed to strategically evaluate their priorities and resources.”

Southern Idaho is one of the fastest-growing regions in the country and is experiencing a increased interest in wind and solar development. The pace and scale of these project proposals are challenging Idaho’s current siting processes and require more coordinated planning and capacity building. Most Tribal, state and county agencies in Idaho have limited experience with large-scale energy projects.

Cody Jorgensen, an associate professor of criminal justice at Boise State, recently published two journal articles about firearm use in the U.S.

“Examining the effect of permit-less carry laws on violent crime rates in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, and Wyoming” explores the loosening of state regulations regarding carrying a concealed firearm. Permit-less carry laws allow citizens who are legally allowed to own firearms to carry a concealed firearm in public without obtaining a permit. Research consistently finds that these types of laws increase violent crime, and this study examines the effect of permit-less carry laws on violent crime rates in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas and Wyoming, the first states to adopt permit-less carry legislation.

His analysis finds that permit-less carry laws were associated with a substantial increase in aggravated assault in Alaska but generally not associated with changes in violent crime rates in the other states. Moving from RTC to permit-less carry was not found to cause an additional increase in violence on top of the increased violent crime from existing RTC laws.

Read the journal article here

“Bringing the firepower: Examining the role muzzle energy and caliber of ammunition in the outcome of mass shootings” looks at the effect of muzzle energy and caliber of ammunition on the number of victims killed and injured in mass shootings. The analysis finds that the number of victims killed and injured is related to how powerful the ammunition the firearm uses and how many rounds of ammunition the magazine can hold. The findings are largely explained by the use of assault weapons like the AR-15 and AK-47, which fire high-powered ammunition and typically come with 30-round magazines.

The analysis also finds that the use of assault weapons in mass shootings became much more common after the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban expired in 2004, which has led to mass shootings becoming more deadly and injurious since 2005.

Read the journal article here

Political Science Professor Michael Allen was interviewed by the National Desk, sharing what it means for Ukraine, Russia and the rest of the world after Ukraine captured territory in Russia.

Allen, when asked about the control over the war narrative inside Russia, is quoted saying: “Where before, Putin has been trying to make it look like to war has had no effect on daily Russians’ lives, this is something that is very clearly in the face of Russian civilians, where the war is being brought home, and they have to deal with it in a real way, which may put political pressure on Putin to do something different about the conflict.”

The full interview was published on Aug. 13 and can be accessed here. The National Desk’s articles are syndicated to news stations across the nation.