Williams College

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adaptation and adoption of digital methods for research. This chapter reflects on virtual research methods used to conduct evaluation research during the pandemic, using the case of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. It draws on formative research findings to understand the role of faith-based leaders in Christian Aid’s integrated COVID-19 response program for Rohingya refugees and adjacent host communities, offering recommendations on how local leaders can support humanitarian and long-term recovery efforts within the broader discourse on the role of faith in humanitarian response. This feasibility study applied a mixed-methods approach: household surveys (n = 100), key informant interviews (n = 45), and focus group discussions (n = 6) with humanitarian and health stakeholders, refugees, and host communities. Findings show that faith-based leaders such as imams and muezzins are integral to faith communities and influential at the intersection of faith and health. While misinformation about COVID-19 was prevalent in both host and refugee populations, religious leaders promoted preventive measures. Rohingya refugees faced physical, spatial, social, and digital barriers that limited adoption of preventive behavior. The chapter discusses experiences of conducting virtual mixed-methods research with locally recruited teams, including challenges in recruiting Rohingya volunteers for data collection and analysis. It also offers insights into the evaluative framework employed, illustrating how it captured the resilience embedded in the intersection of health and faith among displaced communities in Cox’s Bazar.

Elevated perches allow songbirds to better transmit their songs and increase the visibility of territorial displays, but there is a cost: increased predation risk. To investigate how grassland birds evaluate these tradeoffs, we placed artificial perches in one of four meadows kept open by mowing in Williamstown, Massachusetts. We tracked meadow and perch usage by passerine birds using both a weekly census and monthly counts of fecal boli as a proxy for occupancy of the artificial perches. The same species were observed in the meadow with artificial perches and the meadows without such perches. Nevertheless, all of the artificial perches were used, some extensively. Much of the variation in perch use could be explained by perch height. Birds preferred taller perches, which are the most visible to predators, but also provide the largest advantages in terms of song propagation and visibility for better territory advertisement. Other advantages include increased visibility for foragers hunting insects, as well as possible earlier detection of predators. The increased predation risk of perching in the open on higher perches appears to be offset by the advantages gained by being seen, being heard, and having a better view of the surrounding area.

ABSTRACT In‐kind (nonmonetary) donations are a popular form of philanthropy that have received much less scholarly attention than monetary gifts. This study documents the prevalence of types of in‐kind giving and associated organizational practices, then explores links between the perceptions of nonprofit managers, organizational practices, and prevalence of in‐kind gifts. Using phone survey data, we conduct a mixed‐method cross‐sectional analysis of 240 US nonprofit organizations. Findings indicate a wide variety of in‐kind donations and ways in which they are solicited. Charity managers ascribe a variety of motivations to donors for giving in‐kind, with more offering positive reasons (such as donors believing such donations are useful) than negative reasons (such as donor convenience). Using theoretical insights from contracting as a guide, we find that practices regarding in‐kind donations stem from monetary and nonmonetary (such as time or usefulness) considerations, though with differing effects depending on whether there are perceived challenges or opportunities.

Adults hold a broad range of beliefs about intellectual ability. Key examples include beliefs about its malleability, its distribution in the population, whether high levels of it ("brilliance") are necessary for success, its origins, and its responsiveness to intervention. Here, we examined the structure and motivational significance of this network of consequential beliefs in a sample of elementary school-age children (5- to 11-year-olds, N = 231; 116 girls, 112 boys, three gender nonbinary children; predominantly White and Asian children from relatively high-income backgrounds). We assessed five beliefs: (a) growth mindsets (malleability), (b) universal mindsets (distribution), (c) brilliance beliefs (necessity for success), and beliefs about ability's (d) innateness and (e) responsiveness to intervention. Even among the youngest children, these beliefs were empirically distinguishable and also largely coherent, in that they related to each other in expected ways. Moreover, the five beliefs assessed here were differentially related to children's learning (vs. performance) goals, preference for challenging tasks, and evaluative concern (i.e., concern that mistakes will lead others to evaluate the self negatively). Even when adjusting for age, children with growth mindsets were oriented toward learning goals and preferred challenging tasks; children who believed ability has innate origins preferred performance goals; and younger (but not older) children who thought success required brilliance expressed more concern over being evaluated. These findings speak to the multifaceted nature of children's concepts of ability and highlight their significance for children's achievement-related attitudes and behavior in the early school years. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are increasingly recognized as programmable bioactive carriers in non-viral gene delivery and adaptable bioengineering platforms. Beyond their roles as natural nanocarriers in intercellular communication, EVs can promote ocular surface repair and retinal neuroprotection with potential for low immunogenicity and high biocompatibility. Bioengineering now enables cargo encapsulation, surface targeting, and integration of EVs with biomaterial platforms to enhance tissue penetration, retention, and precision delivery. The emergence of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived EVs (iMSC-EVs) offers improved batch uniformity and potential for personalized therapy. However, progress hinges on resolving knowledge gaps in ocular EV biology, standardizing isolation and storage, scaling reproducible manufacturing, and executing focused clinical trials. We synthesize the current developments and outline how EVs are moving from biological mediators to engineered therapeutics to accelerate the translation of EV diagnostics and therapeutics for eye diseases.

Our hands rarely lie still while we talk. Some hand movements, like washing dishes or other household tasks, are often unrelated to what we express in speech. Other hand movements, known as gestures, are deeply integrated with verbal communication. Past research with adults has found strong temporal synchrony between speech and gesture, particularly as compared to speech and action. This evidence supports the claim that speech and gesture emerge from a single integrated system and suggests that gestures hold a unique status in communication compared to other kinds of hand movements. However, the developmental unfolding of this tight temporal integration is unknown. In this cross-sectional study, we directly measure the speech-gesture production system in childhood. In a within-subjects design, adults (N = 35; Mage = 19.94 years; range = 18-25 years) and children (N = 68; Mage = 8.38 years; range = 5-12 years) were asked to verbally describe how they use household objects while producing either gestures or communicative actions. Speech onset, action onset, and gesture onset were coded to determine the difference in onset between speech and movement (action or gesture). Results indicate that speech and gesture were produced in closer temporal synchrony than speech and action across all ages tested, showing remarkable stability in speech-gesture temporal relations over development. This lack of any notable developmental change in temporal synchrony between speech and gesture is consistent with the theory that speech and gesture emerged phylogenetically as an integrated cognitive system.

Rhodoliths (from Greek etymology meaning red + stone) are spheroidal accretions composed of various types of crustose coralline red algae that dwell in relatively shallow waters where sunlight allows for photosynthesis. Unlike most other kinds of algae that are attached to the seabed by a holdfast, rhodoliths are free to roll about by circumrotary movements stimulated mainly by gentle wave action and bottom currents, as well as by disruptions by associated fauna. Frequent movement exposes every part of the algal surface to an equitable amount of sunlight, which generally results in an evenly concentric pattern of growth over time. Individual structures may attain a diameter of 10 to 20 cm, representing 100 years of growth or more. Initiation typically involves encrustation by founder cells on a rock pebble or shell fragment. In life, the functional outer surface is red or pink in complexion, whereas the structure’s inner core amounts to dead weight. Chemically, rhodoliths are composed of high magnesium calcite [(Ca,Mg)CO3], with examples known around many oceanic islands and virtually all continental shelves in the present world. The oldest fossil rhodoliths appeared during the early Cretaceous, 113 million years ago. Geologically, rhodoliths may occur in massive limestone beds composed of densely packed accumulations. Living rhodoliths commonly occur in waters as shallow as −2 to −10 m, as well as seaward in mesophotic waters up to −100 m under exceptional conditions of water clarity. Especially in shallower waters, rhodoliths are vulnerable to transfer by storm waves to supratidal settings, which result in bleaching under direct sunlight and death. Increasingly, marine biologists recognize that rhodolith beds represent a habitat that offers shelter to a community of other algae and diverse marine invertebrates.