Dr. Caro, who studied human evolutionary biology at Harvard University before pivoting to zoology and animal biology at the University of Oxford for her doctorate, has spent most of her career researching the dynamics between bird parents and their offspring, integrating concepts from behavioral neuroscience, evolutionary biology and urban biology. “I’m interested in how birds’ social behavior evolves when there’s a tension between two evolutionary incentives: cooperation and competition,” she said.

Bird families are the perfect petri dish for this tension. Parents want their offspring to cooperate and survive, but they may also, as Dr. Caro puts it, “be a little selfish and want their partner to do more of the work.”

Publishing Research That Expands Understanding of Bird Behavior

Recently, Dr. Caro was the first author on an article, “” (Behavioral Ecology, May 2025), that adds a new dimension to our understanding of bird parent behavior. Among evolutionary biologists, conventional wisdom holds that bird parents respond to their offspring begging for food with fixed behaviors, or behaviors that have evolved over time into something specific and unchanging. But Dr. Caro suspected that parents are actually plastic, or flexible, when responding to their offspring’s signals, particularly in different environmental conditions.

Dr. Caro took to the woods to conduct an experiment. She gave half of the resident bird population extra food to simulate ideal environmental conditions. The other half experienced no change to their environments. Additionally, she cross-fostered broods to ensure that chicks in both populations would behave similarly, leaving environmental conditions the only remaining variable.

Over the subsequent week, parents did not concentrate their feeding on the chicks that were the largest or loudest. Instead, Dr. Caro’s theory proved correct. The parents who received extra food became “nice, equitable parents,” she explained, while parents in harsher conditions surrendered to survival of the fittest. “These parents selectively ignored the runts, which means they were making decisions about which of their offspring were most likely to survive when food was low.” Ultimately, parents displayed plasticity in responding to multiple sources of information, including local environmental conditions and their assessments of each chick’s size and behavior.

Exploring Parenting Differences Between Males and Females

Dr. Caro’s “” (Behaviour, July 2025) illuminates another bird family dynamic—this time couples. “In my work, I was noticing that male and female parents made decisions differently. Mothers took longer to make a decision and were more likely to change their minds,” often clashing with fathers over feeding. But, she wondered, were these conflicts purely the product of biological differences in birds?

To find out, she conducted a meta-analysis on 31 bird species, comparing how mothers and fathers responded to offspring begging alongside social and physiological traits that could influence conflict. The results were unexpected. “I went in expecting birds to show similar patterns to mammals, where females are almost always more responsive and provide the vast majority of parental care,” she said. “But across every bird species, sex difference was minimal. Only when I looked within species did I start to see other patterns.”

In bird species with strong bonds between males and females, fathers were more responsive to offspring begging for food. In species with less stable bonds, however, fathers were less responsive to begging, leading females to compensate by taking on a greater share of parental care. Rather than an innate difference among sexes, then, Dr. Caro’s findings demonstrate that varying levels of responsiveness among males and females are likely shaped by the types of bonds they form.

Whether she’s depositing mealworms in bird nests or running statistical analyses, Dr. Caro believes a mixture of research methods will always yield the best result. “Comparative meta-analyses allow me to see the big picture across species. Then I can zoom into the details with experimental work,” she said. “My findings from an experiment might lead me to do a meta-analysis or vice versa. This is just such a rich field with so many different axes to explore.”

The post Birds of a Feather: The Evolutionary Science That Makes Bird Parents and Offspring Flock Together appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

A New Framework for Understanding Homework Help

“When I started studying homework and parenting, I found that the literature was divided between proponents and opponents of parental involvement, or focused on topics like whether parental involvement is academically effective. The parent-child relationship was completely overlooked,” said Dr. Gershy Tsahor. “As children grow up, there are fewer opportunities for parent-child interactions that are meaningful, so I began looking at homework as one context for interaction that was already built into the family’s daily routine. Parents are so busy that if there’s a way to foster the relationship that is already structured in family life, it makes for an ideal opportunity.”

Dr. Gershy Tsahor’s theoretical paper positions homework as not just an academic task, but as a unique opportunity for “joint attention” between parents and children during middle childhood—the developmental stage between early childhood and adolescence. The work is grounded in questions like “What do children need from their parents during middle childhood?” and “What kind of parental involvement enables a child to feel seen, valued and supported, as well as feeling that there is sufficient trust in them to do things successfully alone?”

The resulting approach—employing ”joint attention” during homework—moves beyond the traditional argument for or against parental homework involvement and instead focuses on the quality of parent-child interactions during homework time. In developmental psychology, the concept of joint attention refers to one person coordinating, with purpose, their focus of attention with another person on a single object or task. More succinctly, it means two people paying attention to the same thing at the same time.

In early childhood, joint attention plays an important role in language development, social bonding and learning. Dr. Gershy Tsahor’s article suggests that homework is a structured opportunity to maintain and strengthen these moments even as children grow older and such occasions are fleeting.

Practical Implications for Parent-Child Homework Interactions

Many parents find themselves increasingly involved in their children’s homework, yet sometimes feel uncertain about the right level of support. Some worry about creating dependence on their help, while others fear their children will fall behind without a helping hand. With a national survey by NORC (National Opinion Research Center) at the University of Chicago showing that 80 percent of parents help with homework on at least a weekly basis, practical guidance on how to help is useful for those seeking equilibrium.

“Doing this the ‘right way’ is a big concern for parents,” Dr. Gershy Tsahor said. “They understand the importance of helping their child academically, but most parents are not educators. They are confused about how to help.”

Her research offers a strategy to help parents navigate these concerns. She notes that while parents may not have the pedagogical training to promote their child’s academic skills, what they are able to do is help their child find meaning and motivation in what they are doing. “Parents are the most important adults in their child’s life. Helping children find meaning in what they have done during the school day allows parents to be witnesses and reinforcers, not instructors,” Dr. Gershy Tsahor said.

Most importantly, she said, the focus should shift from a pedagogical, often stressful approach to one that creates meaningful experiences—an opportunity for mutual discovery rather than instruction. “Instead of providing the answers, parents can ask open-ended questions that help children think through problems while maintaining a shared focus on the work,” she said. “They can sit with a child as they work through math problems, pointing out patterns together, or discuss the themes in a reading assignment.”

She says that taking away the uncertainty and negativity from homework time is the key. “It’s important for parents to know they don’t need a teaching degree to help their kids succeed.”

Taking a Tailored Approach

Effective homework support looks different for different children and families—some children may need more structured joint attention sessions, while others benefit from having parents available but less directly involved. “The key is maintaining the quality of shared focus and collaboration rather than trying to take a one-size-fits-all approach,” she said.

“When people have children, they often feel there is a ‘right way’ to parent or a ‘correct’ strategy to use. While it can be reassuring to feel we have a script to follow, there is so much diversity in children and parents that this is often not feasible. It just creates more stress,” Dr. Gershy Tsahor said.

She recommends that parents try to think about their goal and fine-tune and tailor their interactions. Ask questions like What does my child need from me in this context? and How can I join them in this process?

“This requires parents to be truly present, but ultimately they have the opportunity to learn something really important about their child’s life and get a glimpse into their child’s world.”

In soon-to-be-published research, Dr. Gershy Tsahor examines the impact of an intervention that teaches parents to dedicate the initial five minutes of homework preparation to a guided observation of their child before offering assistance. Findings included an enhanced understanding of their child’s mental experience and decreased levels of hostility during homework time, highlighting the importance of parental awareness of their child’s mental state during homework and tailoring the experience to consider their perspective and capabilities.

Beyond Academic Outcomes

Dr. Gershy Tsahor’s work encourages parents to consider outcomes beyond grades and test scores. While academic achievement remains important, the joint attention framework has significant added benefits: strengthened parent-child relationships, enhanced communication skills and increased confidence in learning.

“When families approach homework as an opportunity for meaningful connection, children develop more positive attitudes toward learning and greater resilience. They continue to trust the adults in their life as a reliable source of help,” said Dr. Gershy Tsahor. “These outcomes can be more valuable in the long term than immediate academic gains.”

The post Is Your Homework Parenting Style “How Can I Help?” or “You’re on Your Own, Kid”? appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

As an expert in maternal and child health inequalities, and a Nigerian native herself, Dr. Yusuf saw a research question in the making—and the chance to make a difference. “I wanted to understand how much Nigerian parents really knew about HPV, about the cancers it causes, about the vaccine itself and if they intended to get it,” she said. “By gathering that information in advance, we could identify reasons for potential HPV vaccine hesitancy and understand how to convince parents to immunize their children when the vaccine became available.”

Addressing a History of Vaccine Skepticism

In Nigeria, cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among women. Yet the nation’s immunization rates have historically been extremely low, in part due to mistrust of Western medical intervention. So while the HPV vaccine offers close to total lifelong protection against cervical cancer, Dr. Yusuf wasn’t certain Nigerian parents would see the vaccine as a silver bullet for their children. But to change parents’ minds, Dr. Yusuf knew she would first have to identify what was holding them back.

Dr. Yusuf and her team interviewed more than 1,000 parents and caregivers across Kano State, the most populous state in Nigeria. Participants were asked several questions, including if they had ever heard of HPV, the main reason they would not want to vaccinate their child(ren), and whether they would pursue the vaccine if it were available for free or more cheaply. At the time of Dr. Yusuf’s study, the HPV vaccine was only available for a substantial fee from private hospitals.

Discovering the Drivers of Parental Hesitancy

The interviews returned some unexpected results. Given the history of vaccine skepticism in Kano, Dr. Yusuf said she “predicted very low intention rates going in.” But about 67 percent of parents indicated a willingness to vaccinate their children if the vaccine were free or subsidized. Dr. Yusuf also found that parents in urban areas were more likely to be hesitant, which came as a surprise. “I assumed people in rural areas would have less access to news and educational materials, so they would be less aware of the vaccine,” she explained, “but it might actually have been because they have minimal access to social media and therefore less misinformation.” Fathers showed higher rates of hesitancy than mothers, which “should worry us. Nigeria is a patriarchal society, so fathers are the ones making key decisions for the family.”

In addition to “high-risk groups,” the study conclusively identified the most common reasons for vaccine hesitancy. In general, hesitant parents were (1) concerned about the vaccine’s safety, (2) did not believe their child(ren) needed it, (3) had not received a recommendation from their doctor, or (4) were not aware of the vaccine itself. In fact, only about 4 percent of participants had ever heard of HPV.

Dr. Yusuf is no stranger to the complicated factors that shape a population’s relationship with vaccination. Having previously studied immunization coverage gaps in the United States, she sees a clear difference between vaccine-hesitant American and Nigerian parents. “The biggest problem in the U.S. is probably misinformation or disinformation from social media. But in Kano, few people have access to social media.” Why, then, do rumors and myths about vaccines still run rampant, even for urban residents? “Many Nigerian communities believe what their religious and cultural leaders say. And sometimes those leaders say things that are misleading or inaccurate.”

Using the Right Tools to Champion Vaccination

Now that Nigeria’s HPV rollout is underway, public health officials can target these variables—whether in isolation or together—when developing vaccination campaigns. As Dr. Yusuf noted in her subsequent report, “” (Vaccine: X, December 2024), “tailoring interventions to address the unique compositions and concerns of these communities is essential for improving vaccine uptake.”

In particular, public health programs in Kano must address knowledge-related barriers when designing and implementing interventions. “We need to partner with trusted figures in the community to make sure people are getting accurate information,” Dr. Yusuf said. “We need to focus on educating, creating awareness, and stressing the link between vaccines and cancer prevention.”

Dr. Yusuf is currently completing an article from the study’s qualitative component, which will provide in-depth information on how to increase HPV vaccine uptake and actionable strategies for vaccine managers and policymakers in Kano. While she admits we still have much more to learn about the vaccine’s uptake in northern Nigeria, her work is steadily helping close the immunization gap, one study at a time.

The post Understanding Parental Vaccine Hesitancy: A Case Study in Nigeria appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

Dr. Waller has dedicated her career to studying—and seeking to change—the way we respond to IPV. Her dissertation, which includes her groundbreaking theory “Constructed Agency,” and her subsequent article, “” (The Lancet, February 2024),¹ illuminates the disproportionate rates of homicide among Black women in America, including IPV-related deaths.

Putting the World on Alert about IPV

Bernadine Waller, MA ’10, PhD ’21, senior adjunct professor in the ĂÛŃżTV School of Social Work

For Dr. Waller, prior scholarship and clinical expertise “laid the groundwork” for her most recent publication, “” (The Lancet, April 2024),² co-authored with an international team of scholars.

The article lays out a sequence of IPV prevention strategies that can be implemented during adolescence, the “ideal time for prevention efforts as a period of ‘transformative change,’” creating a long-term chain reaction. “IPV prevention at this stage can solidify healthy relationship patterns that have benefits beyond the individual, with the potential for healthy intergenerational relationships over time,” the authors write.

These strategies are not designed solely for adolescent girls, either. Although limited data exists on IPV survivorship in boys, girls of color, and gender and sexual minorities, Dr. Waller and her co-authors flag the risks of overlooking violence suffered by these populations. Instead, they maintain, prevention strategies must “account for the nuance of gender, sexual orientation, and the complex dynamic of victimization and perpetration outcomes.”

With this article, Dr. Waller strives to direct more research attention toward an adolescent population that is not only huge and vulnerable, but global. “Much of the existing evidence—both for IPV prevention implementation and effectiveness—is drawn from high-income countries (HICs). In low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), where prevalence is high and resources are often scarce, evidence is sparse or nonexistent,” she and her co-authors write.

In Dr. Waller’s eyes, this constitutes a serious oversight by the global research community. The experiences of millions of young people are going unnoticed, and potentially valuable IPV intervention methods, opportunities and strategies from LMICs are being understudied. As the paper notes, “More evidence on how prevention occurs in LMICs would strengthen cultural and developmental adaptations of existing interventions as well as inform the design of novel approaches.” Considering solutions from LMICs would allow community leaders to think beyond the individual level of care practiced in the United States, instead targeting school- and community-based delivery in their intervention models.

Dr. Waller also urges local leaders to leverage the preexisting infrastructure of community health workers, or “lay providers.” “There’s a need to train nonspecialists to deliver interventions,” she said, particularly when it comes to the adverse mental health connections strongly associated with IPV, such as depression, anxiety and suicidality. “If you have an administrative assistant who’s interested in learning how to deliver a brief intervention for depression, let’s train them to deliver it.”

The End Goal

Ultimately, the authors hope their work will result in increased adolescent IPV prevention and intervention efforts among both individual providers and community institutions, including religious congregations, primary care clinics and youth centers. And for Dr. Waller, it’s never too early to start modeling positive relationships and discussing healthy self-perception. “When young people have a healthier sense of self, they’re less likely to get involved in relationships that can dismantle that,” she said.

Read more in the 2025 issue of Academic & Creative Research Magazine, where we highlight the innovation and imagination shaping Adelphi’s academic community.

ÂčBernadine Y Waller, Victoria A Joseph, Katherine M Keyes (2024), Racial inequities in homicide rates and homicide methods among Black and White women aged 25–44 years in the USA, 1999–2020: a cross-sectional time series study, The Lancet, 403, Issue 10430, 935-945,

ÂČJohnson, Savannah L et al., A global call for adolescent intimate partner violence prevention, The Lancet Psychiatry, Volume 11, Issue 4, 238-239

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At first I thought the creators had taken inspiration from me, because in the reel, the character of Carl was wearing the same kind of clothing I wear, and like me, he was interested in watches and bicycles. But I found out they’d never heard of me when they were putting the character together. They’d just done their research.”

Carl, the hero of the PBS Kids show Carl the Collector, is a young raccoon who loves collecting objects and playing with his animal friends. Carl also has autism, making him the network’s first-ever lead on the spectrum. The show follows Carl as he plans sleepovers, tries to keep his room clean and hashes out disagreements with friends, providing viewers with an up-close look at how people with autism navigate everyday life. “The show did it right from the very beginning,” said Stephen Shore, EdD, clinical associate professor of education at Adelphi, who served as an autism adviser on Carl. “Its creators worked hard to meaningfully involve the autism community and commit to authentic representation.”

Dr. Shore, who is autistic, has traveled the world as a researcher, educator and speaker, appearing before audiences across more than 50 countries. With Carl, he added creative consultant to his rĂ©sumĂ©. “I had never consulted on a show before,” he said, “but the creators reached out to me out of the blue.” Initially, Dr. Shore was asked to share his thoughts on a promo reel. “At first, I thought the creators had taken inspiration from me, because in the reel, the character of Carl was wearing the same kind of clothing I wear, and like me, he was interested in watches and bicycles. But I found out they’d never heard of me when they were putting the character together. They’d just done their research.”

Stephen Shore, EdD, clinical associate professor at Adelphi

An Integral Part of the Process

Dr. Shore was involved throughout the entire creative process for each episode, from the initial premise to the final rough cut. At each stage of development, he let the creators know if the actions, gestures, speech patterns or reactions of a character with autism did not ring true. Sometimes, he found, even the tiniest adjustment could make all the difference. “For instance, they would have Carl saying, ‘The ice cream social is going to happen in four days.’ I told them an autistic person might actually say, ‘Four days, 11 hours and 56 minutes.’ A lot of people with autism are very exacting.”

Dr. Shore’s expertise—and personal experience—shaped a number of storytelling decisions. When Carl decides to tell a friend why he’s behaving in a certain way, Dr. Shore looked to his own “four-step autism disclosure protocol” for inspiration, which he notes the team put to “good use.” He also advocated for Carl to stim—repetitive behaviors, movements or sounds used to manage emotions or self-soothe—with his fingers in response to specific triggers.

Other stims, such as pacing and jumping on a trampoline, help map out Carl’s thought processes for an audience who may not be familiar with autistic cognition. In one scene in which Carl must make a decision, the show takes viewers inside his brain, dramatizing its inner workings. “Even if people watching can’t immediately relate to Carl, they might gain some insight into how a person with autism thinks through something,” Dr. Shore said. “Then they can generalize that information to better support the people in their life who are on the spectrum.”

Helping to Shape Carl’s Crew

Carl isn’t the only autistic character in Carl the Collector. When the show introduced a second character who has autism, a fox named Lotta, who is hypersensitive to loud sounds and strong smells, Dr. Shore “adopted” her, too. There’s also Paolo, a panda with autism, who is nonspeaking and communicates with a tablet. Together, these three characters challenge the misconception that not all autistic people can talk—and that those who don’t talk don’t still have something to say—or that all individuals with autism tend to behave in one single way.

It’s work that Dr. Shore is proud to have a hand in, especially on television screens nationwide. “I often say that when you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person,” he said. “That doesn’t mean we’re fundamentally different from neurotypical people, either. We’re all more similar than we are different.”

Read more in the 2025 issue of Academic & Creative Research Magazine, where we highlight the innovation and imagination shaping Adelphi’s academic community.

About Our Faculty

Stephen Shore, EdD, is a clinical associate professor in the School of Education. Dr. Shore is on the board of directors of Autism Speaks, is a frequent speaker on the topic of autism, and the author of College for Students With Disabilities and Understanding Autism for Dummies. His work focuses on helping persons with autism and other conditions lead fulfilling and productive lives to their greatest potential.

The post Bringing Authenticity to Carl the Collector appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

A group of Adelphi researchers wondered about the relationship between empathy and anxiety. Travis Nair ’21, Stephanie Waslin, PhD ’24, and Gabriela Rodrigues, PhD ’24, doctoral students and adjunct professors in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology; Derner doctoral student Saumya Datta, MA ’23; Michael Moore, PhD, professor and director of Derner’s PhD Program in Clinical Psychology; and Laura E. Brumariu, PhD, professor and associate dean for professional programs and student advancement at Derner, conducted meta-analyses of existing data, hoping to synthesize an answer. The results of their work were published in the article “” (Journal of Anxiety Disorders, January 2024).¹

Drilling Down on Theory

Michael Moore, PhD, associate professor and director of Derner’s PhD Program in Clinical Psychology

Theory suggests that when people excessively engage in empathy, they may put themselves at risk for greater levels of anxiety. “We were curious how individuals who are more anxious experience empathy and vice versa,” the researchers write, as well as “whether people who experience more anxiety tend to be more sensitive or concerned with others’ emotions and, in turn, more empathic, or if individuals high in empathy tend to have more or less clinical anxiety.”

When designing their study, the research team encountered a challenge: how to understand empathy itself. The definition of empathy is the capacity to understand and share others’ emotions. But for the purposes of their work, the team made an additional distinction between “general empathy” and separate “cognitive” and “affective” components. Affective empathy is the capacity to share others’ emotions, while cognitive empathy is the capacity to understand another’s emotions or adopt their perspective. By differentiating between these three types of empathy, they would be able to more accurately review and collate the results of previous studies.

All told, the team included 115 articles and one dissertation in their study, representing multiple forms of anxiety as well as clinical measurement mechanisms. With thousands of data points considered across three meta-analyses, they came to a clear conclusion. Participants with higher anxiety experienced greater general empathy and, in particular, affective empathy. Furthermore, individuals who tend to react to others’ negative emotions with “self-focused” feelings of fear or distress appeared to be at greater risk for clinical anxiety.

Certain manifestations of affective empathy, such as sorrow for others’ emotional states, allowed participants to preserve some distance from excessive and potentially detrimental empathetic connection. This might be a manifestation of sympathy, the team posits, which involves concern for someone else without necessarily feeling a similar emotion.

Laura E. Brumariu, PhD, professor and associate dean for professional programs and student advancement at Derner

Surprisingly, cognitive empathy was shown to not have a meaningful relationship to clinical anxiety. However, this may present its own opportunity for further research and practice, the team suggests. People with anxiety disorders, who often have higher rates of affective empathy, could be trained to modulate their empathic responses. Clinical interventions could support them “in maintaining appropriate boundaries with others and using coping strategies when faced with others’ negative emotions,” as the paper notes.

Future Implications

To the researchers, these findings feel more like a beginning than a definitive conclusion. In the future, the research labs of Drs. Brumariu and Moore are interested in evaluating circumstances in which empathy may be adaptive or present a possible risk for anxiety and other mental health concerns. They also suspect that anxiety could interfere with people’s ability to accurately read others’ emotions, especially based on facial expressions. With these questions in mind, the Derner labs are continuing their collaborations on further meta-analyses. As the team expresses in their paper, “Our results only underscore the need to assess how and under what conditions empathy may relate to psychopathology.”

Read more in the 2025 issue of Academic & Creative Research Magazine, where we highlight the innovation and imagination shaping Adelphi’s academic community.

ÂčNair, T. K., Waslin, S. M., Rodrigues, G. A., Datta, S., Moore, M. T., & Brumariu, L. E. (2024). A meta-analytic review of the relations between anxiety and empathy. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 101, 102795.

About Our Faculty

Laura E. Brumariu, PhD, is associate dean for professional programs and student advancement in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology and professor of psychology. Her research interests reflect a developmental psychopathology perspective and explore how and why children’s relationships with attachment figures influence their social and emotional development.

Michael Moore, PhD, is associate professor and director of the PhD program in clinical psychology in the Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology. Dr. Moore’s research involves examining how people think and how it affects their mood, and how people attribute causes to events in their lives and how this may place them at risk for depression or anxiety.

The post I Feel Your Pain—And Worry About It, Too appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

Automakers may still be reluctant to abandon GV production, even when their EV production costs are low and the efficiency of charging infrastructure construction is high.”

The future of the auto industry may be electric, but for auto manufacturers, it’s no longer a race to the finish. Despite the increasing popularity of hybrids and electric vehicles (EVs) with consumers, the auto business in the United States still sells millions of traditional, gasoline-powered vehicles (GVs) each year. Top manufacturers, such as Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Audi, have announced their plans to fully shift to electrified vehicle production over the next decade. But according to the Institute for Energy Research, as of 2023, fewer than 4 percent of operational vehicles in the United States are either fully electric or hybrid.

What will it take to get manufacturers to transition to EVs? This is the vital question being researched by Zhimin Huang, PhD, professor and chair of Adelphi’s Department of Decision Sciences and Marketing.

Examining the Variables of EV Production

In his latest paper, “” (Transportation Research Part E: Why government subsidies may fail to get more electric vehicles on the road Logistics and Transportation Review, August 2024),¹ Dr. Huang and his colleagues examine some of the many factors affecting producers’ decisions to switch partially or entirely from GVs to EVs.

The team speculated that government subsidies for the purchase of EVs and the construction of charging stations—two notoriously costly barriers for manufacturers—would encourage the transition. They created a hypothetical model to understand how the introduction of those subsidies could lead to certain production strategies on the part of traditional GV manufacturers: deciding to directly enter the EV market and simultaneously exit the GV market, deciding to enter the EV market and then exit the GV market, or deciding to enter the EV market while continuing to produce and sell GVs.

The model’s output confirmed the correlation. “The results show that EV production costs, charging infrastructure efficiency and the intensity of product competition are key factors influencing the automaker’s production decisions,” Dr. Huang said.

“Substitutability” Drives Competition

Fierce product competition between GVs and EVs stems, in part, from an economic concept called “substitutability.” Essentially, how similar are EV products to GV ones on the market? “The higher the degree of substitutability, the more intense the competition,” Dr. Huang said. More intense competition, in turn, means lower profit margins, since manufacturers are competing for the same customers and therefore incentivized to lower prices.

When it comes to producing EVs, substitutability can be a roadblock for traditional car manufacturers. Without high profits to offset the costs of building expensive charging stations, the model predicts these manufacturers will be less likely to enter the EV market.

The hypothetical model developed by Dr. Huang’s team does not use real-world data. Instead, it extrapolates from existing economic theorems and derivations to produce its predictions. This allows researchers to distill infinitely complex consumer behaviors into data that can actually be leveraged by industry leaders, who can anticipate the consequences of business decisions before they’re implemented.

In this case, the decision to go fully electric may not be an economically sound one, even when the government is helping foot the bill. “Under certain conditions, both types of subsidies [purchase and station] may fail to effectively drive, or could even hinder, full electrification,” Dr. Huang said. “Automakers may still be reluctant to abandon GV production, even when their EV production costs are low and the efficiency of charging infrastructure construction is high.”

Dr. Huang points to his findings as proof that new strategies are needed to encourage the transition to full electrification among manufacturers. Innovative governmental policies, he said, in addition to traditional ones like subsidies, could begin to effectively move the needle for both consumers and manufacturers—and electrify an industry that’s struggling to keep up.

Read more in the 2025 issue of Academic & Creative Research Magazine, where we highlight the innovation and imagination shaping Adelphi’s academic community.

ÂčPi, Z., Wang, K., Wei, Y.-M., & Huang, Z. (2024). Transitioning from gasoline to electric vehicles: Electrification decision of automakers under purchase and station subsidies. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 188, 103640.

About Our Faculty

Zhimin Huang, PhD, is professor and chair of decision sciences and marketing. His research interests include supply chain management and distribution channels, productivity benchmark analysis, data envelopment and financial portfolio analyses, multi-criteria decision-making and game theory.

The post What Will It Take to Electrify the Auto Industry? appeared first on ĂÛŃżTV.

Please join us in welcoming Jennifer M. Lancaster, PhD, to Adelphi as the new dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies (CPCS) and executive director of Adelphi’s Manhattan Center—a dual role requiring innovative and experienced leadership to meet the needs of modern students and working professionals. Dr. Lancaster will begin her appointment on August 1, 2025.

Tapping into her extensive academic leadership expertise, Dr. Lancaster will guide CPCS through continued expansion of its educational and supportive programs serving adult learners and nontraditional students, collaborating across the University to develop and implement online programs and spearhead an ambitious agenda to make an Adelphi education accessible to students from all backgrounds. Dr. Lancaster will also oversee administrative and academic operations at the Manhattan Center, Adelphi’s new 51,000-square-foot academic center scheduled to open in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in 2026. Working with the provost, academic deans and University leadership, she will lead program recruitment, academic administration, employee supervision and student advisement for this dynamic new location.

Dr. Lancaster brings to Adelphi more than two decades of progressively responsible academic and leadership experience at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, New York. She was most recently vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, with responsibility for planning, managing and evaluating all academic programs offered by the college, as well as oversight of academic advisement, library services, online learning, first year experience, academic support, the registrar, grant management, program planning and development, and regular evaluation of academic personnel. In addition, she led strategic planning and accreditation studies by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, represented the college at local, regional and national meetings and events, served as chief administrative officer of the college during the absence of the president, and was chief of the college’s emergency action plan team. Dr. Lancaster served on the executive committee for St. Francis College’s complete campus relocation from 2021 to 2023.

Prior to this role, Dr. Lancaster was chair of the St. Francis College Department of Psychology, managing the departmental budget, directing student learning assessment, and conducting course scheduling and faculty assignment, academic advisement, as well as faculty hiring, observation and development. As a faculty member, she taught undergraduate and graduate courses, served as mentor for undergraduate research projects and graduate theses, and participated in a variety of college committees. Throughout her career, Dr. Lancaster had championed equity, promoting student success across all domains of university life.

Dr. Lancaster earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical-School Psychology and a Master of Arts with Distinction at Hofstra University. A licensed clinical psychologist for more than 20 years, Dr. Lancaster has served as clinical director of the New York Cognitive Therapy & Wellness Center since 2005.

Special thanks to Sandra Castro, PhD, who stepped up to serve as interim dean of CPCS following the retirement of past dean Andy Atzert, EdD, in March. Dr. Castro’s leadership and enthusiasm have made for a successful transitional period, and we appreciate her many contributions.

We are so pleased to have Dr. Lancaster guiding two pivotal aspects of Adelphi academics—one that has served the educational needs of students since 1973 and another that represents a bold new step toward the University’s future. We look forward to seeing the impact of her work, and wish her tremendous success.

Warm regards,

Christopher Storm, PhD
Interim President

Susan Dinan, PhD
Interim Provost

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It’s a profound pleasure to share with you, in my first announcement as interim provost, that Nicole C. Rudolph, PhD, has been appointed interim dean of the ĂÛŃżTV Honors College. Dr. Rudolph is a valued leader, respected colleague and educator, and a wealth of knowledge—as evidenced by her title of Jeopardy! champion—who will thoughtfully and capably lead the Honors College during the transitional period ahead.

Dr. Rudolph joined Adelphi’s faculty in 2009 as an assistant professor in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures, receiving tenure in 2015 and a joint appointment in the Department of History in 2016. She became director of the International Studies program in 2013, and the academic director of the Honors College in 2018, teaching and advising students and contributing to a wide variety of Honors activities at Adelphi. She later advanced into a dual role supporting Honors student aspirations and engagement, first becoming associate dean for student engagement in 2021 and then adding the directorship of the Office of Prestigious Awards and Fellowships in 2023. Her service to the University includes membership on the Executive Steering Committee for the 2025 (MSCHE) Middle States Self-Study and Reaccreditation Review and past membership on the Faculty Committee on Retention, Tenure and Promotion and on the Contract Negotiating Team for AAUP’s Adelphi chapter.

Prior to joining Adelphi, Dr. Rudolph served as director of the at Columbia University, where she worked with an advisory board of business and academic leaders, built relationships with corporate and individual donors, and was responsible for the Center’s budget, staff and cultural and academic events. For two years she was also managing editor of the New York University-published journal , overseeing production of three journal issues on deadline each year. She also served as Honors admissions liaison for the University Honors College at the University of Pittsburgh, through which she recruited high-achieving high school students, organized an 800-person annual recruitment event and administered the Chancellor’s Scholarship.

Dr. Rudolph earned a Doctorate in French Studies from New York University, as well as a DEA in Social Sciences (equivalent to MPhil) with Honors from Ecole Normale Superieure / Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, in Paris, France, and Master of Arts degrees in French Studies from New York University and French Language and Literature from the University of Pittsburgh. She also completed the Management Development Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Harvard University. A prolific author, Dr. Rudolph published with Oxford/New York: Berghahn Books, along with numerous refereed journal articles, book chapters and review essays.

As a passionate advocate for honors education, Dr. Rudolph is deeply experienced and well prepared to helm a community of students from nearly all Adelphi majors who exhibit a love of learning and exploring new ideas. I look forward to seeing the many ways that her enthusiastic spirit will impact the Honors College in her time as interim dean. Please join me in congratulating her on this appointment and wishing her success.

Warm regards,

Susan Dinan, PhD
Interim Provost

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I’m pleased to announce the appointment of Susan Dinan, PhD, as interim provost of ĂÛŃżTV. Dr. Dinan has served as dean of the ĂÛŃżTV Honors College since 2019, and her thoughtful and strategic leadership in this role has consistently diversified recruitment and strengthened student success.

As interim provost, Dr. Dinan will oversee all aspects of our academic offerings, providing a life-changing learning experience for our students and supporting the development of our faculty. Her strategic vision will be instrumental as we continue to prioritize enrollment efforts, prepare for the launch of the new Manhattan Center, engage in the Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaccreditation process, and pursue other academic and institutional goals. She joins a strong and established team in the Provost’s Office. In the coming days, I will announce an interim dean of the Honors College to replace Dr. Dinan.

Since becoming the second dean of the Honors College—succeeding founding Dean Richard Garner, PhD—Dr. Dinan and Associate Deans Craig Carson and Nicole Rudolph have spearheaded efforts to enroll students from all disciplines and backgrounds, taking a direct role in recruiting, interviewing and advising students. As a result, Honors classes have become more inclusive, aligning with Adelphi’s larger student body. Dr. Dinan is uniquely equipped to understand and advance student success, having directly worked with hundreds of students in her time as dean. At the same time, Dr. Dinan and the associate deans have supported revisions to the Honors curriculum to introduce new perspectives and experiences. Together, they have brought in new faculty to offer coursework, further enriching an already strong program.

Dr. Dinan is a former vice-chair of the faculty senate at William Paterson University and former president of the National Collegiate Honors Council, where she helped set priorities for the honors colleges and programs of more than 700 institutions across the United States, Europe and Asia. These experiences make her uniquely prepared to articulate the values of higher education and to support core tenets of the University, including academic freedom.

Before joining Adelphi, Dr. Dinan served as dean of the Pforzheimer Honors College at Pace University, where she aligned the honors colleges of the Manhattan and Pleasantville campuses. She also increased international opportunities for Pace honors students and created an honors residential community on the Westchester campus.

Dr. Dinan was previously a professor of history and served as the founding director of the University Honors College at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey, for 10 years. She began her academic career at the C.W. Post campus of Long Island University (now LIU Post) in 1996, where she assumed increasing responsibilities, serving as an associate professor of history, followed by assistant dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and ultimately chair of the history department.

Dr. Dinan earned her PhD in European history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, an MA in European history from the University of Illinois, a BA in history from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a BS in design and environmental analysis from Cornell University. She also attended the Harvard Graduate School of Education Institute for Management and Leadership in Education in 2017.

The author of Women and Poor Relief in Seventeenth-Century France: The Early History of the Daughters of Charity, published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. in 2006, Dr. Dinan has also contributed to academic journals and books centering on women and religion in Catholic Reformation Europe. Her most recent research focuses on the pedagogies that bring the most value to honors education.

Having worked closely with Dr. Dinan throughout her time at Adelphi, I’ve developed immense respect for her ability to engage with every member of our community and strategically enhance the value of our educational programs. I am confident that her academic expertise, positive energy and collaborative nature will make her an outstanding leader of the Provost’s Office.

Please join me in congratulating Dr. Dinan on her appointment as interim provost and wishing her success in leading Adelphi’s academic mission.

Onwards and upwards,
Chris

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