Take the money and run: Economic segregation in U.S. metropolitan areas

Compared to racial segregation, economic segregation has received little attention in recent empirical literature. Yet a heated debate has arisen concerning Wilson's hypothesis (1987) that increasing economic segregation plays a role in the formation of urban ghettos. This paper presents a methodological critique of the measure of economic segregation used by Massey and Eggers (1990) and finds that it confounds changes in the income distribution with spatial changes. I develop a "pure" measure of economic segregation and present findings on all U.S. metropolitan areas from 1970 to 1990. There have been steady increases in economic segregation for whites, blacks, and Hispanics in both the 1970s and 1980s, but the increases have been particularly large and widespread for blacks and Hispanics in the 1980s. The causes of these changes are explored in a reduced form, fixed-effects model. Social distance theory and structural economic transformations do affect economic segregation, but the large increases in economic segregation among minorities in the 1980s cannot be fully explained within the model. These rapid increases in economic segregation, especially in the context of recent, albeit small, declines in racial segregation, have important implications for urban policy, poverty policy, and the stability of urban communities.

Life History Patterns and the Spatial and Trophic Ecology of Batoids in a Northern Gulf of Mexico Estuary

Mobile Bay is a dynamic estuary home to a diverse faunal assemblage, which includes several species of batoid fishes (Chondrichthyes: Batoidea). To better understand the dynamics of this batoid assemblage, batoids were opportunistically sampled from 440 trawls performed in and around Mobile Bay from 2016 to 2017. The species Hypanus sabinus and Gymnura lessae were the most common batoids collected (86% of catch). PERMANOVA analysis found the variables day length, location, year, and water temperature best described catch variability. Furthermore, stomach contents from Gymnura lessae were sampled to investigate its diet. Most prey were heavily degraded, thus DNA metabarcoding was used to enhance prey identification. Most prey (88.3%) were from the families Sciaenidae and Engraulidae, and the variables season and sex best explained the dietary variability. These data will be necessary for modeling potential habitat and dietary shifts of Mobile Bay’s batoids as climate change and anthropogenic disturbances alter estuaries

A Measurement of νe Appearance and νµ Disappearance Using 10 Years of Data from the NOvA Experiment

NOvA is a long baseline neutrino experiment with an 810 km baseline, using the NuMIbeam at Fermilab, and a functionally identical near and far detector operating at an angle 14 mrad off axis from the beam. NOvA jointly measures muon neutrino (and antineutrino) disappearance and electron neutrino (and antineutrino) appearance to make a measurement of sin2θ23, δCP, and ∆m2 32, including its sign, the mass ordering. This dissertation reports a new measurement from NOvA, using 10 years of data, with a total exposure of 26.6 ×1020 POT of neutrino beam and 12.5 ×1020 POT of antineutrino beam. This represents 95.6% more neutrino beam exposure since the last NOvA analysis. Aspects of the analysis are discussed in detail, including neutrino energy estimation, analysis systematic uncertainties, including the implementation of systematics new to the NOvA analysis, and the Bayesian fit infrastructure using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). The analysis yields the following credible intervals for the oscillation parameters assuming the normal ordering: δCP = 0.930+0.210 −0.290 π ∪0.150+0.150 −0.110 π, ∆m2 32 = 2.424+0.035 −0.040 × 10−3eV2, and sin2θ23 = 0.55+0.02 −0.06, with a 76% preference for normal ordering using a prior for sin2(2θ13) using Daya Bay’s measurement. If the Daya Bay sin2(2θ13) vs ∆m2 32 constraint is used as a prior instead, an 87% preference for normal ordering emerges

Suburban Poverty and Racial Segregation

Over the past thirty years, increasing numbers of low-income people live in suburbs in the United States, with an increased proportion of racial and ethnic minorities among them (Covington, Freeman, & Stoll, 2011; Frey, 2011; Howell & Timberlake, 2014; Puentes & Warren, 2006). In urban areas, increases in poverty rates have been marked by increases in racial and ethnic segregation among people living in poverty (Logan & Stults, 2010; Massey, 1990; Orfield & Luce, 2012). What is less clear from the research on suburban poverty is how much racial segregation exists. For example, some research indicates that there is more segregation among black people in the suburbs than in urban areas (Darden & Kamel, 2002) whereas other research finds that black people in the suburbs are less likely to live in segregated communities than black people in urban areas (Alba, Logan, & Stults, 2000). This paper presents findings from a new set analyses, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, to first examine the distribution of poverty across different kinds of suburban communities and then the degree of racial and ethnic segregation within and across different kinds of suburban communities. The goal of the analyses is to better understand how policy solutions might best address racial and economic inequality in the suburbs

Shadow Places: Patterns of Spatial Concentration and Incorporation of Irregular Immigrants in the Netherlands

Summary: In Western countries, irregular immigrants constitute a sizeable segment of the population. By combining quantitative and qualitative research methods, this article describes and explains irregular immigrants’ patterns of spatial concentration and incorporation in the Netherlands. So far these spatial patterns have not been described and explained systematically, neither in the Netherlands nor elsewhere. The article shows that illegal residence is selectively embedded in the (urban) social structure in various ways. The authors argue that irregular immigrants are likely to be spatially concentrated and incorporated in similar ways in other Western countries; now and in the foreseeable future

People, places and policies – trying to account for health inequalities in impoverished neighbourhoods

Objective : We consider associations between individual, household and area-level characteristics and self-reported health.Method : Data is taken from baseline surveys undertaken in 13 socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Victoria (n=3,944). The neighbourhoods are sites undergoing Neighbourhood Renewal (NR), a State government initiative redressing place-based disadvantage.Analysis :This focused on the relationship between area and compositional factors and self-reported health. Area was coded into three categories; LGA, NR residents living in public housing (NRPU) and NR residents who lived in private housing (NRPR). Compositional factors included age, gender, marital status, identifying as a person with a disability, level of education, unemployment and receipt of pensions/benefits.Results : There was a gradient in socio-economic disadvantage on all measures. People living in NR public housing were more disadvantaged than people living in NR private housing who, in turn, were more disadvantaged than people in the same LGA. NR public housing residents reported the worst health status and LGA residents reported the best.Conclusions : Associations between compositional characteristics of disability, educational achievement and unemployment income and poorer self-reported health were shown. They suggested that area characteristics, with housing policies, may be contributing to differences in self-reported health at the neighbourhood level.Implications : The clustering of socio-economic disadvantage and health outcomes requires the integration of health and social support interventions that address the circumstances of people and places.<br /

Co-Producing a Shared Characterization of Depredation in the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Fishery: Comprehensive Report

Depredation, defined as the partial or complete removal of a hooked fish by a non-target species, is a cryptic form of mortality that can affect the accuracy of stock assessments and species management efforts. Accounting for depredation is crucial to minimize uncertainty in stock assessment models and to obtain accurate and reliable fisheries catch data. If these interactions are frequent, failure to properly quantify this form of mortality can lead to the underestimation of reef fish population removals, inappropriate harvest recommendations, and stakeholder unrest. In recent years, depredation has escalated in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) reef fish fishery. Although GoM reef fish fishery stakeholders (fishermen) have actively pushed for resource managers to implement solutions to address these increasingly pervasive interactions, a comprehensive characterization of this issue is lacking, and trends surrounding GoM reef fish depredation – as well as factors that impact depredation – have not been adequately described or evaluated. Therefore, the objective of this project was to co-produce a shared characterization of the impacts of depredation in the GoM reef fish fishery. To accomplish this, we employed a three-phased approach consisting of synthesis (phase 1), survey (phase 2), and feedback (phase 3). During phase 1, we synthesized data from the NOAA Fisheries Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC) GoM Reef Fish Observer Program, the largest and longest depredation-related dataset available. Marked increases in depredation were shown starting in 2017 for both bottom longline and vertical longline, particularly in the Eastern GoM. To complement the analysis of the commercial sector from phase 1, we designed and implemented an electronic survey of private recreational anglers in phase 2. Survey results demonstrate that anglers across the GoM routinely experience depredation and have identified a variety of influential factors such as geographic location and depth. Surprisingly, depredation has not affected fishing behavior for the majority of those surveyed. Findings from the commercial fishery (phase 1) and private recreational fishery (phase 2) were then presented to a representative group of (predominantly) charter-for-hire fishermen during an in-person, collaborative participatory modeling workshop (phase 3). These stakeholders provided unique insights, suggesting that factors like the length of the red snapper fishing season, recreational angler high-grading, and a diminished GoM shrimp trawl fleet, have led to increases in depredation. Perhaps more importantly, these stakeholders noted a growing disconnect between their on-the-water observations (i.e., increased depredation), and what they perceived as an increasing desire from NOAA Fisheries and the general public to protect all sharks. Notably, these sentiments resulted in a lack of trust with respect to shark science, stock assessments, and resource management. Ultimately, this planning project led to a deeper understanding of shark depredation in the GoM commercial, private recreational, and charter-for-hire fisheries. Project findings formed the basis of a comprehensive Research and Development Plan and an Application Plan. In addition, data and insights from this planning project contributed to a peer-reviewed depredation review (Mitchell et al. 2022), a stock assessment report (Drymon et al. 2022), a manuscript in prep (Duffin et al.), five conference presentations, and three outreach products.