Happy New Year! We hope you had a great winter recess and your semester is off to a terrific start — and any resolutions you’ve made are still in tact! (Hint: Scroll down for helpful tips.)

In this issue: 

The 2025 Los Angeles wildfires showed that neighbors helping neighbors is a critical part of community safety during fast-moving disasters.

Why it matters: As powerful winds spread fires through the Pacific Palisades and Altadena, neighbors warned each other, helped evacuate elderly and disabled residents, and sometimes responded before emergency crews could arrive.

The big picture: This revealed that managing fire risk is about more than building codes or emergency systems — it also depends on people understanding shared risk and acting to protect those around them.

What to do? K–12 schools are ideal for teaching and practicing neighborliness, including fire history, wildfire behavior and how individual choices affect neighborhood safety.

The bottom line: The L.A. fires made clear that neighborliness saves lives — and that teaching it early may be as important as any physical fire protection measure.

New Year’s resolutions: Did you know “try harder” isn’t the fix? A USC Dornsife psychologist says habit cues — not willpower — will help you succeed. Learn how to do it.

Led by a Democrat and a Republican, USC Dornsife’s Center for the Political Future (CPF) is training the next generation of leaders to engage civilly across party lines.

Why it matters: Political polarization is at a historic high, and students often have a zero-sum view of politics.

Opportunity: Politically diverse professionals are invited to serve as teaching fellows and to speak at CPF events, helping students see how cooperation works in practice.

In her words: “Helping advance CPF’s mission, providing students with a safe space to learn and talk politics of all kinds, seeing its impact on campus — it’s been one of the most special parts of my college experience,” says senior Eleanor Love, a former CPF student employee.

The bottom line: CPF demonstrates that respectful, cross-partisan dialogue is teachable and key to sustaining our democracy.

Two coral species in the eastern Pacific became “functionally extinct” after a severe marine heatwave, according to USC Dornsife researchers.

Why it matters: Coral reefs support marine biodiversity, fisheries and coastal protection — and extreme ocean heat is pushing some species past recovery.

What’s new: The study found that staghorn and elkhorn coral species in the lower Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas National Park failed to recover after a major heatwave in 2015.

The big picture: Marine heatwaves are increasing in intensity and frequency as oceans warm.

In their words: “Climate change is the reason all this is happening, and if we don’t address that, nothing we do is going to fix this,” says USC Dornsife PhD student Jenna Dilworth.

The flip side: Despite the setback, Dilworth and Gomez remain hopeful.

Through traditional media, podcasts, our partnership with The Conversation and more, USC Dornsife faculty and researchers helped make sense of the world in 2025.

Communicator of the Year Awards honor scholars from USC Dornsife who engage with the public to improve its understanding of issues, influence policy and/or raise the level of public discourse.

Learn the basics of how to write and pitch compelling, research-based op-eds at this half-day workshop co-hosted by the L.A. Unified chapter of the Scholars Strategy Network. 

Join USC Dornsife Dean James Bullock and USC researchers and alumni to explore how life thrives in Earth’s extreme environments, how it guides the search for life beyond our planet and what it reveals about our origins and future.

You can be part of a special evening recognizing veteran political consultant and Center for the Political Future director Bob Shrum for his exceptional achievements and contributions.

Sign-up to receive NewsRound, a weekly listing of news stories featuring USC Dornsife scholars.

“Such an observation makes perfect sense for a round Earth and is much harder to explain without one.”

John Vidale of Earth sciences in Discover Magazine discussing how to prove Earth’s shape.

“We have the tools to put the big puzzle together.”

Rima Habre of spatial sciences in WIRED on the potential environmental causes of chronic illnesses.

“Home buyers will have less regret if they’re informed about serious risks that are for the property that they’re currently looking at.”

Matthew Kahn of economics and spatial sciences in SFGate about Zillow hiding climate-risk information on house listings.

Free admission to the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena. Show your USCard to enjoy the exhibits, including “Mythical Creatures: The Stories We Carry,” opening Feb. 14.

Universal Life. USC Dornsife Dean James Bullock recently took students in “Introduction to Quantitative Biology Seminar” (QBIO 105) on a guided tour of the known universe. Bullock explored galaxies, black holes, dark matter, dark energy and more. (Photo: Mike Glier.)