Local Research for Local Problems

Since World War II, federal funding has been the central driver of American scientific research. Recently, a state-based model for research shows how local research could be used to solve local problems.
On this episode, host Lisa Margonelli is joined by Jeffrey Warren, executive director of the North Carolina Collaboratory. About ten years ago, the North Carolina legislature created a way to get answers to policymakers’ questions and to fund research to solve local problems. The Collaboratory contracts with researchers at the state’s universities to do the work. So far, the legislature has…