Thirty years ago, Philippa Drennan joined her colleague John Waggoner in a study of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert. His initial research that concerned the distribution of Joshua trees within a range of altitudes in the remote desert became long-term monitoring of new growth and flowering of specific trees. Changes in climate and environment have...

South Sudan’s independence in July 2011 was a moment of great hope in Africa. It followed an overwhelmingly popular referendum vote and seemed to promise an end to decades-long violence. Jok Madut Jok, LMU professor of history who was born in the village of Marol, has helped establish schools in Marol, written books about Sudan and...

Googling oneself is an exercise of quiet narcissism that many of us indulge in, I suspect. Google “Welsh Jesuit” — something I do occasionally — and there appears an engraving of a man with gaunt features and an enigmatic expression. Less ambiguous is the rope around his neck and the large knife sticking out of his...

When Roger Crawford got the finger on his right hand stuck in a tennis racket, he realized he could play the game. He has a condition called ectrodactylism, the absence of fingers or toes.