REMINDER: University to change digital sign-in process starting Feb. 25

The University of Michigan will change how faculty, staff and students log in to their UMICH devices, accounts and profiles. Starting Feb. 25, U-M will replace Duo with Okta to manage digital single sign-on and multi-factor authentication. Okta is the industry-leading platform for managing digital identities and access. The move aligns U-M’s practices with those of peer institutions and supports ongoing efforts to strengthen cybersecurity across the university. “Moving to Okta will enhance security for all UMICH account holders and offer additional sign-in options that can improve their overall experience,” said Robert Jones, assistant vice president of support services and emerging technology in Information and Technology Services. Beyond improved security for individuals and the university, employees and students will see an enhanced sign-in process. New capabilities, including optional passwordless sign-in features such as Face ID, Touch ID, and Windows Hello, will improve the user experience while protecting university accounts from ever-evolving cybersecurity threats. Until the transition on Feb. 25, users will continue to sign in to access U-M web resources using Weblogin and Duo.

CJS project commemorates formerly incarcerated Nikkei workers at U-M

The Center for Japanese Studies has announced the Yuzuru J. Takeshita Nikkei Workers Memorial Project, a database and map of 401 formerly-incarcerated Japanese Americans who worked for the University of Michigan in the 1940s. Takeshita (1926-2016) was an esteemed educator, researcher and activist who, along with his family, was incarcerated in concentration camps during World War II. After the war, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Park University in 1951 and a Ph.D. in sociology from U-M in 1962. For over 30 years, Takeshita taught at the School of Public Health. He was also an active CJS faculty member and served on the Board of Governors of the Japanese American National Museum. Takeshita was passionately dedicated to commemorating the U.S. government’s incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII, sharing his experiences through speeches and writings. He once stated, “If a wrong was committed by an earlier generation, it is still our responsibility to recognize that wrong and make amends so that new wrongs are not committed.” This project is in tribute to Takeshita’s memory and in the spirit of his dedication to truth and reconciliation. Explore this historical initiative online.

Cost of copper must rise substantially to meet basic copper needs

The price of copper must at least double in order to spur the development of new copper mines to meet the world’s growing demand for the metal, according to a team led by a U-M researcher. A research team led by U-M geologist Adam Simon examined barriers to producing the copper necessary to meet demands for the metal under different scenarios. They found that meeting basic copper demand is possible, but will require higher prices and reforms to the permitting process to encourage mining. In order to meet “business as usual” demands for copper — the normal socioeconomic development of infrastructure, electricity, heating, cooling and other modern technologies — the world will need about 37 million tons of copper per year by 2050. That’s compared to about 23 million tons mined in 2025. However, to switch to energy provided by 100% renewable resources, and all-electric vehicles, that need jumps to 91.7 million tons per year. Either way, we will have difficulty meeting that demand if the price of copper does not rise, or if the ability to mine it does not become streamlined, according to Simon, U-M professor of earth and environmental sciences, and his co-authors. Their perspective paper is published in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.

Long-term warming transforms mountain meadows above and below ground

In the longest-running field warming experiment of its kind, researchers have documented dramatic shifts in high-elevation mountain meadows, revealing that changes in climate alter not only the plants we can see above ground, but the invisible world of fungi and microbes in the soil below. The results of the 29-year study, published in an article in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and co-led by U-M researcher Aimée Classen, show that sustained warming is causing meadows to undergo “shrubification,” a transition from diverse grasslands and flowering plants to shrub-dominated landscapes, and that the ecosystem belowground is responding in kind. Specifically, while the meadows changed from grasslands to shrublands, the types of fungi associated with plant roots in the soil beneath the meadows changed as well. In the original grassland ecosystem, plants relied heavily on mycorrhizal fungi — beneficial partners that help plants absorb water and nutrients from the soil in exchange for carbon. Under warming conditions, however, these mutualistic relationships declined dramatically, and soil saprotrophic fungi, which are involved in the decomposition of organic matter, increased.

— Compiled by Jeff Bleiler, The University Record