A team of researchers, led by Mary Hill, University of Kansas professor of geology, won a $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The researchers will explore the economic viability of using renewable energy to increase usable water resources by treating degraded and unused water supplies, and produce ammonia that can both store energy and be used as fertilizer. They will study the potential of these innovations to create a multifaceted economic system able to sustain small town and rural communities and maintain needed agricultural production.
Link(s): https://today.ku.edu/2019/10/17/new-research-will-explore-renewable-energy-water-treatment-ammonia-production-bolster

What are the factors that contribute to economic development? Can policy play a role in promoting economic growth? These questions will be discussed in this year's Kansas Economic Policy Conference, hosted by the Institute for Policy & Social Research on October 24. The conference will convene scholars, policymakers and experts in economic development to explore "What Counts for Economic Development in Kansas?" Presentations and discussions at the conference will offer a multifaceted view of this complex and critically important subject.
Link(s): https://today.ku.edu/2019/10/14/kansas-economic-policy-conference-offer-multiple-perspectives-economic-development
             http://ipsr.ku.edu/conferen/kepc19/

Sixty-eight of 105 counties in Kansas peaked in population before the Dust Bowl. The most recent Kansas Statistical Abstract includes this and other interesting facts about Kansas. The Institute for Policy & Social Research at the University of Kansas recently published the 53rd Edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract, which contains social and economic data broken down by state, county, and city.
Link(s): https://news.ku.edu/2019/09/27/new-kansas-statistical-abstract-offers-insights-state-population-life-expectancy-rates