SpotlightCSDE welcomes our new NICHD fellow Elise Bowditch.
Elise is a doctoral student in Geography, whose master’s work with CSDE affiliate Suzanne Davies Withers used the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to investigate the significance of geography in the transition to adulthood. This work was presented both at this year’s Association of American Geographers annual meeting under the title “Ripping up the Roots: Moves in Childhood and Adolescent Home-Leaving” and at the Population Association of America 2006 Annual Meeting in Los Angeles in a poster titled “The Significance of Geography in the Transition to Adulthood“ 
Click on image for a LARGE image of the posterElise’s strong background in GIS and statistical analysis put her in an excellent position to do spatial demography. For her doctoral research she has chosen to explore the question of how social and spatial mobility affect the choices that adolescents make on the path to becoming adults, specifically focusing on family trauma and its role in transition to adulthood. Elise will examine three communities in Grays Harbor County – Aberdeen, Hoquiam, and Cosmopolis – which are neither completely urban nor completely rural. In recent years Grays Harbor has experienced an economic downturn, losing much of its once-booming lumber and fishing industries. This loss of local economic opportunity changes the spectrum of choices young people have, and likely has long-term effects on their social and spatial mobility. Elise will work with CSDE affiliate Marieka Klawitter. We are proud to welcome Elise! |
