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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

NWFSRDC Reopens on UW Campus!

The Northwest Federal Statistics Research Data Center (NWFSRDC) has reopened in a new, centralized location on the UW campus (formerly located in the Russell Building).  The center is open for access by researchers seeking access to restricted-use survey and administrative data from the Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Internal Revenue Service, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, National Center for Education Statistics, and National Center for Health Statistics.  The facility is open to all users wearing masks, regardless of vaccination status.  A new Census Administrator, Carlos Becerra, was hired in July of 2020 and works 75% time as Administrator of the NWFSRDC, helping researchers develop proposals, gain Special Sworn Status, and in their use of and access to the lab. He and NWFSRDC Executive Director Mark Ellis are happy to help interested CSDE researchers with gaining access to the data and facilities. Please write to them at nwfsrdc@uw.edu.

The NWFSRDC currently provides or has recently provided access and support to CSDE UW affiliates (Ellis, Walter, Acolin, Colburn, Hill, Tolnay, Takeuchi, Rowhani-Rahbar), CSDE staff (Leibbrand), CSDE trainees (Fiorio). Additionally, the NWFSRDC is also hosting population scientists outside of UW, including Buractaon (Pacific Northwest National Lab), Carlson (University of Utah), Houghton (University of Oregon,) Cowan, Darnell and Hebert (Washington State).  

NIH Seeks Input on Climate Change and Health Research Agendas

CSDE affiliates and students who are interested in, and already conduct, research about climate change and health can submit your feedback and ideas to NIH about research directions for NIH’s future investments around climate change and health. It is very important to submit your ideas and help to shape their agenda. Responses and feedback are requested by August 30, 2021.
There will also be a webinar discussing ideas about developing a climate change and heath research agenda on August 16, 11-12:30pm (ET, 8am-9:30am Pacific).  The NIH Wide Climate Change and Health Webinar Series will include UW’s very own Dr. Kris Ebi, who will be discussing climate adaptation and health risks. Registration link for the Zoom webinar is here.

Group Formed to Support Census Data Product Preservation

You are invited to join Georgetown University Massive Data Institute in its effort to support the information flows and products coming from the 2020 Census. In order to facilitate communications – in a fully transparent way – they have established a LinkedIn group where they will post information about upcoming town halls where they will discuss pressing concerns, post info about data releases, and host online discussions. The goal is to advocate for the most accurate, privacy preserving data products from the decennial census program. The group intends to focus on the Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC) File, Detailed DHC, Population Estimates, and American Community Survey.
Join them to make your voice and needs heard! Please join the LinkedIn group here.

Sign up for CSDE Workshop on PAA Extended Abstracts!

CSDE will be holding a workshop on Friday, August 20th on writing extended abstracts for the Population Association of American (PAA) annual conference, which is being held in Atlanta, GA this year! This will be a remote workshop on tips and tricks for writing extended abstracts and attendees will have the opportunity to have their extended abstract reviewed by a peer and a faculty member, as well as to review one of their peers’ manuscripts. To participate, please fill out the sign up form by Tuesday, August 15th (Sign Up Form). Registration is limited to 15 participants.

PAA Extended Abstract Workshop
When: August 20th (Friday) from 10-11:30am
Where: Zoom (link sent to registrants)
Link to sign up: Sign Up Form

If you would like to receive feedback from a partner and/or faculty member, participants will send their extended abstracts to their peer review partners on September 7th and review their partner’s extended abstract by September 14th. For questions, please contact Christine Leibbrand at cleibb@uw.edu.

CMS Presents Estimates of the US Undocumented and Eligible-to-Naturalize Populations

The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) has released its estimates of the US undocumented and eligible-to-naturalize populations and updated its Democratizing Data mapping tools. CMS estimates that 10.35 undocumented immigrants and 8.1 million immigrants who are eligible to naturalize reside in the United States. These estimates and detailed demographic information about these populations are available through CMS’s Democratizing Data mapping tools. Data tool users can conduct their own state and local queries of the size and characteristics of the US undocumented and eligible-to-naturalize populations at data.cmsny.org. With these tools, it is possible to obtain detailed profiles of immigrant populations at a national, state, and sub-state level.

CMS estimates are based on data from the 2019 American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the US Census Bureau. Because of the in-depth questions the ACS asks, CMS can derive detailed profiles of immigrant populations that provide estimates of country of origin, years of US residency, race/ethnicity, occupation, health insurance coverage, and more. Since the launch of CMS’s Democratizing Data Initiative in 2013, CMS estimates have been broadly used by scholars, researchers, government officials, and service-providers in crafting, implementing, and evaluating programs that serve noncitizens. After a review of its data-sharing policies, CMS has again made public its sub-state level data on the US undocumented population.

For sub-state level data, please visit: http://data.cmsny.org/puma.html.

For national and state level data, please visit: http://data.cmsny.org/state.html. 

Join CSDE and eScience Institute for NICHD Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge

NICHD has just launched the Decoding Maternal Morbidity Data Challenge. This challenge invites teams of scholars to work together using the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-be (nuMoM2b) to design innovative approaches to improving maternal outcomes.  A full description of the challenge is below.  There is a $50,000 prize for each of 7 teams and for others up to $10,000 – prizes will be awarded by NICHD. CSDE and the eScience Institute have teamed up to support teams comprised of UW faculty and students (along with others outside of UW) who plan on participating in the challenge.  
  • If you are a UW faculty/student/staff interested in being on a team, but don’t yet have a team, please register here by July 31 and we’ll try to help you find/create a team.  Our form will ask you for your name, faculty/staff/student status, your department, your website, and your applicable skills and experiences for this data challenge.
  • If you have a team, register your team with CSDE by August 15 and let us know who is on your team (name & institution/unit & faculty/student/staff status) and whether you are looking for other people to join your team. All teams should have at least one UW faculty member. 
  • Registered teams that submit draft proposals to CSDE by September 24:
    • Will receive timely, expert reviews and feedback by October 1. This feedback should enhance every team’s competitiveness in the NICHD challenge.
    • Will be eligible for up to $5,000 in research funds from CSDE (these awards will be available to each of three highly qualified proposals).
CSDE’s scientific staff and faculty are available for consultation and discussion at any point in the process, email Tyler McCormick (tylermc@uw.edu) or csde_consult@uw.edu with inquiries. Don’t hesitate to reach out!