Urban@UW will be hiring a student assistant to collaborate on communications and administration during UW’s spring quarter, with a possibility to continue through summer 2019. Please see the attached position description / announcement and share with folks who would be a great fit!
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Modern Contraception in sub-Saharan Africa
The Institute for Population Research at the Ohio State University seeks a Postdoctoral Researcher to join the team of project entitled “Demand for Modern Contraception in sub-Saharan Africa: New Methods, New Evidence.” This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and is co-directed by John Casterline and Samuel Clark.
Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Population-Environment Interactions
CCU Population Center (CUPC) at the University of Colorado Boulder is currently recruiting a postdoctoral fellow with expertise in population-environment research, to start August 2019. The initial term of appointment is one year, but reappointment for a second year is possible subject to performance evaluation.
CUPC, housed in the Institute of Behavioral Science, is a national leader in demographic research on population health, environmental demography and migration patterns and processes. This postdoctoral research position builds on CUPC’s strengths in environmental demography, and within that area, candidates should have research expertise in migration-climate within livelihoods and potentially including health linkages, rural demographic processes, social vulnerability and natural hazards, and/or urbanization processes and their effects on the environment and health.
Key Responsibilities: Candidates must have experience in quantitative methods, the use of computational, statistical or data scientific approaches applied to social science or interdisciplinary research settings as well as data integration involving spatial and non-spatial data. They are expected to bring particular interest in interdisciplinary research and to participate in, and develop, projects collaborative with Earth Lab Boulder, an initiative harmonizing the wealth of Earth observation data to facilitate innovative scholarship using combinations of satellite, survey, and field data at various spatial and temporal scales.
Postdoctoral fellows are expected to spend time working independently as well as collaboratively with CUPC faculty affiliates on large-scale research projects and grant proposals. Postdoctoral researchers will be resident within CUPC in the Institute of Behavioral Science, will coordinate and/or participate in relevant working groups, regularly attend and present within the CUPC speaker series and other CUPC workshops and mentoring activities. We also expect fellows to attend the Population Association of America (PAA) annual meetings, submit two or more population-focused articles for publication during their time at CU Boulder, and help strengthen connections between CUPC and Earth Lab.
Qualifications: Candidates must be Ph.D. degree in social sciences related to CUPC research themes.
The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. The University of Colorado Boulder is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass.
Application review will begin March 6, 2019.
The candidate’s cover letter should describe research interests and a 2-year plan including potential collaborative links as related to above substantive areas of interest. Application materials will not be accepted via email and must be submitted through CU Boulder Jobs.
For questions or additional information: Please contact Lori Hunter, Director, CU Population Center: Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu
Call for Papers: Climate Change, Human Migration and Health: Integrating Social and Environmental Data to Accelerate Innovative Science (Boulder, 5/20-5/21/2019)
Mini-conference announcement:
Climate Change, Human Migration and Health: Integrating social and environmental data to accelerate innovative science
University of Colorado Boulder
May 20-21, 2019
Organized by CU Population Center, Earth Lab, IUSSP Panel on Migration-Climate-Health
Climate change is influencing human migration patterns, while also impacting human health. Innovations in the integration of social and ecological data are essential to move forward these critical research frontiers, as well as to investigate other human dimensions of global environmental change. This conference will move forward understanding of successes, challenges and the potential of social and ecological data integration. Participation by both social and natural scientists is essential in this endeavor.
Since 2008, an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced from their homes by natural disasters — an estimated one person every second.[1] Recent IPCC reports suggest some extreme events will become more intense as global temperatures warm.[2] Human movement in response to climate extremes have critically important implications for human health in both sending and receiving regions as new health challenges emerge and health systems are increasingly taxed. Climate change also has documented impacts, itself, on human health such as increased heat-related deaths.
During this 2-day conference, Day 1 will open with inspirational speakers reviewing innovations, challenges and needs in socio-ecological data integration with a focus on climate change as related to migration and human health. Afternoon research panels and a poster reception will provide important empirical examples. Day 2 will offer flash research sessions as well as topically-focused working groups aimed to set research agendas, build collaborations, and/or work toward high-impact scientific publications.
Applications are required to ensure adequate space and to identify key thematic areas for working groups. Limited funds are available to support travel expenses. In your submission, please include your CV and describe your interest in the conference including its relation to your research agenda or interests. If interested in presenting your research, please also include an extended abstract. Also please note if funding is required. Participants and presenters will be selected based on research alignment with conference objectives, quality of abstract. Attention will also be paid to maintaining a diversity of representation by discipline, geography, career stage and socio-demographics.
Submit materials by March 18th, decisions will be made by March 22nd.
Questions? CUPC Director: Lori.Hunter@colorado.edu
Application to CUPC Program Manager: Marisa.Seitz@colorado.edu
This conference is supported and organized by the University of Colorado Population Center, the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, as well as CU Boulder’s Institute of Behavioral Science, Grand Challenge and Earth Lab. The conference is also supported by Grant 5R13HD078101‐03 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and has benefited from the NICHD‐funded University of Colorado Population Center (Project 2P2CHD066613-06) for research, administrative and computing support. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention by trade names, commercial practices or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government
Have U.S. States Contributed to the Growing Inequalities in Life Expectancy?
Jennifer Karas Montez, Professor of Sociology at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University, will discuss the importance of macro-level explanations, particularly U.S. state policies, to understand how life expectancy in the United States is increasingly being shaped by where we live and how much schooling we have completed. Most speculation has focused on “micro-level” explanations, such as individuals’ personal choices and lifestyle behaviors. Weaving together results from several recent and ongoing studies, this presentation will build the case that the diverging policy contexts of U.S. states—resulting from decades of deregulation, devolution of political authority from federal to state levels, and state preemption laws—have likely played a critical role in the widening inequalities in life expectancy. This Seminar is co-sponsored with the West Coast Poverty Center.
Please visit the seminar page to reserve time to meet with Professor Karas Montez.
Anjum Hajat and CSDE Affiliates Receive $1.4 Million NIH Grant to Examine “Precarious Work” and Health Disparities
Well-deserved congratulations to CSDE Affiliate Anjum Hajat, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the School of Public Health, who won a four-year, nearly $1.4 million research grant (R01) from the National Institutes of Health to examine how declining employment quality, including cuts in employee benefits, may contribute to the widening of health disparities. The research team includes three other CSDE Affiliates: Marco Carone, Assistant Professor of Biostatistics, Noah Seixas, Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and Kyle Crowder, Blumstein-Jordon Professor of Sociology. CSDE provided some support for this initiative in its early stages, through consultation on scientific methods and support of a working group.
The objective of the study is to use novel approaches to better understand the role of precarious work in explaining differences in the incidence and prevalence of diseases and mortality. “Our study examines how declining employment quality, including things like non-standard work and fewer benefits, may be contributing to the widening of health disparities,” Hajat said. “Since employment is amenable to change, either through policy or employer-specific initiatives, this study has the potential to improve the health of millions of American workers.”
The researchers plan to use the Health and Retirement Survey, which tracks people as they transition from work to retirement, and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, which has been following a cohort for over 40 years. They will construct a longitudinal work history, including metrics of precarious work for both cohorts. Using these metrics, the study will evaluate the mediating role of precarious work in explaining disparities in self-reported health, mental health and mortality. Researchers will also compare the contribution of precarious work relative to other pathways, such as health behaviors and hazardous working conditions, in producing disparities in these same health outcomes. Additionally, the study will examine how employer-based and state policies that relate to precarious work impact health disparities.
Ellie Brindle and Julius Doyle Propose Alternative Hair Specimen Collection Method Among Extremely Short‐Length Afro‐Textured Hair
CSDE Biodemography Director Ellie Brindle and CSDE Demography Trainee Julius Doyle alumnus, Biocultural Anthropology PhD, recently published “Development and validation of hair specimen collection methods among extremely short‐length Afro‐textured hair” in the American Journal of Human Biology. In their article they show that although cortisol deposited into growing hair is an important biomarker of psychophysiological stress, current hair sample collection methods are suited only for straighter-textured hair types. They propose an alternative method for collecting samples among participants with Afro‐textured and extremely short‐length hair types.
The proposed method involves sampling hair from all sections of the scalp, making it feasible to extract and analyze cortisol in extremely short‐length Afro‐textured hair types. They found no statistical differences between samples collected using the currently prevailing and the proposed methodologies. This research underscores the importance of diversifying hair cortisol research beyond the limitations of developing collection methodologies only suited for straighter‐textured hair types.
Julius Doyle continues to work on implementing this methodology is a Presidential Diversity Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University.
Yuan Hsiao Examines Gender Network Dynamics of Aggressive and Prosocial Behavior in Adolescence
Yuan Hsiao is a CSDE trainee pursuing both a Ph.D. in Sociology and an MS in Statistics. Under the supervision of CSDE Affiliates Steven Pfaff (Ph.D. advisor) and Jon Wakefield (MS advisor), his research is centered at the intersection of demography and many social science fields. Hsiao’s co-authored paper “Gender network dynamics in prosocial and aggressive behavior of early adolescents” was recently published in Social Networks and had previously been presented at a CSDE Lightning Talks and Poster Session. The article draws from the concern that aggressive and prosocial adolescent behavior have longitudinal effects on mental health, and delves into the network dynamics of how these behaviors affect friendship selection and are prone to peer influence for adolescents. Yuan argues that network selection and influence on aggressive and prosocial behavior are contextualized by different types of gender networks.
In his current research, Hsiao uses Twitter data to estimate migration, applies space-time models to estimate under-five mortality rates, and explores how generational differences in social media use affect political behavior. His research has been published and is forthcoming in numerous journals including Social Networks, New Media & Society, Information, Communication & Society, and PLOS ONE .
The next CSDE Lightning Talks and Poster Session is coming up, on 3/15/2019. In fact, Yuan is organizing the session and invites everyone to attend and discuss more high-quality research! CSDE is also pleased that Yuan’s recent paper was published in a journal with free access. Please follow the link below to access the paper for 50 days.
Call for Applications: Center for Human Rights Funding Opportunities
We are pleased to announce three different funding opportunities through the Center for Human Rights for graduate and undergraduate students from all three UW campuses.
US citizenship/permanent resident status is not required.
1. Dr. Lisa Sable Brown Endowed Fund for Human Rights. $1900 available. Graduate students only. For studies or research.
2. Peter Mack and Jamie Mayerfeld Endowed Fund for Human Rights. $4000 available. Graduate students only. For studies or research.
3. Abe Osheroff and Gunnel Clark Endowed Human Rights Fund. $4000 available. Undergraduate and graduate students (including professional students). For hands-on human rights project through direct action.
Applications open February 19 and are due on March 29, 2019 at 5:00 PM PST.
More info at: https://jsis.washington.edu/humanrights/funds/
We’re happy to talk to students about whether their projects may or may not be a good fit, and answer any questions they may have (contact uwchr@uw.edu).
Runstad Fellows Present: Ubuntu (Exhibit Presentation and Opening Reception, 3/4/2019)
Ubuntu is a South African philosophy of social justice through the notion that our own well-being is tied to the well-being of others and it is this shared responsibility of our community that binds us together and makes us human. The 2018 UW Runstad fellows will share discoveries from their study in Cape Town and Johannesburg and how the lens of race and social justice informs the post-apartheid redefinition of the built environment with attention given to informality in aspects of housing, public realm, and climate change and how we might apply these lessons to our home in Seattle.
Exhibit: March 4-13
Gould Gallery Presentation: Monday, March 4, 6:00 pm
Opening Reception: Monday, March 4, 7:00-8:30 pm, immediately following presentation.