The 2026 Annual Meeting for the Population Association of America (PAA) is happening May 6th-May 9th, 2026. During that time we will have many CSDE affiliates, trainees, staff, former and upcoming seminar speakers, alumni, and friends presenting during the conference. If you would like to support CSDE, please see the links to view schedules of CSDE affiliated presentations by name or date!

Following tradition, CSDE is co-hosting a reception for affiliates, trainees, alumni, friends, and more! We will be joined by Population Center Studies and Training Center at Brown University, the Institute for Social Research Population Studies Center and the Inter-University Consortium for Political & Social Research at University of Michigan, the California Center for Population Research at UCLA, and the Center for Demography and Ecology and the Center for Demography of Health and Aging at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

Please join us on Friday, May 8th from 6:00 – 8:30 PM at the Marriott St. Louis Grand, Landmark 4 Room. Refreshments and light appetizers will be served. Come enjoy some time with old friends and make some new friends too.  Register here and see the event flyer here: PAA 2026 Reception Flyer.

In a new article in Quaternary Environments and Humans, CSDE Affiliate Jade d’Alpoim Guedes (Anthropology) investigates the spread of Sino-Tibetan languages to the eastern Tibetan Plateau, combining evidence from multiple scientific disciplines, applying data from linguistics, palaeoclimate and archaeology. The study focuses on the interaction among different groups of people, zooming into the contact and cultural dynamics of the eastern plateau between ca. 3300 BC to 846 AD. d'Alpoim Guedes observes diversification in both archaeological and linguistic evidence following the 4.2 kya event, suggesting a potential human response to the climate change. The results also illustrate acceptance and resistance of the populations on the Tibetan Plateau to different degrees in terms of agriculturalist economy and diversification of subsistence strategies in order to avoid risks

CSDE Affiliate Taylor Riley (UNC Chapel Hill) and co-authors recently published an article in Women’s Health Issues examining whether county-level pregnancy-related arrest rates were associated with prenatal care access among births in Alabama, which is the leading state in the country for criminalizing pregnancy outcomes and conduct. The study found that individuals living in higher-criminalization counties were more likely to delay prenatal care initiation and to receive inadequate prenatal care. The authors describe these findings as suggestive of a chilling effect of pregnancy criminalization on prenatal health care access, and call for evidence-based policy responses in a post-Dobbs context.

CSDE is a member of the Association of Population Centers (APC).  Each year the APC publishes a resource guide about all member centers.  You might check it out and see what is happening elsewhere!

Heat is one of the most frequently examined environmental influences on population health, and a wide variety of data sources exist to measure exposure. This pre-PAA workshop, sponsored by the Center on Aging, Health, and Environment (CACHE), provides an overview of heat measures and examples of two, including hands-on experience with code available via the CACHE website. Participants will generate temperature exposure measures from publicly available data, as well as wet bulb temperatures. The Universal Thermal Climate Index data will also be demonstrated and linked to population data. Learn more and register here. This workshop will take place in St. Louis, Missouri on May 6, 1-5:30 PM CT . Please note you must be registered for PAA in order to attend.

Join CACHE on May 12 at 11 AM PT for a online seminar on, “Tracking the Mortality Burden Associated with Extreme Weather Events in the United States: Implications for Older Adult Health,” featuring Dr. Kai Chen of Yale School of Public Health. Extreme climate-related hazards, such as wildfire smoke, extreme temperatures (both heat and cold), floods, and drought, are increasingly recognized as major threats to human health and well-being in the United States. These events contribute to substantial premature mortality,  which in turn imposes significant economic losses on society. However, the public often lacks clear, science-based information that captures the scale of these damages and makes them accessible across different regions. To address this gap, the Climate, Health, and Environment Nexus (CHEN) Lab at the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health recently developed a dashboard that attributes premature mortality in the contiguous United States to these extreme climate events: XToll: eXtreme-weather Toll Tracker. Register here. 

The CSDE Development Core is once again hosting its annual Grant Writing Summer Program (GWSP) to assist scholars (UW postdocs, researchers, and professors affiliated or planning to affiliate with CSDE, as well as other researchers in the Seattle area) in preparing applications to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Applications are now open and due May 15! More info here, and application page here. Note that the program is in person and meets once every two weeks, late June – mid Sep, on the UW Seattle campus. Final schedule is set based on the schedules of the selected participants.

Make sure to read all the FAQ's. Past participants report great success, and lots of support and even fun along the way. Applications are due May 15. Additional questions?  Contact goodreau@uw.edu.

CSDE is thrilled to announce the  Charles and Josephine Hirschman Award for student research. CSDE students may apply for up to $2,000 in funds to directly support a research project. Funds may support activities such as the cost of conducting fieldwork, data purchases, the hiring of a translator or transcriber, or participant rewards in surveys. Be creative! All funds must be spent during the 2026-27 academic year and may not be used to pay tuition or your own salary. Applications are due Friday, May 22, 2026. Apply here. A faculty advisor must approve of your application via this form.  Click read more to  see details on eligibility and review criteria .

CSDE collaborates with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in a doctoral training program called the International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science (IMPRS-PHDS). This program is based in Rostock, Germany, but includes 12 doctoral programs in the U.S. and Europe. CSDE has one IMPRS-PHDS fellowship application slot available to current CSDE Trainees. The fellowship funding will support a one quarter research stay at the MPIDR any time between any time between July 1, 2026 and June 30, 2027.  Information about the program, the faculty, and partner institutions can be found here. Applications are due to CSDE by Tuesday, May 26. Apply here.

The Population Association of America invites you to join upcoming fireside chat with the NIH Director, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting, on Friday, May 8, 2026, 1:30 – 2:45pm in the Ferrara Theater (1st Floor) of the America’s Center.  This plenary session, “NIH and the Future of Population Research: A Conversation with the NIH Director”,  will focus on broad issues shaping population research, such as NIH strategic priorities, funding levels, open science/reproducibility, new methods of inquiry/AI, science communication, and the future of social and behavioral research. Professor Will Dow (UC-Berkeley) will moderate

MDPI launched a new journal Populations roughly one year ago and invites submissions from CSDE Affiliates and Trainees.  Here is some information about publishing with them. Some recently published articles include:

• Nonunion and Cohabiting First Births in the U.S.: Racial and Socioeconomic Disadvantage Predict Nonunion Births for Men as Well as Women
• A Cross-Sectional Study of Obstetric Violence Against Indigenous Women in the Ecuadorian Amazon: A Decolonial Demographic Approach
• Population-Level Shifts in Caribbean Family Resilience Across the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Becoming a Net Receiver of International Migrants: An Age-Structural Model of the Shift to Persistently Positive Net Migration Rates

The undocumented immigrant population in the United States is changing and new data help tell that story. On Tuesday, May 5, 2026 from 10 – 11 AM PT / 1 – 2 PM ET, join the Center for Migration Studies (CMS) for a webinar on its new report, “Estimates of the Size and Composition of the Undocumented Immigrant Population in the United States: 2024,” and what the findings reveal about population growth, long-term settlement, and policy options. Forthcoming in the Journal on Migration and Human Security, the study offers one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date portraits of the undocumented population in the United States.

The UW Middle East Center announces the 2025-26 competition for the Parvin E’tesami Student Support Fund. We invite applications from undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at the University of Washington in all disciplines, including international students, who are engaged in the study of the Middle East and North Africa and who will be enrolled at the University of Washington during the 2025-26 academic year. The application deadline is May 5, 2026. Apply now: https://forms.office.com/r/yYvSmDbfUs.

On Wednesday, May 6, the Evans Research Seminar is hosting Michael Lens (Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs) who will give a talk based on his recent book Where the Hood At?. The seminar will take place from 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM in Parrington Hall 360.

Substantial gaps exist between Black Americans and other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., most glaringly Whites, across virtually all quality-of-life indicators. Despite strong evidence that neighborhood residence affects life outcomes, we lack a comprehensive picture of Black neighborhood conditions and how they have changed over time. In Where the Hood At? Lens examines the characteristics and trajectories of Black neighborhoods across the U.S. over the fifty years since the Fair Housing Act.

The University of Washington is currently inviting nonprofit organizations to submit grant proposals for a practice-based UW course called Social Justice through Philanthropy, in which students develop critical thinking skills and practical knowledge regarding philanthropic giving in support of international issues.  The course represents a unique partnership between The University of Washington’s Law, Societies & Justice Department, and the Philanthropy Lab, a Texas-based foundation that promotes philanthropy education in universities and colleges throughout the United States.  This year, Social Justice through Philanthropy will be providing $75,000 worth of grants to international NGOs doing human rights, development, and humanitarian work. The $75,000 will be awarded through one $30,000 grant, two $15,000 grants, and two $7,500 grants in order to support five organizations in total.

This year, the students in Social Justice through Philanthropy have decided to focus their giving to organizations and initiatives broadly promoting five of the Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 3, Good Health & Well-Being; SDG 4, Quality Education; SDG 5, Gender Equality; SDG 13, Climate Action; SDG 16, Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. The deadline for proposals is May 6, 2026. To participate, please upload your application here as a single PDF file.

IPUMS will be exhibiting at the PAA 2026 Annual Meeting. Stop by their booth to talk with IPUMS research staff. Share any powered by IPUMS work on the PAA program so we can highlight your session and bring some specialty IPUMS swag for you. IPUMS also invites you to connect at these PAA events:

• Advances and Resources in Linking Full Count Census Data from IPUMS: Wednesday, May 6; 9:00am-2:00pm | America’s Center Room 103
• Harmonizing Geographic U.S. Census Data Across Time: Resources from IPUMS NHGIS: Thursday, May 7; 6:30-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L1
• The Future of DHS: Supplemental and Alternative Data Sources: Friday, May 8; 6:00-7:30pm | Marriott St. Louis Grand - Room L6

As a part of its Advancing Well-Being in the Arts Initiative’s Field Studies program, Wallace is interested in funding a small set of research studies that investigate aspects of how community-based arts organizations contribute to the economic mobility of their communities. “Communities” may include organizational staff, artists, audiences, program participants, local constituents served, and/or others as defined in proposals. For this RFP, the Wallace Foundation broadly defines and understands economic mobility, and pathways to economic mobility, as emerging through access to training and preparation, expanded social and professional networks, high quality jobs, as well as to basic needs such as safe neighborhoods, housing, health care, and food. However, we are eager to learn, through the studies to be funded, how arts organizations themselves conceptualize, define, and support economic mobility in their communities. To be invited to submit a full proposal, you must submit a 3-4 page letter of interest by May 12. Learn more here.

Studies in Family Planning is calling for abstract submissions for a special issue on “Rethinking Contraceptive Futures,” by June 30, 2026. This call for abstracts invites contributions that broaden and challenge traditional understandings of contraceptive use, access, and meaning. Contributions may engage explicitly with family planning debates but should foreground contraceptive practices and their evolving meanings within broader social and demographic paradigms. 

The Northwestern Main and Advanced Causal Inference Workshop will hold its 15th annual meeting on Research Design for Causal Inference at Northwestern Law School in Chicago, IL. The  main workshop takes place Monday – Friday, August 3-7,  and the advanced workshop follows, Monday – Wednesday, August 10-12, with an optional machine learning primer on Sunday afternoon, August 9.

In person-registration is limited to 125 participants for each workshop, so hurry up and register for in person attendance!  There will also be a Zoom option, but attending in person is encouraged. Get more information and register now. (read more)

Studies in Family Planning is calling for submission for a special issue on “Pandemic and Epidemic Impacts on Reproduction, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Family Dynamics: Longer-Term Consequences and Cross-Crisis Perspectives,” due September 15, 2026. The special issue aims to broaden the field by situating COVID-19 within a broader landscape of pandemics and epidemics with demonstrable implications for reproduction, family life, and SRHR. 

IPUMS released multiple data updates, including DHS data, IHGIS data, and CPS data.

IPUMS DHS has released standard variables from 112 new samples, including 34 new countries. The release includes data from the women, household members, births, and children units of analysis. Users can also now request IPUMS DHS data extracts programmatically using the IPUMS API and through our client libraries for R (ipumsr) and Python (ipumspy).

IHGIS has released tables and boundary files for population and housing censuses from Benin 2013, Niger 2012, and Sierra Leone 2015. We have also added a shapefile for Kenya 2019 locations (n = 3,838) to accompany previously released data. In addition, new linking variables in the IPUMS DHS release allow users to easily attach IHGIS data to DHS records.

IPUMS CPS has added the March 2026 monthly data. We have also updated the January 2026 monthly data to reflect a revised version of the file released by the Census Bureau that incorporates the 2026 population estimates. See the IPUMS CPS revision history for details.