Assistant Professor, St. Louis University
In the Fall (2024) I am starting a new position as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at St. Louis University and an Associate with the Taylor Geospatial Institute.
I am wrapping up as a postdoctoral researcher at Rutgers University in the Bloustein School School of Planning and Public Policy on a Robert Wood Johnson Funded Project - New Jersey State of Affordable Rental Housing. Our team includes: Kathe Newman, Eric Seymour, Will Payne, and Lauren Nolan. Using innovative geospatial and mixed methods we are examining the stock of subsidized and affordable housing and housing insecurity in the State. This work knits together my interests in spatial data science, infrastructural inequalities in the United States, the mechanisms of insecurity, and their impact on well-being or health .
Previously I worked as a community data coordinator for the Spokane Public Library and City of Spokane. There, my work focused on bringing usable civic data to the community, community education, and developing data governance and ethics policies for the City of Spokane. While at the library, I collaborated with students and faculty at Eastern Washington University and colleagues responsible for the Homeless Management Information System to better understand the crisis of housing through analysis of the Point in Time count and other local data sources.
I completed my PhD from the Department of Geography at the University of Oregon in 2021. I am a methodologist and cartographer concerned with social inequality - particularly the ways that environmental inequality contributes to unequal wellness outcomes. Data ethics are central to my work. My NITC funded dissertation project with Dr. Amy Lobben worked to directly improve the quality of life for persons with a disability.
I hold a B.A. in Peace Studies from Whitworth University and two masters degrees from Southern Illinois University - an M.A. in Sociology and an M.S. in Geography. I have previously worked as a researcher for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and a water resources analyst for the consulting firm CDM Smith.
My previous work examined the household level plumbing inequality, unequal impacts of natural disasters and the relationship between health and environments.