Over the last year, the PSTC is pleased to have welcomed several new staff members.

PSTC faculty member & dean of public health Dr. Megan Ranney talks about the importance of treating gun violence the same way we treat other public health crises – before it lands people in the ER.

PSTC Researcher Elizabeth Fussell gave the keynote address at last month's meeting of the Geographical Sciences Committee at the National Academies of Sciences.

In a podcast produced by the Brookings Institution, PSTC Economist Anna Aizer discussed how economic shocks can have outsize effects on children, interrupting their growth and development.

Dear Graduates...

PSTC Anthropologists Kate Mason and Andrea Flores, in collaboration with anthropologist Sarah Willen, are investigating the effects of the pandemic on first-generation college students and their parents.

Brown researchers found that Ethiopian youth who develop high career expectations in early adolescence are more likely to delay first sex, a key predictor of age at first marriage for young women.

Dr. Megan Ranney says exposure to gun violence at school can have lifelong consequences for students and communities.

The PSTC Undergraduate Fellows Program is an eight-week, paid summer fellowship that aims to prepare current Brown undergraduates to engage in rigorous empirical research in population studies, public policy and related fields, in support of the center’s mission to produce evidence in support of efforts to improve public health and inform public policy. 

Anthropology trainee Argenis Hurtado Moreno has been named a 2022 Ford Foundation PreDoctoral Fellow.

In his recently published book, Daniel Jordan Smith highlights Nigerian resilience amidst inadequate government support.

Reducing congestion and its problems of pollution and carbon emissions won’t be easy or cheap. But transportation experts continue to search for answers.

Assistant Professor of International and Public Affairs and Sociology Jayanti Owens, who studies gender and racial disparities in education, says the lack of time for play in many schools can be tough on boys in particular.

PSTC economist Terry-Ann Craigie explores how mass incarceration negatively impacts the female partners of male inmates.

PSTC sociologist Elizabeth Fussell comments on environmental migrants.

PSTC economist John Friedman comments on persistent economic inequality in the context of the pandemic.

In her new book, The Succeeders: How Immigrant Youth Are Transforming What It Means to Belong in America, cultural anthropologist and PSTC Faculty Associate Andrea Flores examines the complex relationship between US immigrant communities and educational mobility.

PSTC epidemiologist Mark Lurie commented on the current state of the COVID-19 crisis and what the coming months might hold.

PSTC sociologist John Logan commented on the findings of the 2020 Census.

David Lindstrom presented work in late July to Ethiopian policymakers.

This opinion piece by David Brooks cites PSTC sociologist David Lindstrom's work on Mexican immigrant integration.

We checked in with the 2020-2021 T32 fellowship recipients to find out about their current research.

The New York Times profiles PSTC economist Emily Oster's research on reopening schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

PSTC Postdoctoral Fellow Jake Carlson explains why housing is a social good, and proposes the creation of a Social Development Housing Authority, which would convert distressed real estate into permanently affordable housing.

“This project aims to contribute new knowledge about how racial/ethnic segregation in neighborhoods and schools relates to mental health and academic persistence from childhood to early adulthood,” Candipan explained.

We celebrate and congratulate the 8 PSTC trainees who received their PhDs last weekend.

PSTC epidemiologist Diana Grigsby-Toussaint comments on how racist practices such as redlining have made it more likely that communities of color live in areas with less green space and more air pollution, which may lead to more health risks.

PSTC sociologist Andrew Schrank comments on how President Biden's economic initiatives will benefit older Americans.

PSTC sociologist and Associate Director Zhenchao Qian has co-authored a new article in Journal of Marriage and Family examining the fertility rates of American interracial couples.

"Education increased opportunities for young people, and one way it did this was by encouraging migration.” 

PSTC postdoctoral research associate Meghan Zacher comments on the long-term mental and physical health effects of the pandemic.

“Charter schools decouple neighborhoods and schools in the sense that parents may be able to choose neighborhoods and schools independently."

PSTC/S4 Postdoctoral Research Associate Jake Carlson proposes the creation of a new federal agency, the Social Development Housing Authority, as a way of creating affordable housing for tenants.

Four PSTC faculty associates have received Research Seed Awards for projects on the effects of COVID-19 on marginalized communities and on transit in developing countries.

“My collaborators and I hope that this project will strengthen country-level Land Degradation Neutrality and drought resilience data, decision-making, and policies towards achieving a key component of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

PSTC anthropologist Kate Mason discusses the Pandemic Journaling Project, an outlet for Americans to reflect on the pandemic while contributing to anthropological records.

Expanded access to long-acting reversible contraception helped increase the use of effective postpartum contraception in an age group that is more likely to have closely spaced, higher-risk repeat pregnancies.

PSTC epidemiologist Diana Grigsby-Toussaint comments on why communities of color may be less likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

PSTC economist John Friedman comments on why traditional stimulus payments aren't as effective during the pandemic.

Fussell hopes that by developing a longitudinal data set from 2000 to 2020, she will better understand how the 2006 and 2017 disasters influenced migration from Puerto Rico to the U.S.

In the context of consumer confidence, PSTC economist Neil Thakral explains how the speed at which the CARES Act stimulus payments are distributed impacts their potential to stimulate the economy.

In 2020, we celebrated two staff milestones: Tom Alarie's 25 years working at PSTC, and Sue Silveira's retirement.

The PSTC colloquia moved online for most of 2020.

PSTC Postdoctoral Research Associate Meghan Zacher studies how natural disasters affect physical health in a new paper.

With a focus on the demographic composition of the editorial teams of flagship quantitative geography journals, Franklin and her team investigated the persistent lack of gender diversity.

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