Associate Professor, Associate Chair

Sociology

Research and Teaching Interests

I currently teach courses in the sociology of health and medicine, environmental sociology, quantitative research methods, data visualization, and the politics of social policy.

My scholarly interests are currently focused on two primary areas-the social determinants of health and the spatial analysis of social issues. With respect to the former, I am exploring racial and class disparities in blood lead levels in young children. Elevated lead levels have been linked to both cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, as well as related social outcomes throughout the life course, such as educational attainment. This research highlights the role of social factors in shaping health outcomes that ultimately inform long-standing questions about the mechanisms and processes behind the social reproduction of inequality across generations. A second body of research uses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map the distribution of community hazards, resources, and events to better inform our understanding of the spatial dimensions of inequality and poverty. This research is connected to my course on the spatial analysis of social issues and emerging opportunities for community-based research at Colorado College.

I'm also committed to flattening the learning curve of R, a free, open-source programming language well suited to statistics and data visualization. My ever-improving e-book for R is linked below.

Online Video Tutorials

GIS Video Tutorials

Stata Video Tutorials

Quantitative Research Methods "Pages" (Stata-based)

R you Ready for R? (e-book)

Regular Classes

SO130 -- Environmental Sociology

SO233 -- Spatial Analysis of Social Issues

SO246 -- Sociology of Health and Medicine

SO290 -- Data Analysis and Visualization

SO301 -- Quantitative Research Methods

SO318 -- Politics, Inequality, and Social Policy