The Social Science Research Institute (SSRI) is welcoming nine new co-funded faculty members to Penn State. By helping to support co-funded faculty members, SSRI is demonstrating its commitment to interdisciplinary research within the social and behavioral sciences.
Mark Ortiz, assistant professor of geography, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences
Ortiz is interested in the global politics of climate change, youth-centered research approaches, and social movement studies. He completed his PhD in geography at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and is currently a Penn State Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow. Ortiz is also a cofunded faculty of the Institute for Energy and the Environment.
Anne Pisor, assistant professor of anthropology, College of the Liberal Arts
Pisor studies how people reduce climate impacts on their health and families, especially which strategies best reduce risk in different places and for different people. Pisor works not only in the US, but also Eastern Africa, where she collaborates with epidemiologists, climate scientists, and anthropologists in a range of communities – from fishers to camel herders. She also studies social relationships: how who we're connected with can reduce the risks we face, change how we use natural resources, and improve our household finances. Pisor received her PhD in anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ligia Reyes, assistant professor of nutritional sciences, College of Health and Human Development
Reyes’ research focus is on food choice. She studies social influences on dietary behavior during early childhood with an emphasis on social networks and food environments. She primarily works with families and communities with limited resources and living in geographically rural settings. Her background is in public health nutrition, and it expands across the U.S. and the Latin American region. She earned her PhD in health promotion, education, and behavior from the University of South Carolina. She also trained as a postdoctoral associate in nutritional sciences at Cornell University.
Tracee Saunders, assistant professor of political sciences, College of the Liberal Arts
Saunders research explores the political determinants of access to health care and social welfare resources using innovative methodological techniques, such as text analysis, network analysis, geographic information systems, and causal inference. She received her PhD in political science and MS in public health informatics from the University of Iowa. Prior to coming to Penn State, she was a research fellow in the Better Government Lab at Georgetown University.
Julia Szabo, assistant professor of sociology and Latina/o studies, College of the Liberal Arts
Szabo’s research examines how lived experiences, structural inequality, and spatial contexts influence residential and school choices among Latino families. She completed her PhD in sociology from Rice University and is a former middle school teacher.
Ryan Thombs, assistant professor of rural sociology, College of Agricultural Sciences
Thombs’ research interests include the anthropogenic drivers of environmental change, climate change’s impact on health and well-being, and how social inequality affects population health outcomes using advanced statistical methods. He received his PhD in sociology from Boston College and was recently a research scientist at Boston University.
Xue Zhang, assistant professor of biobehavioral health, College of Health and Human Development
Zhang’s research interests include the multilevel (individual, community, state) and multidimensional factors that contribute to population health. Zhang's most recent research has focused on geographic differences in demographic structure, public policy, social and structural determinants of health (income, education), and public health outcomes with a special interest in rural health disparities. She completed her PhD in regional science from Cornell University.
Kyle Aune, assistant professor of biobehavioral health, and Yan Lin, associate professor of geography, will join SSRI in January 2025.
SSRI enables and facilitates research that addresses critical human and social challenges at the local, national, and international levels. The institute supports over 60 co-funded faculty positioned within nine colleges and over 500 faculty across nine campuses via their affiliate program and various funding mechanisms.