PRI's Brian King named head of the Department of Geography
Brian King, professor of geography, associate head for the department’s resident graduate programs and Population Research Institute associate, has been appointed head of the Department of Geography. He began on July 1.
King succeeds Cynthia Brewer, who will remain an active member of the faculty…
Flood Risk is Higher in Rural and Disadvantaged Communities
A joint research brief by Penn State's Danielle Rhubert, assistant professor of biobehavioral health and Population Research Institute associate, and Yu Sun, Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Syracuse University, addresses how flood risk varies across places with different demographic and social…
Pathways training program receives National Institute on Aging grant award
The Center for Healthy Aging’s Pathways T32 Training Program supports the next generation of scientists in identifying psychosocial determinants and biological pathways that regulate healthy and unhealthy aging. The program, which provides pre- and post-doctoral scientists with foundational…
Penn State Security Center announces Fall 2021 Grant Program
The Penn State Center for Security Research and Education (CSRE) is announcing its Fall 2021 Grant Program to support security-related scholarship and educational programs at Penn State. University faculty and researchers are eligible to apply by Sept. 30. The primary grant categories include…
New EIC Podcast - Unemployment and the Labor Market
This month on the Evidence-to-Impact Podcast, we continue the Pandemic Perspective series and examine how the pandemic impacted unemployment and the labor market.
To debunk some of the concerns and myths of unemployment and dive into the shifting economy, we spoke to Sarah Damaske, Ph.D., associate…
COVID-19 and The Commonwealth: County-Level Differences in Vaccination and Death Rates
A recent policy brief by the Pennsylvania Population Network at Penn State shows the “great differences” in COVID-19 vaccination rates across the Commonwealth. Written by Cassandra Krencisz, Anna E. Shetler, Samiha Taseen and Raeven Faye Chandler, this report explores these differences and analyzes…
Morgan named AERA Fellow
CEDR Director and PRI Affiliate Paul Morgan, the Harry & Marion Eberly Faculty Fellow and professor of education (education theory and policy) in the Penn State College of Education, is one of 19 exemplary scholars chosen by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) as 2021 AERA…
Hydration can impact pregnancy and birth outcomes
Water needs increase during pregnancy to support fetal development and maternal health, however little is known about the relationship between hydration status and outcomes on both mother and child. A Penn State study recently examined the hydration status of pregnant women, the impact of a…
The U.S. Spends Less Than Nearly Every Country on Unemployment. That's Why People Can't Get Jobs.
By Sarah Damaske for Time
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported significant job growth in June: 850,000 new jobs. But with the unemployment rate stubbornly stuck at 5.9 percent, the debate about whether generous federal unemployment benefits keep people from returning to work continues. Last…
SPR 'Abstract of Distinction' award goes to Research-to-Policy Collaborative
A symposium organized by Assistant Research Professor and Co-Director of the Research-to-Policy Collaborative (RPC) Taylor Scott won an 'Abstract of Distinction' Award at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) held June 2-4.
More information about the…
Serving larger portions of veggies may increase young kids' veggie consumption
It can be difficult to get young kids to eat enough vegetables, but a new Penn State study found that simply adding more veggies to their plates resulted in children consuming more vegetables at the meal.
The researchers found that when they doubled the amount of corn and broccoli served at a meal…
New book: Time-Varying Effect Modeling for the Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences
This book, co-authored by Stephanie Lanza, Penn State professor of biobehavioral health and director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center (PRC); and Ashley Linden-Carmichael, PRC assistant research professor, is the first to introduce applied behavioral, social, and health sciences…
Why Social Science? - Because Trans Activism Can Change How We Understand Language
By Aris Keshav, UC Santa Barbara
If you're reading this, you've probably already encountered transgender linguistic activism. When people introduce themselves, for example, it's increasingly common to share pronouns and ask what others use, instead of assuming the best way to refer to them based on…
SAFE-T Center awarded grant to expand training, establish workforce advancement
Sexual assault victims have better outcomes when they receive specialized care, yet there is a shortage of trained sexual-assault nurses across the country, especially in rural areas.
A $1.5 million, three-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration will allow the Penn State’s…
Engage Podcast highlights project
Penn State Clinical and Translational Science Institute released the latest episode of its Engage Podcast discussing research into e-cigarettes. Andrea Hobkirk, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavior health, discusses her work into how the brain responds to flavored e-cigarettes…
US women feel guilty about this, but men don't
Opinion by PRI Associate Director Sarah Damaske for CNN
An engaged mother of three, Vanessa worked as a certified nursing assistant, making just above minimum wage. She had no savings when her employer downsized, and she worried about how her job loss would impact her kids and her fiancé. She…
Privilege plays a huge role in getting an ADHD diagnosis
By Jess Joho for Mashable
For more than two decades now, the prevailing cultural narratives around ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) centered on suspicions of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. A significant rise in ADHD diagnoses in the '90s sparked concerns that continue to this day…
Penn State early career scholars selected for postdoctoral fellowships
SSRI cofunded faculty member Ericka Weathers, assistant professor of education (educational theory and policy), and Matthew Gardner Kelly, assistant professor of education (educational leadership) in Penn State’s College of Education have been selected as 2021 National Academy of Education (NAEd)/…
Behavior limits COVID-19 spread between University and community
When universities across the U.S. opted to return students to campus for in-person learning during the coronavirus pandemic in the fall of 2020, surrounding communities were understandably concerned that COVID-19 infections rates would significantly increase.
In response, several Penn State…
Ehrenthal named director of Social Science Research Institute
The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research welcomes Deborah Ehrenthal, MD, MPH, as the new Director of the Social Science Research Institute (SSRI), effective September 1, 2021. Dr. Ehrenthal succeeds Dr. Susan McHale, who is returning to her full‐time faculty position after 14 years as…
Penn State researchers are developing app to promote family well-being
The middle-school years mark a time of rapid change for pre-teens and teens, as well as for their parents. As adolescents seek greater independence, it can be challenging for their parents to connect with and guide them. Penn State researchers, with funding from the Mental Research Institute, are…
Human development and family studies professor joins Recovery Rising initiative
H. Harrington ‘Bo’ Cleveland, professor of human development and family studies at Penn State and SSRI cofunded faculty member, has been appointed to the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs’ Recovery Rising initiative.
Recovery Rising works to foster a resilient, diverse and…
Parents may underestimate impact of involving adolescent children in conflicts
When parents who are fighting with each other draw their adolescent children into their conflicts, the children may perceive those conflicts very differently than their parents, according to a new Penn State study.
"Parents may not realize the impact they are having on their children," said Devin…
After School Shootings, Well-Off Families Flee and Enrollment Drops. Low-Income Kids are Left to Confront the Aftermath
For more than a decade after the 1999 school shooting at Columbine High School in suburban Denver, Frank DeAngelis held a simple promise: He’d stay on as principal until every student class enrolled in the district during the attack reached the graduation stage.
Despite the community upheaval and…
New book, 'The Tolls of Uncertainty,' examines the US unemployment system
In April 2020, soon after the pandemic forced the U.S. into lockdown, the unemployment rate reached 14.8%, the highest documented since data collection began in 1948. More than a year later, 4.2 million fewer women and 3.5 million fewer men are employed, compared to just before the start of the…