Jessica Schad will be joining us from South Dakota State University where she is an Assistant Professor. Jessica’s research typically seeks to answer two questions: 1) How do natural resource related trends or events, like oil and gas extraction, amenity migration, or the BP oil spill, impact rural communities and quality of life within them, and vice versa? 2) What influences how different types of agricultural producers, including commodity crop farmers, livestock owners, and even Amish farmers make decisions about the conservation practices on the land they farm or own? Her research questions are typically answered using mixed methods, including interviews, surveys, and observations and she enjoys teaching a graduate level class on survey methodology. She will be moving to Logan with her husband Kyle (who is a diehard fly fisherman), her two children, Finley (3), and Maisie (2), and dog Buddy. Jessica is very excited to join the university and explore the beautiful community with family and friends.
We also welcome Dr. Hyojun Park who served as a visiting assistant professor this year. Hyojun received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Epidemiology Branch at NIH/NICHD. His experience has covered sociology, demography, population health sciences, and epidemiology with specific interests in life-course perspectives on population health outcomes, community health, and analytic approaches in observational data. Specifically, he is interested in how child growth and obesity trajectory are influenced by a range of multiple determinants, including developmental origins, maternal depression, food environment, and neighborhood characteristics.
Mufti Nadimul Quamar Ahmed is a graduate student in his second year, pursuing a doctorate in sociology at USU. He recently helped survey Utahns to see if environmental concerns affect the decision to have children.
Utah State University President’s Office recently held receptions for this year’s round of inaugural lectures. Three recently promoted faculty in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences presented thoughtful reflections on their research and the even...
