Introducing 2019-2020 Chapter Leaders

Austin’s work focuses on community development, public-private partnerships, housing, community economic development, and public finance. Overarching themes in Austin’s writings include social equity, disadvantaged and underserved communities, and women.

Burciaga's research focuses on undocumented immigrant youth, specifically the role of state and local contexts in shaping their educational trajectories, work and career development, and participation in activism. Overarching themes in Burciaga's writing include immigration, college access, social justice organizing, and policies that encourage immigrant integration. Burciaga has worked with immigrant rights organizations in California, Massachusetts, Georgia and Colorado.

Cannavò is an environmental political theorist. His academic interests focus on how our conceptions of and relationships with the natural world, including how we organize our spatial surroundings into coherent, meaningful places, impact on our fundamental understandings of politics and community. He is currently interested in how the civic republican tradition intersects with environmentalism and in the implications of climate change for civic virtue and democracy. 

Dr. Deprez’s commitment is to social justice, equality and equity.  With a focus on social policy, her work unearths the politics of policy-making as well as the impact of ideology and public opinion on policy exposing the resultant social, economic, and personal consequences. Scholarship concentrated on welfare policy focuses on both its restrictive nature and its corresponding impact and effect on recipients, most particularly single-mothers pursuing post- secondary education. The power of higher education in sustaining privilege and its resultant impact on thwarting access to low-income parents emerges in these investigations.

Downey's research focuses on the impact of natural and manmade disasters on local economic development. She also has written about the impact of tax increment financing on communities of color, as well as how different levels of government litigate against each other in disputed policy realms. Downey serves as the chair of the Housing Committee for the city of East Lansing, Michigan and on the board of Voters Not Politicians, a grassroots organization advocating for an end to partisan gerrymandering in the state of Michigan.

Gómez has worked as a health equity researcher with a focus on reproduction and sexuality throughout the life course. She has conducted research both in the U.S. and globally on diverse topics, including contraceptive use, abortion, HIV prevention, gender equity, transgender health and violence against women and children. Her current research focuses on three areas: (1) the measurement and meaning of pregnancy planning; (2) understanding contraceptive decision-making within social, relational and structural contexts; and (3) evaluating the impact of and evidence base for policies related to reproductive health. She also serves as a co-PI on SOLARS, a prospective, longitudinal cohort study funded by UCSF's Preterm Birth Initiative.

Greenfield's research focuses on the intersections of health and wealth disparities across the life course, especially through the mechanism of family care work. Through her research, Greenfield seeks to identify and test policy interventions that best support families as they balance work and caregiving. She also collaborates on projects related to economic security across the life course, the health and mental health effects of productive engagement in later life, and analysis of public policy initiatives related to health care access and economic security in Colorado. Greenfield regularly contributes to policymaking processes through testimony in state legislatures, published op-eds, and regular communication with policymakers at the state and federal levels.

King’s research focuses on election administration, public policy, citizen voting experiences, and race and ethnicity. Overarching themes in King’s writings include the administrative structure of rights restoration for citizens with felony convictions, citizen confidence in electoral outcomes, and the consequences of administrative discretion on voter experiences. King serves as the director of the Master of Public Administration program at Auburn University, an instructor in the Election Center Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) Program, and an Affiliated Researcher with the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA).

Mossakowski's research focuses on medical sociology, mental health, aging, social psychology, and coping with stress. Overarching themes in Mossakowski's writings include coping with the stress of discrimination and the social determinants of mental health. Mossakowski serves as the President of the Hawaii Sociological Association 2018-2019, member of the editorial board of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior (the flagship medical sociology journal of the American Sociological Association) 2019-2022, and served as advisor for and member of the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Hawaii, and gave "Live your Life Well" presentations for Mental Health America Hawaii in workplaces on coping with stress and protecting mental health.

Nuñez’s research and teaching focus on promoting access to and success in postsecondary education, particularly for groups historically underrepresented in higher education. Much of her work addresses college attendance and completion for Latino, first-generation, and migrant students in the U.S. More recently, she has been focusing on how higher education accountability policies and ratings systems influence equity in higher education. In addition, Nuñez studies how Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) contribute to postsecondary advancement in the U.S., particularly for Latino populations.

Piquero's research focuses on crime policy, crime prevention, crime rates, immigration/crime, and sports/crime.

Piquero will lead a new chapter forming in Dallas this year.

Prouty's research employs system dynamics (SD) modeling which is a computational technique where factors and dynamics are reflected by mathematical equations to simulate the behavior of a system over time. This kind of research makes a particularly unique contribution to the field of applied environmental engineering as it employs a mixed method, community-informed approach (i.e. surveys, interviews, and participatory observations, water quality analysis, and process-based mass balance analysis) to populate the SD models and evaluate their simulated behavior.

Sanders’ expertise is in reproductive epidemiology, contraception and abortion. Her research focuses on issues of public health, obstetrics, and gynecology.

Dr. Urick's research interests include school improvement in the areas of principal and teacher perceptions of leadership, school structures and equitable opportunity, and teacher retention. She specializes in research design, advanced statistical methods and the use of large databases. Her work informs K12 educational leaders and policymakers on the topics of accountability, academic standards, teacher workforce, school reform and education funding.

Sarah Verbiest is a Clinical Associate Professor at the UNC School of Social Work and the Executive Director of the Center for Maternal & Infant Health in the UNC School of Medicine. She is also the CDC Senior Consultant for the National Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative and the director of the Every Woman Southeast Coalition, a regional preconception health initiative. In addition to teaching courses on health equity and policy, she directs several programs addressing the needs of women, pregnant women, new mothers and their infants.