Kathryn Grace

Research

I explore the ways climate and environmental change impact poor people's lives. I primarily explore the experiences of the poorest women and children on the planet. Usually, I focus on reproductive health, family planning decision-making, infant/child health and food insecurity. Using my geographic training and quantitative background I aim to build on past approaches and theories found in demography and public health. I strive to bring an alternative perspective to issues related to women’s health and development through the use of a quantitative, mixed-disciplinary approach to the examination of the way that individual, family, or household outcomes are conditioned by place; including both the culture and the natural environment. I spend time exploring underlying theories of development, resource use and access, building on my own personal experiences and observations from time spent in poor countries and communities.

Biography

I first started my college career at UC Berkeley as a theoretical mathematics major (with a minor in French). While at Berkeley I became actively involved in the Student Parent group on campus. This was an amazingly supportive campus resource for me as a mom who was trying to cope with the challenges of parenting a little baby and managing college demands. It also helped me develop a greater understanding of the challenges mothers face. I then built on my math background and interests in women’s health and finished my MSPH at Tulane’s School of Public Health, followed by my MA in statistics at UC Santa Barbara and finally my PhD in Geography at UC Santa Barbara. My dissertation focused on Guatemalan women’s reproductive health and fertility and merged my math/statistics background with my commitment to reproductive health.