Skip to content. | Skip to navigation

Personal tools

Log in

You are here: www.cpc.unc.edu → Training → Predoctoral Program → Predoctoral Trainees

Predoctoral Trainees


Daniel Auguste Email: auguste.daniel@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101C CPC South
Research focus: Economic development, educational inequality, and neighborhood effects and life outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ted Mouw, Sociology


Timothy Baird, M.A. Email: tbaird@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, September 2009	Phone: (919) 966-4763 530 CPC East
Research focus: Conservation, resilience, complex adaptive systems, and livelihood diversification in East Africa CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Paul Leslie, Anthropology


Olga Belskaya Email: belskaya@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Economics	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101A CPC South
Research focus: Labor and health economics; economic development including reforms and quality of higher education in developing countries; health reforms, female-male wage gap in developing countries CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Klara Peter, Economics


Courtney Boen, M.P.H. Email: courtney.boen@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101G CPC South
Research focus: Racial inequality; residential mobility and segregation; social determinants of racial health inequities; neighborhood effects CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Yang Yang, Sociology


Jill Braly Email: jillbraly@gmail.com Graduate Student, Geography	Phone: (919) 843-4695 103 CPC South
Research focus: Human-environment interactions as related to patterns of infectious disease CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Laura Brewington, Ph.D. Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation successfully defended, August 2011
Research focus: Population dynamics, sustainable development, environmental resilience/vulnerability, and the political ecology of the Galapagos Islands CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Stephen Walsh, Geography

Susan Caplow Email: scaplow@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Ecology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in East Africa CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Pam Jagger and Paul Leslie, Anthropology

Brittany Glarrow Chamberlain Email: bglarrow@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Anthropology	Phone: (919)843-4695 207 CPC South
Research focus: Biocultural perspective on maternal decision making and childhood obesity; obesigenic environments; social, environmental, and physiological interactions CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Amanda Thompson,Anthropology


Raquel Zanatta Coutinho, M.A. Email: raquelzc@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 209 CPC South
Research focus: Second demographic transition; family and household formation; reproductive intentions and outcomes; religion, and youth CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Lisa Pearce, Sociology


Catherine Donovan Email: kdonovan@unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101N CPC South
Research focus: Breastfeeding practices among young mothers in the Philippines CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Linda Adair, Nutrition

Heather Edelblute, M.P.H. Email: edelblut@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 966-6178 527 CPC East
Research focus: Migration and health, social support for mothers in transnational families, impacts of migration on origin communities, gendered aspects of social networks, neighborhoods and health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ted Mouw, Sociology

Kim Engie Email: kengie@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, October 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101L CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions, resilience, and natural resource management in the Galapagos Islands CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Stephen Walsh, Geography


Brian Foster Email: bfstr1@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101K CPC South
Research focus: Social demography; race and ethnicity; stratification; education; and inequality CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Tony Perez, Sociology


Yilan Fu Email: yilanfu@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	302A1 CPC East
Research focus: Adolescent health behavior and consequences, genetic - social interactions, and quantitative methods CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Guang Guo, Sociology


Anisha Gandhi, M.P.H. Email: anishadgandhi@gmail.com Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 106 CPC South
Research focus: Social and structural determinants of reproductive health in international contexts. CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Clare Barrington, HBHE, and Sharon Weir, Epidemiology

Karen Gerken Email: kgerken@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101J CPC South
Research focus: Neighborhood context; stratification; race and ethnicity; and adolescent health CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, Sociology

Sophia Giebultowicz, M.A. Email: sgiebult@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, November 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 103 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in rural Bangladesh CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Risa Griffin Email: risa_grifffin@unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Fertility intentions and outcomes; contraceptive use; reproductive health policy CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Yong Cai, Sociology

Liza Guzman Email: lguzman@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Ecology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 104 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in the Galapagos Islands CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Pam Jagger, Public Policy and Paul Leslie, Anthropology

Kelly Houck, M.A. Email: khouck@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Anthropology	531 CPC East
Research focus: Biocultural perspectives on the health consequences of urbanization and market integration in China and the Ecuadorian Amazon; impacts of local disease ecologies on childhood growth, nutrition and immune function CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Amanda Thompson, Anthropology and Paul Voss, Sociology

Carolyn Huang Email: carhuang@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Public Policy	Phone: (919) 843-4695 202 CPC South
Research focus: Poverty alleviation; social and safety net programming; African development CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Sudhanshu Handa, Public Policy

Laili Irani Email: lirani@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Maternal and Child Health Dissertation proposal successfully defended, April 2011	310B CPC West
Research focus: Contraceptive use among urban dwellers in Bangladesh CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ilene Speizer, Maternal and Child Health

Kathryn Lancaster Email: klanc@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 202 CPC South
Research focus: Social, behavioral, and structural determinants of sexual and reproductive health outcomes, including the development of multi-level prevention interventions CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Audrey Pettifor, Epidemiology

Kathleen Lawlor Email: klawlor@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Public Policy	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101I CPC South
Research focus: Impacts of forest conservation, carbon finance, and institutional conditions on local welfare and ecosystem services in the tropics. CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Paul Leslie, Anthropology and Pamela Jagger, Public Policy


Yi Li Email: yili@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	302A3 CPC East
Research focus: Interplay between social environment and genetics; social demography CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Guang Guo, Sociology

Amy McCleary, M.A. Email: alnorman@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation proposal successfully defended, June 2008	Phone: (919) 843-4695 209 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in Latin America CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Stephen Walsh, Geography

Jane Messina, Ph.D. Email: jmessina@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Geography Dissertation successfully defended, October 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101M CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions and infectious diseases in the Democratic Republic of Congo CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography

Brian Miller Email: bwmiller@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Ecology Dissertation proposal successfully defended, January 2011	Phone: (919) 843-4695 106 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions in Tanzania; rangeland ecology and natural resource management; pastoralist livelihood diversification CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Paul Leslie, Anthropology

William Miller Email: millerwm@live.unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 106 CPC South
Research focus: HIV/STI prevalence and sexual behavior among vulnerable populations in the international sphere CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Clare Barrington, HBHE, and Sharon Weir, Epidemiology

Jessica Pearlman, M.A. Email: pearlman@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-2509 526 CPC East
Research focus: Labor market inequality and health disparities; relationships between demographic and economic change CPC Faculty Preceptors: Drs. Philip Cohen and Lisa Pearce, Sociology

Kivan Polimis Email: kivan.polimis@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101D CPC South
Research focus: Processes of cumulative disadvantage, specifically Inequalities in education and their effects on labor market and healthcare outcomes. CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Tony Perez, Sociology

Stephanie Potochnick Email: potochni@email.unc.edu Ph.D. Candidate, Public Policy Dissertation proposal successfully defended, December 2010	536 CPC East
Research focus: Immigration policy and processes related to settlement patterns, the educational system, and health care CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Krista Perreira, Public Policy

Andrea Richardson Email: asrichar@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Nutrition	400A CPC East
Research focus: Underlying mechanisms between environment, behaviors, biology (genetics), and health disparities; food environments and individual health outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen, Nutrition

Cheryl Roberts Email: carobert@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4443 401I CPC East
Research focus: Inequality and health; social determinants of health and mental health; life course; adolescent risk behavior CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Glen Elder, Sociology

Molly Rosenberg Email: msr2a@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 207 CPC South
Research focus: Spatial and social determinants of HIV risk; economic influences of sexual risk behavior; microfinance; cash transfers; sexual behavior and HIV risk among South African adolescent schoolgirls CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Audrey Pettifor, Epidemiology

Kristen Schorpp Email: kschorpp87@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101F CPC South
Research focus: Biological-social interactions and health; impact of social disparities and health behaviors on disease occurrence, immune function, and aging CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Yang Yang, Sociology

Shradha Shrestha Email: shradhashresth@gmail.com Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 966-1716 540A CPC South
Research focus: Inequality and stratification; environment and population interactions in Nepal. CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Lisa Pearce, Sociology

Lisa Spees Email: lspees21@gmail.com Graduate Student, Public Policy	525 CPC East
Research focus: Community and school-level factors that enhance Latino adolescents' capacities to reach their academic aspirations CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Krista Perreira, Public Policy

Kelly Strutz Email: strutz@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	Phone: (919) 843-4695 107A CPC South
Research focus: Social context of pregnancy, behaviors, and outcomes CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Jon Hussey, Maternal and Child Health

Christine Tucker, M.P.H. Email: chrisytucker@gmail.com Graduate Student, Maternal and Child Health	Phone: (919) 843-4695 107B CPC South
Research focus: Social determinants of reproductive health among Latino adolescents CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Carolyn Halpern, Maternal and Child Health


Katherine Tumlinson, M.A. Email: ktumlin@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Epidemiology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 101H CPC South
Research focus: Improving access to family planning in East Africa; quality of reproductive health services CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Ilene Speizer, Epidemiology

Ashton Verdery, M.A. Email: verdery@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 105 CPC South
Research focus: Social network research, statistical methodologies, agent based modeling, human environment interactions, and causes and consequences of human migration; particular emphasis on the development of new methodologies to deal with missing social network data, sample hidden and hard to reach populations, and understand human-environment relationships CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Barbara Entwisle, Sociology

Brandon Wagner Email: bgwagner@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Sociology	Phone: (919) 843-4695 105 CPC South
Research focus: Inclusion of biological research in social models with a focus on methods and theoretical foundations, fertility behaviors and practices with a particular emphasis on sexual concurrency CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Kathleen Mullan Harris, Sociology

Jennifer Winston Email: jwfuller@email.unc.edu Graduate Student, Geography	Phone: (919) 843-4695 103 CPC South
Research focus: Population-environment interactions, drinking water contamination, and birth defects CPC Faculty Preceptor: Dr. Michael Emch, Geography