Population Health Research
Population health is an approach that focuses on improving the overall health of a community rather than treating individual patients. Individual, neighborhood, and societal factors all influence or determine population health. Population health research by faculty and students in ESS investigates social/environmental determinants of a variety of health problems such as obesity, cancer, mental problems, and healthcare utilization. We use quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate how physical (e.g., air pollution, greenspace, tobacco outlets) and social (e.g., neighborhood safety, discrimination, social cohesion, food desert) factors influence individuals’ health behaviors, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes.
Population Health Faculty
Professor
Co-Director, Center for Natural and Technological Hazards
Human-environment interactions; Vulnerability; Hazards and Disasters; Environmental Justice; Health Disparities; Climate Change, Water, Wildfire, and Air Pollution
Professor of Sociology and ESS
Co-Director, Center for Natural and Technological Hazards
Assistant Professor
Geographic Data Science, Spatiotemporal Computing, Machine Learning, Spatial Epidemiology
Associate Professor
Director, Utah Geo-Health Lab
Director, MSGIS program
GIS and Spatial Methods in Understanding and Solving Environmental Health Problems
Professor
Director, Urban and Sustainability Research Lab (USRL)
Economic/Urban Geography; Global, Urban, and Regional Development; Regional Science and Spatial Analysis, China