Publications, awards, and other accomplishments

Graduate Student Awards

• Christie Miksys* successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Universities as Gendered Organizations: A Sociological Approach to Studying Campus Responses to Sexual Assault.” Her committee consists of Julie Kmec, Jen Schwartz, and Stacey Hust.
• Cassie Leonard* defended her dissertation, “Economic Development and Capability Development: Refining the Epidemiological Transition and the Role of NGOs in Developing Country Health from 2000–2019.” Her committee consists of Alair Maclean, Justin Denney, and Mari Amorim.
• Seon Yup Lee* accepted a Survey Data Analyst position at Kansas State University.
• Shekinah Hoffman* accepted a part-time position as the director of Programs & Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging at the Massachusetts Council on Gaming & Health. MACGH is a public health agency that offers a range of services and support to those impacted by problem gambling. 
• Whitney Shervey* successfully defended their master’s thesis, “The Gender Wage Gap in the Restaurant Industry.”
• Safiya Hafiz* successfully defended her master’s thesis, “The Effects of County-Level Characteristics on the Rate of Petitioned Juvenile Court Cases.”
• Zoey Rawson* successfully defended her master’s thesis, “Geographies of Transgender Minority Stress: The Role of U.S. States in Shaping Transgender Mental Health.”
• Emma Deneau* successfully defended her master’s thesis, “The Geography of System Navigation Problems.”
• Thomas Familia* successfully defended his dissertation titled, “Participant in Green Energy Transitions: Climate Change Events, Organizational Challenges, and Trust.”
• Thomas Familia* accepted a post-doc position in the School of Complex Adaptive Systems at Arizona State University.

Faculty Awards

• Vanessa Delgado^‡ was awarded a 2024–2025 ADVANCE at WSU External Mentor Grant.
• Anna Zamora-Kapoor^‡ (Principal Investigator) has been funded by the NIH AIM AHEAD Research Fellowship, with her proposal: Leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to examine sleep disorders and chronic cardiometabolic conditions across racial and ethnic groups. She plans to conduct a secondary data analysis with OCHIN data to improve knowledge in sleep health disparities. Funded amount: 51,000
• Justin Denney^‡ joined the editorial board for Social Science Research.
• Mari Amorim^‡ with colleague Scott Allard (University of Washington) received a grant titled “Alternative Financial Services in Washington” funded by the WA State Department of Financial Services ($300,000).
• Justin Denney^‡ joined the editorial board of the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

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Graduate Student Publications

• Jingyu Lang* had a co-authored article, “What’s in a Name? Contrasting the Politics of PostCovid Symptoms Across Three Countries,” accepted for publication in Science, Public and Society.

Faculty Publications

• Jennifer Sherman^‡ had an article, “‘A Problem with the Person’: Class Blindness and the Reproduction of Social Class Inequality” accepted for publication in Qualitative Sociology.
• Jenn Sherman^‡ had an article, “Presidential Address: Reconceptualizing Rurality and Nurturing Rural Sociological Souls” accepted for publication in Rural Sociology 89(3): 361–374.
• Julie Kmec^‡ and Christine Horne^‡ published a paper in Socius titled “The DEI Penalty: The Effects of University Diversity Efforts on Perceptions of Quality and Status Threat”
• Mari Amorim^‡ with colleagues Pat Hastings (Colorado State University) and Sabino Kornrich (New York University) had the manuscript titled “The Fall and Rise of Parental Financial Investments During the COVID-19 Pandemic” accepted for publication at the Journal of Marriage and Family.
• Anna Zamora-Kapoor^‡, with co-authors Luciana Hebert, Pranav Mellacheruvu, Dedra Buchwald and Ka’imi Sinclair, published the article:Mediation of risk factors for high blood pressure in four racial and ethnic populations, with Longitudinal and Life Course Studies.
• Jenn Sherman^‡ had an article, “‘A Problem with the Person’: Class Blindness and the Reproduction of Social Class Inequality” accepted for publication in Qualitative Sociology. 
• Jenn Sherman^‡ had an article, “Presidential Address: Reconceptualizing Rurality and Nurturing Rural Sociological Souls” accepted for publication in Rural Sociology.
• Vanessa Delgado^‡ had an article, “Stratified Private Safety Nets: How Legal Status Shapes Financial Contributions by Immigrant-Origin Young Adults,” accepted for publication in Social Problems.

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Graduate Student Presentations

• Shekinah Hoffman* presented, “‘It Feels Ever-Present’:Gender Harassment in the Gaming/Gambling Industry,” at the 2024 American Sociological Association Annual Meeting.
• Jingyu Lang* had a poster, “Paid Sick Leave and Women’s Health: A Study of Access, Outcomes, and Disparities in the United States” accepted for presentation at Population Association of America 2025.
• Christian Maynard* and Jennifer Schwartz^‡ (faculty member) presented (poster) research entitled, “Assessing the Association between Drug Decriminalization and Jail Admissions in Washington State, 2020–2022″ at the American Society of Criminology, November 2024, San Francisco, CA.
• Christian Maynard* presented (paper) research entitled, “US Cannabis Legalization 2015–2022: Implications for Use and Availability Among Adolescents” at the American Society of Criminology, November 2024, San Francisco, CA

Faculty Presentations

• Jenn Sherman^‡ presented the keynote address, entitled, “Bad People and Good Ol’ Boys: The Criminalization of Rural Disadvantage.” 2024 Rural Network Conference, September 25, Yakima, WA
• Anna Zamora-Kapoor^‡ presented her research: “What happens when we try implementing AI in a rural clinic? Evidence from Washington State,” at the Annual Symposium of the Washington State Academy of Science, in Seattle, WA, on September 25.
• Sarah Whitley’s^‡ recent talk, “The Challenges and Effects of Rural Food Insecurity: An Eastern Washington Case Study” was mentioned on NWPB Morning Edition. You can find the article and transcript of the broadcast.
• Anna Zamora-Kapoor^‡ presented her research “Implementing a pilot study using AI-generated text messages to improve lung cancer screening in a rural clinic: Evidence from Washington state” at the 2024 AIM AHEAD Annual Meeting, in Atlanta, GA, August 6 –7. Zamora-Kapoor was awarded travel funds from WSU ADVANCE.  
• Jenn Sherman^‡ presented “Dividing Paradise: Inequality and Class Blindness in Rural America,” Alpha Kappa Delta Distinguished Lecture at the 119th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 10, Montreal, Quebec.
• Jenn Sherman^‡ presented the presidential address, “Reconceptualizing Rurality and Nurturing Rural Sociological Souls,” to the 86th Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, July 24, Madison, WI.
• Jenn Sherman^‡ presented “Bad People and Good Ol’ Boys: The Criminalization of Rural Disadvantage.” Humanities Washington talk to: Columbia County Rural Library District (Dayton); Washington Correction Center Library (Shelton); Twin Rivers Correctional Library (Monroe).
• Jenn Sherman^‡ presented “The Implications of Legal Deserts for Rural Criminal Justice: Evidence from Eastern Washington,” presented with first author Lisa Pruitt to the Criminalization in Rural Places: Unpacking the Causes and Effects panel at the 86th Annual Meeting of the Rural Sociological Society, July 25, Madison, WI.
• Monica Kirkpatrick Johnson^‡ was interviewed for the article, “Gen Z’s Never-Ending Safety Net,” in Business Insider.
• Mari Amorim^‡ presented an invited lecture entitled “Home Equity Share Agreements in Washington” at the West Coast Poverty Center Roundtable on Economic Insecurity (University of Washington)
• Christian Maynard* (graduate student) and Jennifer Schwartz^‡ presented (poster) research entitled, “Assessing the Association between Drug Decriminalization and Jail Admissions in Washington State, 2020–2022″ at the American Society of Criminology, November 2024, San Francisco, CA.