Florence Becot featured in Council for Agricultural Science and Technology webinar
Florence Becot featured in Council for Agricultural Science and Technology webinar
Florence Becot, Nationwide Insurance Early Career Professor and Agricultural Safety and Health Program Lead at Pennsylvania State University’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, was recently featured on a webinar with the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology. Titled “Supporting the Mental Health and Economic Viability of Agricultural Communities,” the webinar focused on the mental health challenges facing farm families, what structural and social factors drive them, and what responses — from peer support to policy change — are showing real results. The session included a substantive Q&A covering help-seeking barriers, stigma, regional differences, and what policymakers should prioritize.
Jorden Jackson, who recently received her dual-title PhD in Rural Sociology and Demography from The Pennsylvania State University and now works at the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science at the University of Oxford, recently published an article in Population and Development Review with colleagues Brian C. Thiede, Nigel James, and Samrin Sauda. Titled “Conflict, Climate, and Child Health: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa,” the article uses data from 23 countries in Sub-Saharan African to understand how sociopolitical instability and climate change shape stressors that impact early-life health outcomes. They find that conflict and increased heat are both negative for child health and development, and that the effects vary across groups.
Mara Tieken, a professor of education at Bates College whose research centers on racial and educational equity in rural schools and communities, recently spoke with The Key with Inside Higher Ed. She focused on the rural students she followed into an elite institution for her most recent book, how their challenges represent the experiences of many rural students in the country and what support for rural students on campus looks like. Policymakers and higher ed institutions have worked to provide better opportunities and resources for underserved communities, but access to affordable education and supports for rural students remain challenging. Meanwhile, threats to federal funding for TRIO programs could make it even harder for rural students to get into college, and when they get on campus, few institutions understand their specific needs.
Tim Slack, professor of sociology at Louisiana State University, and Shannon Monnat, professor of sociology and Lerner Chair in Public Health Promotion and Population Health at Syracuse University, were recently featured in the ThriveIN podcast from Wabash County, Indiana. The interview focused around their recent article in The Conversation, where they note that rural communities have been shaped by simplified (and often inaccurate) narratives about politics, poverty, opportunity, and decline. They break down six of the most common myths and explain what the data actually reveals about rural life in America today. The conversation in the podcast explores how these misconceptions influence media coverage, public policy, and even how rural residents see themselves.
Lisa Pruitt, current RSS president and Brigitte Bodenheimer Research Scholar and Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Davis, was recently consulted for and quoted in an article in the Guardian. Titled “The powerful Democrat trying to win over California’s rural voters,” the piece discusses the campaign of Mike McGuire, who has recently gained popularity for visiting rural areas and proposing rural-focused policies. However, some analysts believe he will not win his special election, including Pruitt, who was asked about the campaign in the context of her expertise in rural law. She noted that while the candidate seems to understand rural issues, he is from a major population center, which may turn away rural voters.
Eileen Avery, associate professor of Sociology at the University of Missouri, was recently a recipient of the university’s Provost Awards for University Citizenship. She was awarded the service award. Recipients of the service award have made exceptional contributions to achieving one or more goals of the university, while embodying the values of the university. Examples of service include, but are not limited to, committee work, campus-wide programming or initiatives, and community service at local, state, regional, national, or international level. Avery’s research focuses on economic, social, and built environments, residential change, and health and well-being in rural and urban context. She teaches courses in sociology of health, urban sociology, and criminology.
Kayleigh Ward, research faculty and lecturer at the University of Colorado Boulder, recently published a paper with her colleagues in Environmental Sociology titled “Values at the tap: how organizational culture shapes water unaffordability and environmental justice in U.S. cities.” The article uses Schlosberg’s three justice dimensions with Schwartz’s human values theory to examine how organizational values inside municipal water utilities shape pricing and customer assistance. The authors conducted a series of interviews and found that policies that name affordability as an objective, institutionalize participation, and pair ecological mandates with affordability funding are imperative to environmental justice in terms of the water supply.
Edith-Marie Green, a PhD candidate in population healths sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, recently published a commentary titled “Why Everyone Should Care About Population Aging (And What’s Being Done About It in Terms of Policy” in Science Policy in a SNAP. SNAP, the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy, is a nationwide, non-partisan, grassroots gathering of science policy-minded early career researchers from across the United States. Green’s piece addresses rapid population aging, ageism, and potential policy and advocacy approaches to address the aging crisis, ending with a call to action to promote healthy intergenerational relationships and supports.
Aysha Bodenhamer, Manager of Sustainability and Associate Professor in the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences at Radford University, recently spoke on a panel at Coastal Carolina University’s 2026 Sustainability Symposium. Titled “Sustaining Our Shared Spaces: Stewardship of Public Lands and the Next Generation,” the panel covered a wide range of matters such as preserving public lands at the Waccamaw National Wildlife refuge, fostering indigenous graveyards in Galloway, New Jersey, operating on the New River banks in Radford, Virginia, and utilizing public lands on university grounds to benefit the campus and community of Kapolei, Hawaii.