Institute for Policy & Social Research Annual Report 2023-24
IPSR is a faculty-driven research center supporting social science and policy-relevant research at the University of Kansas.
Letter from IPSR Director Donna K. Ginther
Thank you.
In September 2023, after combing through spreadsheets and plumbing the depths of our shared server, we submitted IPSR’s self-study to support its review from the KU Center for Research. The report covered ten years, from fiscal year 2014 through 2023. As we compiled the report, we noticed two things: how much has stayed the same, and how much had changed.
Ten years ago, no one had heard of the novel coronavirus. Brownback’s tax experiment was in full swing in the State of Kansas. The IPSR Doctoral Research Fellows program was brand new. We saw “Big Data” (with the quotes) as part of the future of social science research. IPSR had 13 employees, led by Director Steven Maynard-Moody.
IPSR’s mission today is the same as it was ten years ago. We are here to support social science and policy-relevant research at the University of Kansas. We are a faculty-driven research center with several interdisciplinary, faculty-led research centers. We have a talented, hardworking staff, and we are dedicated to the work of building a thriving social science research community at KU and serving our communities at the local, state, and national level.
The review committee found that IPSR fulfills its mission and serves as a model for a social science research center. The committee praised our support for graduate and faculty student research, faculty external funding, and interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaboration.
I am excited to report that, over the last year, IPSR welcomed 10 new faculty affiliates and 7 new staff members to the organization. Our research development team submitted 66 proposals for $17,029,422 and received notice of 29 awards for $6,348,465. We are honored to have supported the rematriation of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe to the Kaw Nation, and we are excited about the future of the newly-funded Kansas Water Dashboard.
It's thanks to the work and support of our faculty affiliates that IPSR continues to grow and thrive. We appreciate your investments in the organization, and we look forward to the next ten years. Learn more about our work in this report, tell your friends about our mailing list and our upcoming events, and write to me ( dginther@ku.edu ) or Associate Director Jena Gunter ( kujena@ku.edu ) to find out how we can support your work.
Sincerely,
Donna K. Ginther
IPSR Faculty Affiliates
IPSR's 128 faculty affiliates are appointed across KU, at the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the Schools of Architecture & Design, Business, Education & Human Sciences, Engineering, Journalism & Mass Communications, Law, Pharmacy, and Social Welfare, as well as the Spencer Museum of Art, the Libraries, and the Medical Center.
Tree map showing faculty affiliate appointments
Research Centers
IPSR's eight interdisciplinary research centers advance the state of knowledge on approaches and topics in social science research.
Center for Compassionate & Sustainable Communities
Director, Ward Lyles, Associate Professor, Urban Planning and Indigenous Studies
The Center for Compassionate & Sustainable Communities seeks to engage in basic and applied research, engaged teaching, and translational activities. Our work centers compassionate, just, and sustainable policy, planning, and other community-level action. We aspire to solve grand challenges facing society, including climate change, inequality, and justice.
Documenting #Landback
#Landback, a decentralized campaign aimed at re-establishing Native sovereignty, involves the voluntary return of land from settler-colonialist individuals and institutions to tribes and organizations with ancestral ties to the land. Alongside Sarah Deer, University Distinguished Professor and Chief Justice for the Prairie Island Indian Community Court of Appeals, and graduate students Josh Bulvako and Evan Lott in the KU Indigenous Studies program, CCSC director Ward Lyles published #Landback North America. This website acts as a data repository, documenting instances of #Landback, and a tool for consciousness-raising, offering insight on the practical and ethical implications of land return.
Just Energy Transitions
CCSC Affiliate Uma Outka and Director Lyles continue to advance work investigating the transition from fossil fuels to greener, more sustainable energy sources, with close attention to the justice and equity dimensions of the change. Their work, funded by the Sloan Foundation, involves researching energy policy in Kansas, including interviews with key stakeholders, as part of a four-state comparative project involving Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, and Florida. With a focus on accessible green energy, this project investigates phenomena such as transition processes for low-income fossil fuel workers into more sustainable jobs. As a multi-university team conducting research at state and local levels, Outka, Lyles, and other researchers work towards a community-engaged, place-based framework for just energy transitions in Kansas and beyond.
Adapt Douglas County
With doctoral student Kelly Overstreet and support from his NSF CAREER award, Lyles is providing in-kind support for the development of the Douglas County Climate Action and Adaptation Plan. This plan, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on 5/22/2024, aims to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Short and long-term policy proposals leverage community priorities, assets, and vulnerabilities while championing equitable processes and outcomes. Overstreet and Lyles are working on a practitioner-oriented book project that traces the challenges and triumphs of equity-centered climate planning before, during, and after the most intense periods of the COVID pandemic.
Center for Environmental Policy
Director, Dietrich Earnhart, Professor of Economics
The Center for Environmental Policy (CEP) draws upon interdisciplinary expertise to explore environmental policies, along with related protection efforts, and their impacts on society and nature. Center-sponsored research projects focus on the human decisions behind the formation and implementation of these policies and efforts, and, in turn, their impacts on the environment and related decisions.
CEP and EPA
The Center for Environmental Policy continues to benefit from the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 office. The MOU aims to facilitate student internships and post-graduate jobs, spur collaborative research activities, and structure a role for the Center serving as a scientific liaison when EPA Region 7 engages local communities.
This fall, affiliates of the Center for Environmental Policy (CEP) visited the EPA Region 7 office to offer presentations on current and future research collaborations. Professor Uma Outka detailed opportunities that exploit synergies between the Center and the KU School of Law. Professor Belinda Sturm identified promising projects organized under the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded program entitled “Adaptive and Resilient Infrastructure driven by Social Equity” (ARISE). Professor Ted Peltier described efforts to measure and better protect ambient water quality. And Professor Dietrich Earnhart shared ongoing collaborative research activities on the prevention of food waste at sporting events and other related activities. This collaboration includes a partnership with Sporting Kansas City, the professional soccer team, and discussions with additional sports teams in the region.
Improving Water Quality and Equity through the Kansas Water Dashboard
Will Duncan, CEP affiliate, Co-Director of the Kansas Data Science Consortium, and Assistant Research Professor of Data Science, is leading an NSF-funded project entitled “Improving Water Quality and Equity through Sensor Data and Machine Learning Modules.” This project is developing a water management data ecosystem that collects water quality and quantity data, models them with machine learning algorithms, and offers insights on a public-facing dashboard. In particular, this public-facing dashboard uses publicly available data on demographic, economic, social, and water factors. Local government officials and state government agencies can use the integrated data to make decisions that sustain water quantity, improve water quality, and ensure water equity. The project also includes a private-facing dashboard that offers focused data on water well levels and groundwater quality. For this second dashboard, the project team is identifying sensor and gateway installation sites in Groundwater Management District 3 (GMD 3) of western Kansas. This project is a collaborative effort among the University of Kansas, Viaanix Inc., and local communities located in GMD 3. The project team includes CEP Director Dietrich Earnhart (co-PI), CEP affiliate Belinda Sturm (co-PI), and Bruce Fritz of Viaanix Inc (co-PI).
This spring PI Will Duncan and Co-PI Belinda Sturm presented to the Kansas State Legislature at a session of the House Committee on Water. In addition, CEP affiliates visited southwest Kansas (Garden City, Dodge City, and Deerfield) between April 16 and April 21 to glean insight from stakeholders in the areas of Kansas water quantity management and quality protection and end-users of the two water data dashboards. As part of their efforts, they attended the Kansas Water Authority’s meeting in Garden City, the ARKWIN Water Quality Conference in Deerfield, and interviewed several stakeholders and future end-users.
Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology
Jay T. Johnson, Director, University Distinguished Professor of Geography & Atmospheric Science
The goal of the Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology is to bridge Indigenous and Western sciences, through appropriate principles, protocols, and practices, in order to better understand the conditions of place-based vulnerability and the best strategies to achieve resilience by facilitating Indigenous-led research initiatives. Our vision is to establish an Indigenous science network that emphasizes research activities that contain integrated theory, practice and dissemination through mentoring and community-based partnerships.
Rematriation of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe
July 2022 – Mellon Monuments Grant Awarded
The Mellon Foundation announced a major grant to the Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe / Sacred Red Rock Project (formerly known as Between the Rock and a Hard Place) for the return of a 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder located for the past ninety-three years in Robinson Park, Lawrence, Kansas to the Kaw Nation.
July 2023 – Dismantling the Lawrence Founders' Monument
Work began in July 2023, with fencing put up around Robinson Park to limit access to the space. A stonemason and his crew removed the Founders’ Plaque from the face of the monument. While initial estimates raised concern that the plaque would be difficult to remove safely, in the end, the removal took only a short time and slight pressure.
August 2023 – Return of the Rock
Next, in August 2023, Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe was removed from the monument base. With little information about how the Rock extended into the base or was secured on the base, the team worked with a specialty firm, Belger Cartage, to ensure the safe removal of the Rock from the base. Here again, Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe easily lifted off the base, as there was little holding the Rock on top of the monument and little of the Rock embedded in to the base.
August 28, 2023 – Welcoming the Kaw Delegation
On August 28, Dr. Dan Wildcat and other faculty members of the Indigenous and American Indian Studies Department at Haskell Indian Nations University hosted the Kaw Nation delegation and Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe Project leaders for a dinner to welcome the Kaw to Lawrence.
August 29, 2023 – Watkins Historical Museum Agreement
The next morning, the Kaw Nation and Watkins Historical Museum signed an agreement for the Kaw to loan the plaques that had been affixed to Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe to the museum for five years.
Commemoration of the Return of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe
The morning continued with a large public event to commemorate the formal return of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe by the City of Lawrence to Kaw Nation. The ceremony, attended by approximately 400, including speeches by the Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly; a reading of the resolution and apology by the City of Lawrence Mayor, Lisa Larsen; an exchange of gifts from the City to the Tribe; speeches by both the Tribal Chair, Kim Jenkins, and the Vice-Chair, James Pepper Henry. The Kaw Tribal Council presented the Governor and City Council Members with blankets in recognition of their work to return the Sacred Red Rock. A drum group from Haskell Indian Nations University provided both an honor song and communal round dances of friendship.
August 30, 2023 – Kaw Nation Gathering
On August 30, Kaw Nation participants gathered to hold a ceremony and provide prayers for the safe relocation of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe to Council Grove.
June 22, 2024 – Final Ceremony
Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, the Sacred Red Rock was officially returned to Kaw Nation during a Rematriation Celebration held at Allegawaho Park in Council Grove, Kansas. Nearly 400 people attended the event which included remarks from James Pepper Henry, vice chair of the Kaw Nation, Kim Jenkins, Kaw Nation chairwoman, Jason Booker, president of Friends of Kaw Heritage, Paul Faber, director of Monument Lab, Debi Schwerdtfeger, mayor of Council Grove, and several others.
Center for Military, War, and Society Studies
Beth Bailey, Director, Foundation Distinguished Professor, History
The Center for Military, War, and Society Studies facilitates essential conversations about – and with – the U.S. military, holding national or international symposia that bring together scholars, policy makers, and members of the armed forces. We foster research on the US military on the KU campus and beyond, supporting scholarship that examines the military not only as an instrument of national defense but also as a central institution in American society.
Teaching Military History
On October 13-14, 2023, CMWSS held a workshop on “Teaching Military History.” This workshop, created by center director Beth Bailey and University of Cambridge historian Andrew Preston, brought nine distinguished and emerging scholar-teachers to KU for two days of intense discussion. The workshop will result in an edited volume offering practical approaches to teaching US military history for both military historians and those who want to incorporate military history into more broadly-focused courses. It will be published by Cambridge University Press.
teachingmilitaryhistory.com is now co-sponsored by CMWSS and K-State’s Center for Military History and 20 th Century Studies, as CMWSS’s former associate director and website co-creator, Marjorie Galelli, has taken a tenure-line position at K-State after completing her PhD at KU and a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale.
Symposium on the U.S. Army and Social Change
In February 2024, the Center for Military, War, and Society Studies co-sponsored a symposium on “The US Army and Social Change” with Columbus State University (which is close to Fort Moore—previously Fort Benning). Fourteen scholars participated. The symposium will yield an edited volume that counters the frequent claims that “the army should not be a site for social experimentation” with analysis of specific moments in which the US Army did, in fact, purposely foster or attempt to manage major social change.
War and the Environment in the Pacific
An edited volume based on a previous symposium on War and Environment in the Pacific, co-sponsored by the Center and KU’s Center of American History, will be published by the University Press of Kansas as An American Lake: The United States, War, and Environment in the Pacific World in spring 2025.
Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award
Beth Bailey, the Center’s director, received the Society for Military History’s Distinguished Book award for her publication, An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis during the Vietnam Era. She will hold the Pitt Professorship of US History and Institutions at Cambridge University during the 2025-26 academic year.
Center for Research on Education and Work
Director, Argun Saatcioglu, Professor of Sociology
CREW aims to advance knowledge about technology’s effects on education and work, and to promote equity-focused policies and practices that foster social and economic wellbeing for all. We produce and support research on changes occurring in schools, communities, occupations, and workplaces in a technology-infused society. We seek to inform decision makers and the public at large about ways of maximizing collective benefits of technological change and preventing its potential harm.
CREW’s research addresses effective rural education, occupational readiness in response to AI-driven automation, and charter school effects on racial achievement gaps. CREW seeks to provide a platform for productive exchange of ideas on technology, education, and work. We value free, creative, and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas.
Center for Science, Technology, and Economic Policy
PhD student Jordan Gamble and her lab partner Tori Drapal working in Spine Biomechanics lab
CSTEP research focuses on science policy, scientific labor markets, education policy, state and local economic development, and economic policy.
Evaluation of the CZI Science Diversity Leadership Award
CSTEP staff lead the evaluation of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Science Diversity Leadership Award . In partnership with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, CZI funds biomedical researchers who promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in their fields. The evaluation of this program includes wide-ranging data collection including surveys of applicants, program reviewers, and awardees; interviews with awardees, applicants, and mentees of awardees; and bibliometric analysis.
Table of hypothetical taxpayer model scenarios, IPSR
Kansas Taxes
Building on the work done for the Governor’s Tax Council, Ginther and Patricia Oslund created a series of synthetic taxpayers to model the effects of changes to Kansas tax codes on individuals and households. Oslund’s work shows the impact of new credits and existing child-related credits for families at different income levels. Their work also included an analysis of Governor Laura Kelly’s tax plan and a compared it to a competing plan. Ginther testified before the Senate Tax Committee on Senate Bill 377 about the Governor’s proposal and House Bill 2284 about the proposed flat tax on February 1-2, 2024.
Kansas Board of Regents Project on Jobs and Degree Requirements
With funding from the US Department of Education via the Kansas Board of Regents, this project team reported to the Kansas Board of Regents on the intersection of the workforce and education in Kansas and neighboring states. The team assessed the state’s post-secondary graduate retention rate and provided a series of 10-year projections of regional labor demand and degree requirements to the Kansas Board of Regents. One of the project’s goals was to gauge what KBOR universities will need to change to meet projected workforce requirements in 2030.
Trends in the Microbiology Workforce
Ginther, Oslund, and Carlos Zambrana are working with the American Society of Microbiology to explore the labor market in microbiology and to understand how the industry has changed over time. Their research maps out career paths for microbiologists, documents the demand for scientific skills, and assesses the international breadth of microbial science. The number of microbiology doctorates is growing rapidly, and career opportunities in industry (compared to academia and government) have expanded.
Center for the Study of Injustice
The Center for the Study of Injustice is an interdisciplinary research center that brings together faculty and students from across KU interested in domestic and international research related to social justice. CSI assists faculty by developing research programs through grant writing and intellectual exchange, and brings KU faculty and students together who are interested in researching social justice. CSI collaborates with scholars in social sciences, journalism, law, public policy, and public health who address labor exploitation, migration, health inequalities, sexual violence and other vulnerabilities. CSI fosters the research capacity of graduate students and faculty by supporting scholarship and maintaining effectiveness in qualitative research.
Qualitative Research Working Group
The Center for the Study of Injustice convened a meeting of faculty conducting qualitative research to discuss creation of a qualitative methods graduate certificate, qualitative database management tools, and teaching and research collaboration
The School of Education and IPSR’s Qualitative Research Working Group hosted Rachel Schwaller, Department of History, for Qual Talks in February 2024. Schwaller shared her archival and oral history project of encamped groups in Lawrence, Kansas throughout history, and the group discussed ideas, connections, ethics, and research methods.
CSI Alumni Updates
Laura Dean, associate professor of political science at Millikin University and director of the Human Trafficking Research Lab at Millikin, is part of a research team with NSF funding to collect time-sensitive data on online trafficking recruitment and response in Ukraine. Dean graduated from KU with doctorate in political science in 2014, and she was a formative part of the Center for the Study of Injustice's Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative. Read more.
Corinne Schwarz released Policing Victimhood: Human Trafficking, Frontline Work, and the Carceral State about the policies intended to address trafficking and exploitation. Schwarz graduated from KU in 2018 with a doctoral degree with honors in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She worked on the Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Initiative and is an IPSR Doctoral Research Fellow.
Kansas Population Center
Misty Heggeness, Associate Professor of Public Affairs & Administration and Research Scientist, IPSR, and Jarron Saint Onge, Professor of Population Health and Sociology, Co-directors
The Kansas Population Center (KPC) was established in October 2022 by founders Misty L. Heggeness and Jarron Saint Onge. Its focus is to consolidate population studies research on the Midwest and build a nationally renowned research and training center for all things demography in the middle of the country. The KPC was awarded $2.2 million in funding during the 2024 fiscal year to study women's health in rural communities, developed a dashboard of statistics on the care economy, and built a research portfolio on the impact of care gaps within a diverse set of industries.
The KPC launched a virtual seminar series in the fall 2023, which met regularly throughout the academic year and had a total of 8 speakers and 81 attendees. KPC affiliates have also participated in demographic methods training workshops at KU. The KPC has supported several students participating and presenting in national population meetings including the Population Association of America and the Southern Demographic Association annual research meetings. The KPC is excited to continue growing and contributing to the KU research and academic community by building out its program on population dynamics.
Funding for 2023-24
In 2023-24, IPSR supported 66 funding proposals for $17,029,422 and received notice of 29 new awards for $6,348,465.
Featured Research: STEM Education for Women Transitioning from Incarceration
PI: Hyunjin Seo, Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Oscar Stauffer Professor of Journalism, and Founding Director of the Center for Digital Inclusion
Funder: National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation awarded $1.6 million for implementing informal STEM education for women transitioning from incarceration. This project will examine the success of research-informed technology education and how it can support historically marginalized populations. The project team has been working closely with public libraries and other community partners, including formerly incarcerated women, to establish best practices for university-community partnerships.
Featured Research: The Role of Formal & Informal State Preemption on Health and Economic Disparities
PI: Chris Koliba, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Policy & Governance, and Nancy Augustine, director of the Center for Intergovernmental Partnerships at the National Academy of Public Administration
Funder: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Urban Institute's Policies for Action
This study examines how preemptive public policies may be contributing to economic insecurity and health inequities in the Kansas City area. The research team will use policy narrative analysis and participatory modeling to study how state preemption affects the economic, housing and health insecurities of communities of color in Kansas City. Preemption is the ability of a higher authority of law to override the decisions of a lower one – in this case, the precedence of state laws to override local policy.
Service to the State of Kansas
Kansas Statistical Abstract, 57th Edition
The 57 th edition of the Kansas Statistical Abstract, an annually released compendium of data about Kansas, was published online in September 2023.
The KSA publishes data in 17 sections ranging from agriculture to vital statistics and health. These data help community leaders, entrepreneurs, researchers and others make informed decisions and understand how Kansas is changing.
As the United States experiences a series of extreme weather events, including widespread heat waves and wildfires, the 57 th edition of the KSA includes a newly expanded chapter on climate . One map shows the number of weeks in 2021 with severe, extreme or exceptional drought in Kansas by county. In 2021, 95 of the 105 counties in Kansas experienced at least one week with such drought, and five counties experienced 8-10 weeks of such drought. Drought can have significant impacts on the health of residents as well as the economic productivity of a place.
The KSA also includes a map comparing the total precipitation in 2022 to the 30-year average annual precipitation for each of six Kansas regions. Throughout the state, annual precipitation for each region fell between 5-10 inches. In the western part of the state, this decline was especially steep. One region received just over half the rainfall in 2022 compared to the average rainfall in this region from 1981 to 2010.
The climate chapter in the newest edition of the KSA features a map showing the number of days in 2021 with a maximum daily temperature of 100 degrees or higher by county in Kansas. Of the 105 counties in Kansas, 33 experienced more than 21 days of extreme heat, and all but 14 counties experienced at least one day of extreme heat. Extreme heat hit central Kansas especially hard in 2021.
2023 Kansas Economic Policy Conference: Growing the Kansas Workforce
The 2023 Kansas Economic Policy Conference addressed challenges and opportunities around the Kansas workforce. IPSR Director Donna Ginther discussed the state of the Kansas Economy and the Kansas workforce in her keynote address.
Misty Heggeness, research scientist for IPSR and associate professor of public affairs & administration, discussed the care economy in Kansas: "The care economy is heavily subsidized, both in Kansas but also nationally, by family caregivers in the home. So there's a couple of challenges when we create a system and a society that relies heavily on subsidized work of unpaid caregivers in the home. The first is that when society relies heavily on this informal care by family members alone, we really limit the potential to maximize economic activity outside of the home. Why? Because overall economic well-being of the home is restricted, for one. And second, because economic growth within the state suffers."
A panel on workforce development at state and local levels featured John Clark Plumbers & Pipefitters Local Union #441, Kansas Apprenticeship Council Member; Scott Smathers, Vice President, Workforce Development, Kansas Board of Regents; Amanda Duncan, Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer, Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas; Diane DeBacker, Director, Center for Certification & Competency-Based Education, The University of Kansas. Madeline Fox, news editor at KCUR, moderated the conversation.
"Every industry is hurting for workers, across the board. Skilled workers, entry-level workers, you name it, those positions are open. 53,000 positions are open at Kansas Works, the job board for the state" said Duncan.
A panel on employer perspectives on the Kansas workforce featured Sheri Gonzales, senior director of DEI at Evergy; Neelima Parasker, president and CEO of SnapIT Solutions; and Kristen Walters, VP of human resources for Panasonic Energy. Teri Finneman, publisher of the Eudora Times and associate professor of journalism at KU, moderated the conversation.
Panelists in this conversations returned to the challenge of childcare. Not only is childcare essential to facilitate economic opportunities for parent, but quality childcare is crucial for the well-being and opportunities of children, pointed out Gonzales. Panelists noted the share that community leaders, policy makers, and businesses all have in solving this problem.
A panel of policymakers, introduced by Chancellor Douglas A. Girod and moderated by Tim Carpenter of the Kansas Reflector, featured Representative Stephanie Clayton, House District 19; Representative Brandon Woodard, House District 30, and Representative Jesse Borjon, House District 52.
"I represent the most number of renters in the entire state and one of the youngest districts in the state. It's childcare. It's student loan repayments starting back up again. . . . And so, loking at what we can do to make sure that we are not only incentivizing people to work in Kansas but making sure it's possible for them to afford to do so. A police officer, a teacher, a nurse in Johnson County cannot afford the average one-bedroom rent in my district," said Representative Woodard.
All sessions and slides from the 2023 Kansas Economic Policy Conference are posted online.
IPSR Doctoral Research Fellows
IPSR affiliates ask questions during the Doctoral Research Fellows symposium.
The IPSR Doctoral Research Fellows Program helps to develop the next generation of interdisciplinary social science scholars by providing training and support. Over the course of an academic year, fellows meet to discuss research progress and experiences, gain skills in interdisciplinary research methods, and present their research at the program’s conclusion.
Noelle Broughton presents at the IPSR doctoral fellows symposium
For the 2023-24 cohort, we received many nominations across a wide variety of disciplines. A dynamic group of scholars was selected after careful review by the previous cohort of fellows. Over the course of the year, fellows met with faculty advisor Jay T. Johnson, professor of geography and atmospheric science and director of the Center for Indigenous Science, Research, and Technology, and a series of guest speakers. Fellows learned about a range of topics including grant funding, academic and non-academic hiring, policy-relevant research, and data storytelling. The 2023-2024 IPSR Doctoral Research Fellows program concluded with a showcase of research presentations from the fellows at the Burge Union.
IPSR doctoral research fellows: Yiwen Wu, Nellie Landon Kassebaum (IPSR staff), Mohsen Fatemi, Noelle Broughton, Marie Wagner, Jay T. Johnson (advisor), Christabel Tsoto, Heeyoun Shin, Sreerupa Sanyal, Senjuti Mallik, Tatsuya Suzuki, Derek Wilson
2023-24 Doctoral Fellows
Jennifer Babitzke, Sociology, “Contemporary Fathering in Middle America”
Noelle Broughton, Public Affairs & Administration, “Municipal Tax Sale: Race, Profit, and Urban Renewal”
Mohsen Fatemi, Public Affairs & Administration, “Local Transformative Capacity and Policy Innovation”
Senjuti Mallik, Geography & Atmospheric Science, “COVID-19 Transmission Paths and Treatment-Seeking Behavior among Slum Residents in Kolkata, India”
Sreerupa Sanyal, Communication Studies, “Investigating Reinforcing Spirals in Incidental Exposure to Political News and News Engagement on Social Media Applications”
Heeyoun Shin, Sociology, “How Do Children Self-locate Themselves in the Social Hierarchy? Educationally Homogamous Parents, Working Mothers, and Children’s Subjective Social Status”
Tatsuya Suzuki, Communication Studies, “Theorizing Sanctions in Networked Counterpublics. A study of #StopAsianHate”
Christabel Tsoto, Geography & Atmospheric Science, “The Effects of Parental Migration on the Well-Being of Children Left Behind in Zimbabwe”
Marie Wagner, Special Education, “Perpetuating Neoliberal Pathologies: What Teacher Candidates Believe Students with Disabilities Should Learn”
Derek Wilson, Sociology, “Smart Home’s Meaning in Later Life: How Older Adults Make Meaning of Smart Home Technology in their Lives”
Yiwen Wu, Public Affairs & Administration, “Refining Hazard Mitigation Planning: Assessing Government Outsourcing’s Influence on Local Plan Quality”
IPSR Data Services – Fiscal Transparency Dashboard
This year, IPSR published a new data dashboard showing the flow of federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into Kansas. As of March 2024, over $11.5 billion has been expended across the state through programs funded by the CARES Act and ARPA.
This tool offers a transparent look at the funding released through these programs, and the dashboard can help users understand how that funding has affected different parts of Kansas. The dashboard shows funds received by county, by fund and by spending categories such as child care, education and economic revitalization.
Image of data visualization from fiscal transparency dashboard
Users can filter spending data by funding program, including both CARES Act and ARPA programs. Expenditures include $7.38 billion in Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loans under the CARES Act, which accounts for about 64% of total Kansas federal expenditures to date. As of September 2023, 99% of PPP loans in Kansas had been forgiven.
Users can also look at county totals and spending per capita alongside statewide figures. State and local governments have until Dec. 31, 2026, to spend funds awarded by ARPA. Most CARES Act spending was concluded by the end of 2022. The dashboard will be updated as spending reports are submitted to the federal government.
Xan Wedel, Daria Milakhina, Thomas Becker, and Donna Ginther worked on this project with external collaborators. The Kansas Office of Recovery funded this work.
Staff News
Welcome, New Staff!
This year, IPSR welcomed seven new staff members:
From top left: Anna Radcliffe, Lucie Prewitt, Natalie Parker, Caty Movich; from bottom left: Nellie Kassebaum, Benjy Jacobs, Joseph Bommarito
- Nellie Kassebaum, Research Development Specialist
- Lucie Prewitt, Associate Researcher, The Care Board
- Anna Radcliffe, Research Project Specialist, The Care Board
- Natalie Parker, Program Manager, Center for Indigenous Research, Science, and Technology
- Joseph Bommarito, Research Engineer, The Care Board
- Benjy Jacobs, Kansas Water Dashboard
- Caty Movich, Administrative Associate Senior
Staff Milestones
IPSR Associate Director Jena Gunter celebrated 10 years of service to KU, and Senior Research Engineer Xan Wedel celebrated 25 years of service
Left to right: Xan Wedel, Jena Gunter
Work with Us
Field of sunflowers
IPSR’s success is built on the engagement and contributions of our affiliates, center directors, and staff. In the coming year, we look forward to continuing the work of advancing social science and policy-relevant research at the University of Kansas and beyond. Join us!
