Nutrition policy, dietary assessment, and obesity prevention.
Poverty and Inequality Research
I research ways to improve the nutritional quality of
the federal nutrition assistance programs, such as the
Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children
(WIC).
I study neighborhood inequality in US cities. Why are some
neighborhoods more disadvantaged than others? What are the
consequences of neighborhood disadvantage for health and
well-being? What are the causes and consequences of moving to a
more-advantaged neighborhood?
I have a specific interest in understanding these issues as they
relate to adolescents and young adults, with a particular focus
on the ways in which schools and neighborhoods interact to impact
poverty and inequality.
I’m interested in understanding how structural adversities impact
the educational achievement and wellbeing of marginalized
children. I also focus on how school policies, practices, and
programs can support the wellbeing of vulnerable youth
populations, including children in the foster care system and
those facing schooling-related challenges like chronic
absenteeism and bullying.
I am primarily interested in the connections between
schooling and social inequality. In addition to the
Department of Sociology, I am also on the faculty of the Graduate
Group in Education.
A major question that motivates Erin’s research is how inequality
is generated and/or changed through migration and the policies
that regulate migration. Erin has studied:
Children’s development of self-regulation and behavior problems,
how they relate to parents’ mental health and parenting, and
their contributions to mental illness in childhood and
adolescence.
