Katherine Curtis

Dr. Katherine J. Curtis is Buttel-Sewell Professor of Community & Environmental Sociology and the Director of the Center for Demography & Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work is centered in demography and extends to spatial, environmental, rural, and applied demography, and focuses on two central themes: population-environment interactions, most centrally the relationship between demographic, economic, and environmental forces; and spatial and temporal dimensions of social and economic inequality, most centrally historical and local forces perpetuating racial disparities. In her work, Curtis adopts place-based theoretical frameworks and employs advanced spatial and spatio-temporal statistical approaches to analyze questions about inequality, which has profound and far-reaching impacts on population wellbeing. Current projects focus on spatial differentiation in migration and fertility responses to environmental events (NICHD and NSF), age- and race-specific net migration (NICHD), and rural livelihoods and spatial connectedness (USDA).