Research Office News

Associate Professor Kristin Seefeldt spoke to the Detroit Free Press and Bridge Michigan about Ann Arbor joining the growing list of cities across the nation exploring a guaranteed basic income program. Seefeldt will oversee the pilot program which will provide 100 income-eligible entrepreneurs with $525 a month for 24 months. “It could be someone who actually has established a small business that’s actively operating to someone who occasionally does yard work and mows lawns for neighbors … we’re really casting a broad net when we talk about … entrepreneurial activity,” said Seefeldt.

Clinical Assistant Professor Justin Hodge was interviewed by CBS Detroit  where he discussed health equity and the practices around the sale of flavored tobacco products across the state.  “We know that 21% of teens in Michigan have reported e-cigarette use, and a study with the FDA has shown that 40% of retailers have sold cigarettes to minors,” said Hodge.

Professor Trina Shanks’ research on the long-term implications of the Homestead Act was cited by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson in her dissent of last month’s Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in college admissions.

ENGAGE Program Manager and Lecturer Fatima Salman spoke about the role of social workers in creating policy that supports mental health on the podcast “Breaking Through” with Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner.  

“Policy affects all of us,” said Salman. “We actually had the most amount of social workers running for office and winning ever in Michigan which is phenomenal because they approach policy through a mental health perspective. And how critical and amazing is that?”

Assistant Professor Rebeccah Sokol was quoted in a New York Times article exploring the rise in gun ownership in American families. Sokol’s research shows that families with teenagers who kept one firearm loaded and unlocked were more likely to buy another firearm during the pandemic than those who kept guns stored. These households are particularly vulnerable to gun injuries, she said. “Teens have some of the highest rates of firearm fatal and nonfatal injuries.”

PhD student Olivia Chang received an honorable mention from the 2023 Ford Foundation Fellowship Program. The programs seek to increase the diversity of the nation's college and university faculties by increasing their ethnic and racial diversity, maximize the educational benefits of diversity, and increase the number of professors who can and will use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.

Professor Luke Shaefer spoke to Minnesota Public Radio about that state’s new child tax credit. “It's not a silver bullet. It's not going to solve all of the challenges that we face, but no policy is. And this one is one that works. It is one that we should be able to see positive impacts in a year's time,” Shaefer said.

Briana Starks, Joint PhD in Social Work and Sociology, successfully defended her dissertation, "Diapers, Debt, and Degrees: The Practical and Theoretical Implications of Maternal Postnatal Educational Attainment." Her committee included Kristin Seefeldt (co-chair) and Karen Staller.

Starks has accepted a position as a Human Services Researcher at Mathematica.