My research focuses on analyzing food production and market systems and how those systems influence food security.  I am particularly interested in how trade liberalization impacts spatial price transmission among agricultural commodity markets. I am also working with colleagues  at the UCSB Climate Hazards Group to examine how demographic trends in Kenya will impact the food balance in that region. We are examining both how warming and drying trends might influence child malnutrition, and what combination of improved agricultural technology and increased imports can ensure that food supply can keep pace with population growth.  I also have a strong methodological interest that intersects with spatial demography. A third of my dissertation research focuses on spatial panel models. Specifically, I am examining the bias issues that occur when the nature of spatial correlation changes over time and what possible remedies there are for this bias. This will be of interest to any spatial demographer looking at long-term spatial trends wherein the nature of correlation among those trends is a function of dynamic population variables (such as migration among countries).

Grants, Awards and Distinctions:

Frank was the sole finalist for "Charles M. Tiebout Prize in Regional Science" from the Western Regional Science Asscoation (WRSA): The award was for one of his dissertation papers:‘Estimating Standard Errors in Spatial Panel Models with Time Varying Spatial Correlation’