Gabrielle Husted is a PhD student in the Geography Department and the current Broom Center for Demography lab manager. She investigates the interactivity of people, places, and environment (built and natural) as they relate to public health challenges in our society. Of particular interest are social determinants of health, environmental hazards, and health outcomes. 

Gabrielle earned a bachelor’s of science in nursing from the University of Portland. Previously, she has worked in oncology and public health. Most recently, she was working with the Public Health Institute on their Tracing Health Program, which launched in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now she is working with Population Health in Geography (PHiG), and her current projects include exploring the socio-demographic patterning of exposure to phthalates (microplastics), socio-demographic predictors to extreme heat, and access and uptake of health behaviors that promote or protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). 

I am a graduate student in the Integrative Anthropological Sciences program, and I graduated with my bachelor’s degrees in biological anthropology and environmental studies at UCSB. My primary interests include human behavior ecology, especially in parental investment and demographic transition, and variability selection hypothesis. My current research focuses on examining over-investment behavior, especially in developing countries, through major concepts of HBE such as adaptive trade-offs and optimality model.

Sigrid Van Den Abbeele is an MA/PhD student in the Geography Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Sigrid is interested in studying the economic and health outcomes of residential segregation in the United States. More specifically, Sigrid aims to investigate the disproportionate impact of the Coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic downturn on formerly redlined communities and other historically underserved communities. Additionally, she has researched the impact of rapid re-housing policies on chronically homeless populations and is working to develop a model to better understand the location of rural homeless populations. Sigrid received her undergraduate degree in economics and mathematics from Coe College.