Post-Doc Research Associate | The Woodlawn Study

Job Description Summary

Join the Woodlawn Study Team!
We are excited to share the availability of a 2-year post-doctoral research associate at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. Led currently by Dr. Kerry Green, the Woodlawn Study is a longitudinal community cohort study that began as a school-based intervention in 1966. This rich longitudinal study spans over 50 years with the most recent interviews conducted with cohort members at age 62 in 2022-2024. More information about the study can be found at www.woodlawn.umd.edu.

Key responsibilities:

Analyze the existing Woodlawn datasets (age 6, age 16, age 32, age 42) to identify life course factors that impact the aging experience at 62
Write and publish articles in peer-reviewed journals
Present study findings at scientific meetings
Assist with the preparation of applications for external funding
Collaborate with the research team to build knowledge

Additional Benefits:

Work closely with the research team in a collaborative environment
Develop skills in quantitative data analysis
Opportunities for first-authored manuscripts
Mentorship in grant writing
Faculty status at the University of Maryland

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

PhD in Public Health or a related field by the start date
Interest in the aging process
Experience analyzing quantitative data, particularly longitudinal data and latent variable modeling
Passion for life course research, urban health, and underserved populations

PREFERENCES:

Familiarity with national aging datasets (e.g., Health and Retirement Study)
Familiarity with Stata, R, and SPSS

Best Consideration Date: 4/17/2025

Volunteers – Grad Student Panel | WorldStrides Envision

WorldStrides Envision is seeking CCJS graduate students to participate in a panel discussion for visiting high school students at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The panel will give students insight into graduate school, including the decision-making process, academic experiences, and career opportunities available with advanced degrees. Master’s and Ph.D. students from any year are welcome to participate.

Panel Dates:

Thursday, July 10, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
Thursday, July 24, 2025 | 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM

If you are interested, please contact Trisha Fullmer at trishaf@worldstrides.com by April 17, 2025.

Dissertation Defense Announcement: Xinyi Situ

Doctoral Dissertation Defense: Xinyi Situ
Can human mobility data improve crime forecast? A spatiotemporal analysis of collective human mobility patterns and crime variations in Baltimore City

Time: April 3, 2025, 01:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Location: 2165E LeFrak Hall
Zoom:https://umd.zoom.us/j/5956152596?pwd=lnFCCuiDQNdMGoYttYtdprHuEhU9Y0.1&omn=96140710951Meeting ID: 595 615 2596
Passcode: 285250

5th Annual Ray Paternoster Memorial Lecture

The Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences are pleased to present the 5th Ray Paternoster Memorial Lecture and reception in honor of Professor Ray Paternoster to celebrate his life and scholarship in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice and the profession.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, April 29, 2025 from 1:30-2:15 p.m. in the University of Maryland, College Park, Stamp, Juan Ramon Jimenez 2208. A reception will take place immediately after the lecture, from 2:15-4 p.m., in the University of Maryland, College Park, Stamp, Benjamin Banneker 2212. Please find the registration link here.

This year’s featured speaker is Tracey L. Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor and a Founding Director of the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School. Professor Meares is a nationally recognized expert on policing in urban communities. For more information, visit here.

CCJS Honors Thesis Defenses – Week 3 (Monday, May 5)

Sonyah Ngwafang: Silent Struggles: Examining Racial Disparities in Mental Health Treatment for Justice-Involved Individuals

Karilyn Shin: Adolescent Police Stop Invasiveness, Legal Cynicism, and Adulthood Criminal Involvement*

Emilia Heintz: Housing First or Criminalization: Evaluating the Police’s Role in D.C. Homelessness,

Bronwyn G. Morris: Examining Homicide Changes by Neighborhood in Washington, DC

Date: Monday, May 5, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: 2208 LeFrak Hall
Zoom: https://umd.zoom.us/j/95065057598?pwd=rfRrFL3XqhIdPp4UGtcQWb0vUP2p4I.1
Meeting ID: 950 6505 7598
Passcode: Honors2025

Our second-year CCJS honors students are gearing up to defend their theses in the coming weeks. As part of the University’s requirements, at least two faculty members must be present for each defense.

We hope you will join in person, when possible, but to facilitate participation, we are offering defenses in a hybrid fashion (in person and via Zoom).

Faculty members and graduate students: For defenses you know you can attend, please respond to Guyu Sun (guyusun@umd.edu) with the date and time. This will help us ensure the two-faculty minimum and get a rough headcount.

A note about timing: Defenses begin at 2 pm and follow a 30-minute rotation. The rotation allows attendees to pop in and out when needed. Each defense will run 30 minutes, with a 17-minute student presentation followed by a 13-minute Q&A.

Our students have worked very hard over the last two years and are excited to share their work with you. Having our stellar faculty and graduate students take an interest in their projects, reflecting on their ideas, and asking questions is a highlight of their program participation.

CCJS Honors Thesis Defenses – Week 2 (Monday, April 28)

Anna Petersen: The Association between Ghost Gun Usage and Neighborhood Disadvantage

Jacqueline Penna: Conformity or Rebellion? Childhood Religious Environments and Future Delinquency

Gemma Cadenaro: The Impact of Combat Exposure on Post-Service Arrest in All-Volunteer Force Veterans

Tara Kelly: Examining the Association Between Adolescent Mental Illness, Mental Health Treatment, and Adult Justice System Involvement

Date: Monday, April 28, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: 2208 LeFrak Hall
Zoom: https://umd.zoom.us/j/95065057598?pwd=rfRrFL3XqhIdPp4UGtcQWb0vUP2p4I.1
Meeting ID: 950 6505 7598
Passcode: Honors2025

We hope you will join in person, when possible, but to facilitate participation, we are offering defenses in a hybrid fashion (in person and via Zoom).

CCJS Honors Thesis Defenses – Week 1 (Monday, April 21)

Nicole Meza: The Association between Recreational Cannabis Legalization and Drug Seizure Rates

Cydney Simmons: Beyond the Classroom: Examining the Associations of Skin Tone and Suspension with Arrest among Black Girls*

Jane Goldsmith: Examining the Association between Sexual Assault Prevention Programs and Bystander Intervention Among Greek Life Students: A Mixed Method Design*

Ever Sheplee: Analyzing Academic Achievement and the School-to-Prison Pipeline

Date: Monday, April 21, 2025
Time: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Location: 2208 LeFrak Hall
Zoom: https://umd.zoom.us/j/95065057598?pwd=rfRrFL3XqhIdPp4UGtcQWb0vUP2p4I.1
Meeting ID: 950 6505 7598
Passcode: Honors2025

We hope you will join in person, when possible, but to facilitate participation, we are offering defenses in a hybrid fashion (in person and via Zoom).

2025-2026 Mercatus Center Graduate Student Fellowships

Applications for the Mercatus Graduate Student Fellowships close this week on March 15, 2025! Graduate students at any university and in any discipline are eligible to apply. All fellowships still open to applications are listed below.

We offer fellowships for students at George Mason University, for students pursuing other degrees at universities around the world, for high school students, and for early-career scholars.

Mercatus Center Fellowships expose participants to the ideas of mainline political economy and their real-world implications through robust discussion; provide financial assistance, exposure to scholars, and research experience; and connect fellows to an extensive alumni network.

Successful fellows have gone on to pursue careers in academia as well as public policy positions in federal and state governments and at prominent research institutions.

To learn more about our fellowships and apply, browse our fellowships below or visit our website.

Research Coordinator | UMD Department of Behavioral and Community Health

Research Coordinator

Job Description Summary

The University of Maryland Department of Behavioral and Community Health in the School of Public Health has an outstanding opportunity for an independent and well-organized contributor to serve as a RESEARCH COORDINATOR to Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier (Department of Behavioral and Community Health) to help rigorously evaluate novel, impactful interventions for sexual violence prevention as part of our mission to work toward a world without gender-based violence. At the Peitzmeier lab, our mission is to conduct rigorous, community-engaged, high-impact research to end gender-based violence against women and gender minority people.
The primary overarching goal of this position is to help rigorously execute a complex $2 million multisite randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of a campus sexual assault prevention intervention that we hope will halve the prevalence of campus sexual assault for undergraduate women. The position is funded 90% by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (description here: https://webapps.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/decisions/p/project_details.html?applId=462223&lang=en&wbdisable=true) and 10% on other projects.
This research coordinator position is essential to that mission through research development and implementation. The scope of the work includes managing recruitment and data collection at 2-4 US college campuses in a large multi-site randomized controlled trial testing a sexual assault prevention intervention for undergraduate women. In this role, the research coordinator will manage recruitment and one-year of longitudinal follow-up for at least 600 participants at these sites, manage relationships with campus stakeholders across the sites, hire and manage two research assistants at the University of Maryland, design systems for effective rollout of the trial across sites, and ensure implementation fidelity of protocols across sites.

The Research Coordinator, will be a vital member of a multidisciplinary team that includes approximately 30 staff and collaborators across the trial sites. They will take lead roles on project activities identified by the team. The position’s direct supervisor and PI for the project is Dr. Sarah Peitzmeier. The research coordinator will also work with Co-PI Dr. Charlene Senn (University of Windsor) and trial manager (trials across US and Canada) Dr. Courtney Williston. Applicants from under-represented backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.

We seek highly competent, can-do candidates with excellent communication skills who understand the importance of prioritizing the mission and community-based partner collaboration. An intellectually curious, self-motivated learner who take ownership of tasks and effectively executes them to completion, who is intentional when asking for clarification, help, or support as needed will be successful in this position. . . This individual should enjoy giving and receiving open and respectful feedback as a vehicle for the growth and self-development of self and colleagues, and to support the aims of the research. The ideal candidate will be systems-minded with a knack for designing systems that support high-quality data collection, anticipating and responding to potential issues with the trial, and problem-solving research roadblocks. Commitment to integrity and excellence is an essential requirement for the position.

The School of Public Health (SPH) at the University of Maryland College Park was first accredited as a School in 2010. However, beginning in the 1960’s the Department of Health Education in the College of Physical Education, Recreation, and Health was created and by 1999 had an accredited MPH degree program in public health that served as the foundation for launching the School of Public Health a short eight years later. This MPH in Community Health was the model for the public health degrees that would follow with the official launching of the school. Within the department, this includes a B.S. in Community Health, an MPH and a PhD in Behavioral and Community Health.
Our proximity to both our state and national capitals provide unparalleled opportunities for faculty and students to work with key government health agencies, non-profit associations, public policy organizations, and private corporations. Our department uniquely offers its undergraduates a semester-long full-time internships for our students to take advantage of this proximity but also uniquely offers these same style internships internationally.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education:

Master’s degree or equivalent experience in public health, health services, epidemiology or related area
Training in program evaluation, randomized controlled trials, and/or longitudinal studies

Experience:

Experience with program evaluation, randomized controlled trials, and/or longitudinal studies
Experience managing complex, multi-stakeholder projects
Prior experience working with marginalized populations related to health issues.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

Independent time management skills, including ability to prioritize workload
Excellent ability to work in teams.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Strong interest in women’s health, LGBTQ+ equity, and gender-based violence prevention
Commitment to racial and reproductive justice.
Intermediate or higher level skills of MS Office suite

Preferences:

PhD or work experience in public health, health services, epidemiology or related area
Experience with RedCap or managing participant databases
Experience with grant writing or management
Publication history OR motivation to contribute to paper and grant writing
Analytic skills and understanding (SAS, Stata, R or equivalent)
Knowledge of feminist research theories, frameworks, principles, and practices.
History working in prevention or response to violence against women and girls, e.g. as a victim advocate or peer educator

Additional Job Details

Required Application Materials: CV and Cover Letter

Optional: writing sample

Best Consideration Date: March 17, 2025

Open Until Filled: Yes

KIMCHI MEMORIAL GRADUATE AWARD ANNOUNCEMENT

Purpose
In memory of the life and accomplishments of Dr. Anat Kimchi (Criminology and Criminal Justice graduate student), the Kimchi Memorial Graduate Awards Committee will be selecting the fourth Annual Kimchi Memorial Award recipients from among graduate student applicants in Criminology and Criminal Justice.
The Kimchi funds may be used for expenses related to summer research support, professional conference travel, data collection/access, academic training, or to defray the costs of achieving key academic milestones in the graduate program. The focus of these awards is on research related to racial inequality, social justice, punishment and recidivism research, and other areas of scholarship in the study of formal institutions of social control in society.
For example, award monies might be utilized to support various activities that are related to these areas of research, such as:

Travel to upcoming academic or policy-related conferences
Summer research stipends (e.g. to complete/submit paper for publication)
ICPSR or other data training workshops
Paying for data access for a student dissertation or related work
Purchasing specialized software needed for research purposes
Key activities tied to programmatic milestones (e.g. finishing dissertation)

Award Eligibility
University of Maryland Criminology & Criminal Justice doctoral students who have completed their master’s thesis are eligible to apply for the Kimchi Memorial Graduate Awards. Preference will be given to students who have advanced to candidacy. The Award Committee is comprised of 3 full-time faculty members and 1 current graduate student. Graduate students serving on the committee are ineligible to receive the Kimchi Award during their tenure on the committee.

Proposal Structure
To be considered for a Kimchi Memorial Graduate Award, applicants must submit a written project proposal to the Kimchi Award Committee. Applicants can submit a travel/data award, research award, or both. Travel/data proposals should be no more than 3 double-spaced pages. Research proposals should be no more than 5 double-spaced pages. The application process is the same for both but research proposals should be more detailed than travel proposals.
For both types of awards, applicants should provide a summary of the proposed project, including a discussion of the importance of the planned activity and its potential impact on criminal justice research, policy and practice. Proposals should include: a description of the research problem; discussion of relevant literature (other studies that address the topic and use the same or related data); and a detailed description of the methodology, including prior experience with the data or analytic method. The proposal should also clearly describe the project’s dissemination strategy (e.g., publication, dissertation, white paper, policy brief, agency report, paper presentation at a professional conference) and discuss whether it is related to the goals of a specific criminal justice or related agency. Successful applications will consider the feasibility of the study (i.e., how likely it is that the project will be successfully executed) and how the proposed project fits into the broader substantive research areas defined below under Award Criteria. A CV should be attached along with the completed application. For more information about the Kimchi Award, please see: https://go.umd.edu/kimchiaward.

Award Criteria
The committee anticipates being able to support 1 research award that totals no more than $3600, plus up to 2 travel/data awards, each not exceeding $540 in a given year. Travel/data funds can be used to support travel to a national conference, offset costs of a statistical or other training workshop, or help pay
for data access or other specialized research costs. Students who receive a Kimchi Award are expected to use the funds to support the proposed activity. Award amounts may vary depending on individual projects and fund priorities and no award may be given some years. Key criteria that should be used to
structure the written proposals include:

Scholarly Importance and Potential Impact of the Research
- Novelty and importance of the research topic
- Potential to make meaningful research contribution to discipline
Substantive Relevance of Proposed Topic Areas
- Preference will be given to proposals related to:
  ▪ Racial and/or social justice
  ▪ Community corrections (e.g. probation, parole, etc.)
  ▪ Prosecution, sentencing or imprisonment
Data and Methods
- Projects should involve high-level quantitative data analysis
- Integration of multiple or complex data sources
- Application of rigorous and sophisticated analytical approaches
Justice Policy and Translational Criminology
- Extent to which research might impact policy
- Potential to enact meaningful change in criminal justice system
- Additional efforts directly related to translational criminology
Overall Quality and Level of Development in the Proposal
- Quality of writing, organization, and connections to prior work
- Quality of description of data and methods
- Completeness of research ideas and feasibility of project

Application Timeline
Student may apply for funds to support projects that will occur at any point during the upcoming year (i.e. Summer, 2025– Spring, 2026). Completed proposals must be submitted to Jessica Townsend (jessicat@umd.edu) with the Subject Line: Kimchi Graduate Award by 5pm on Friday, February 28, 2025. The committee anticipates making final award announcements by Mid-March, 2025.