Kathryn Grace

Kathryn Grace is a Professor in the Department of Geography, Environment and Society at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, contributing to the Social Science faculty through her work in population geography and health. She earned a PhD in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2008 with a dissertation on fertility and family planning in Guatemala, an MA in Statistics from the same university in 2006, an MSPH in Biostatistics from Tulane University School of Public Health in 2004, and a BA in Theoretical Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2002. Grace's career trajectory includes her current role as Professor since 2023, following positions as Associate Professor from 2018 to 2023 and Assistant Professor from 2016 to 2018 at the University of Minnesota. Prior appointments encompass Assistant Professor at the University of Utah from 2012 to 2015, Research Scientist at the Climate Hazards Group, University of California, Santa Barbara since 2012, and postdoctoral positions at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in 2008-2009 and the Climate Hazards Center, University of California, Santa Barbara from 2009 to 2012. She has affiliations with the Minnesota Population Center as an affiliate and former Associate Director from 2022 to 2023, and has held visiting researcher positions at institutions including Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques in France and Stockholm University Demography Unit.

Grace's research specializations center on population geography, investigating the role of contextual factors in maternal and child health outcomes, with emphases on reproductive health, family planning decision-making, climate variability impacts, food security, child malnutrition, and population-environment interactions in vulnerable communities, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Her key publications include "Global urban population exposure to extreme heat" (2021), "Climate change, global food security, and the US food system" (2015), "Child malnutrition and climate in Sub-Saharan Africa: An analysis of recent trends in Kenya" (2012), "Linking climate change and health outcomes: Examining the relationship between temperature, precipitation and birth weight in Africa" (2015), "Stunted from the start: Early life weather conditions and child undernutrition in Ethiopia" (2020), "Do markets and trade help or hurt the global food system adapt to climate change?" (2017), and more recent works such as "Investigating Seasonal Agriculture, Contraceptive Use, and Pregnancy in Burkina Faso" (2023) and "Conflict and Climate Factors and the Risk of Child Acute Malnutrition" (2022). Among her honors are the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts Scholar of the College (2019-2022), Institut National d’Etudes Demographiques Visiting Researcher Fellowships (2015, 2020), and the Demographic and Health Survey Population and Reproductive Health Fellowship (2007). Grace contributes editorially as Deputy Editor of Demography since 2022 and serves on boards for journals including Population and Environment, Spatial Demography, and Discover Social Science and Health. She has led as President of the Population Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers (2019-2022).

Professional Email: klgrace@umn.edu