Malia Jones, PhD, MPH
bio
Dr. Malia Jones is an interdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of infectious disease and social epidemiology, demography, and geography.
She is an Associate Scientist in Health Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Applied Population Laboratory, where her work focuses on how the places we spend time affect our health, especially spatial clustering of infectious disease and vaccines. She is also the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Dear Pandemic. Over the past year, Dr. Jones has emerged as a national leader in pandemic-related science communications. She is developing a research program that aims to understand how social media, trust, and science communication intersect.
Her current research work is funded by a K01 Career Development Award from the National Institutes for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
She received an MPH and a PhD in Public Health at UCLA and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine, Department of Preventive Medicine. Her work has been published in leading scientific journals such as the American Journal of Public Health, Health Affairs, and Demography.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy, Public Health, 2012
University of California, Los Angeles
Fielding School of Public Health
Department of Community Health Sciences
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Anne R. Pebley (chair), Dr. Carol S. Aneshensel, Dr. Judith Siegel, Dr. Robert D. Mare, Dr. Bridget Friesthler
Dissertation title: Accumulating neighborhood stress exposure: effects on hypertension, obesity, and depression
Minor in Sociology
Dear Pandemic & Other Public Health Advocacy Work
The Dear Pandemic Project
Dear Pandemic is a collaborative effort of female PhD- and MD-trained scientists curating and translating critical information about COVID-19 for general audiences. We share posts on topics ranging from housekeeping advice to understanding denominators on social media on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and at www.dearpandemic.org.
Dear Pandemic posts about twice a day and has been doing so since March 15, 2020. We have collectively written hundreds of posts. I have personally authored dozens of them.
Here is a sample of some recent posts which I authored:
"Has my COVID bubble gotten out of control? How can I tell?" - November 23, 2020
"How CAN we celebrate Thanksgiving safely?" - November 16, 2020
Are there really false positives from COVID tests? - October 13, 2020.
What do epidemiologists think about Joe Biden and Mike Pence (and other national leaders) testing negative for COVID on Friday? - October 4, 2020.
What exactly is a “superspreader” and what makes one person a superspreader and another person not? - October 1, 2020.
I also host a weekly Facebook Live Q&A session on Facebook.
Other Public Health Advocacy Work
Ad-hoc advisor, Wisconsin Army National Guard pandemic response task force “Checkmate,” March 2020-present.
Ad-hoc data analysis with Professor John Eason of UW-Madison for the Dane County Criminal Justice Council, August 2020-present
Open letter to the Dane County Board of Health and public comment asking the Board to implement prevention measures in advance of Fall's return to in-person education, Dane County, Wisconsin, July 27, 2020.
Co-conspirator, Black Lives Matter vigil in Hill Farms University neighborhood, June 21, 2020.
Facilitator, “Witnessing Whiteness.” An 11-part workshop to develop anti-racist practice for white people based on the workshop and book “Witnessing Whitness” by Shelley Tochluck. Rolling, Sept 2017-present. 5 cohorts trained so far!
Master of Public Health, 2008
University of California, Los Angeles
Fielding School of Public Health
Department of Community Health Sciences
Bachelor of Arts, 1999
American University
Majors: Anthropology, Philosophy, and Comparative Religion
University Honors in Anthropology
Magna Cum Laude
Professional Appointments
March 2020 to present
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Dear Pandemic is a science communications project delivering curated COVID-19 info to the general public via social media.
July 2015 to present
Associate Scientist in Health Geography
Applied Population Laboratory
Department of Community and Environmental Sociology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, WI
July 2012 to July 2015
NIH/National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Trainee
Institute for Prevention Research, University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA
Advisor Genevieve Dunton, PhD.
September 2012 to June 2015
Lecturer, Department of Community Health Sciences
Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
September 2010 to June 2012
NIH/National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Predoctoral Trainee
California Center for Population Research, University of California Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA
Advisor Anne R. Pebley, PhD.
June 2008 to September 2008
Master's of Public Health Fieldwork Intern
Division of Children's Environmental Health, World Health Organization
Geneva, Switzerland
May 2003 to June 2008
Project Administrator, RAND Corporation
Santa Monica, CA
Projects
Primary support:
"Estimating Childhood Infectious Disease Outbreak Risk in the Context of Heterogeneous Vaccine Coverage"
Funding source: NIH/National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases
Mechanism: K01 Mentored Career Development Award
Role: PI
Dates: 9/1/2018-8/31/2023
Other current support:
Prevention Research Center COVID-19 Vaccine Supplement: UW-Madison PRC
Funding Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Role: Co-I
Dates: 5/11/2021-5/10/2022
It’s a Family Affair: A Vaccine Promotion Intervention in Wisconsin Early Care and Education Staff and the Families who Trust Them
Funding source: Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Role: Co-I
Dates: 4/1/2021-8/31/2021
Dear Pandemic En Español: Extending a successful COVID science outreach project to Spanish-speaking audiences
Funding source: UW-Madison Holtz Center Outreach Fellowship
Role: PI
Dates: 9/1/2020-5/30/2020
Publications
Peer-Reviewed, Published
Ritter AZ, Aronowitz S, Leininger L, Jones M, Dowd JB, Albrecht S, Buttenheim AM, Simanek AM, Hale L, Kumar A. 2021. “Dear Pandemic: Nurses as key partners in fighting the COVID‐19 infodemic.” Public Health Nursing. April; online first.
Jones M, Buttenheim A, Salmon D, Omer S. 2018. “Mandatory Health Care Provider Counseling For Parents Led To A Decline In Vaccine Exemptions In California.” Health Affairs. Sept; 39.
Omer SB, Allen K, Chang DH, Guterman LB, Bednarczyk RA, Jordan A, Buttenheim A, Jones M, Hannan C, deHart MP, Salmon DA. 2018. “Exemptions from Mandatory Immunization after Legally Mandated Parental Counseling.”Pediatrics. Jan; 141
Buttenheim A, Jones M, McKown C, Omer SB. 2018. “Conditional Admission, religious exemption type, and nonmedical vaccine exemptions in California before and after Assembly Bill 2109.” Vaccine. Feb; 36: 3789-3793.
Jones M, Taylor A, Liao Y, Intille SS, Dunton GF. 2018. “Real-Time Subjective Assessment of Psychological Stress: Associations with Objectively-Measured Physical Activity Levels.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise. July; 31: 79-87.
Garcia J, Gee G, Jones M. 2016. “A critical race theory analysis of public park features in Latino immigrant neighborhoods.” Du Bois Review. Sept; 13(2): 397-411.
Tate EB, Shah A, Jones M, Pentz MA, Dunton GF. 2015. “Toward a better understanding of the link between parent and child physical activity levels: the moderating role of parental encouragement and direct modeling.” Journal of Physical Activity and Health. Dec; 12(9): 1238-1244.
Dzubur E, Jones M, Huh J. 2015. “Relationship between smoking behavior and activity space in Korean American young adults.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine. 49: S205-S205.
Jones M, Buttenheim A. 2014. “Potential Effects of California's new vaccine exemption law on the prevalence and clustering of exemptions” AJPH. Sept; 104(9). e3-e6.
Jones M, Pebley AR. 2014. “Redefining Neighborhoods Using Common Destinations: Social Characteristics of Activity Spaces and Home Census Tracts Compared. Demography. June; 51(3): 727-752.
Jones M and Huh J. 2013. “Toward a multidimensional understanding of residential neighborhood: a latent profile analysis of Los Angeles neighborhoods and longitudinal adult excess weight.” Health & Place. May; 27. 134-141.
Saliba D, Jones M, Streim J, Ouslander J, Berlowitz D, Buchanan J. 2012. “Overview of significant changes in the Minimum Data Set for Nursing Homes Version 3.0.” JAMDA. Sept; 13(7): 595-601.
Buttenheim AM, Jones M, and Baras Y. 2012. “Exposure to personal belief exemptions from mandated school entry vaccinations among California kindergarteners.” American Journal of Public Health. Sept; 102(8): 59-67.
Jones M, Pebley AR, Sastry N. 2011. “Eyes on the Block: Measuring Urban Physical Disorder Through In-person Observation.” Social Science Research. March; 40(2): 523-537.
Housen P, Shannon G, Simon B, Orlando Edelen M, Cadogan M, Jones M, Buchanan J, Saliba D. 2009. “Why not just ask the resident? Refinement of a preference assessment tool for nursing homes.” Journal of Gerontological Nursing. Nov; 35(11): 40-49.
Cadogan M, Orlando M, , Lorenz K, Jones M, Yosef J, Hascall T, Simon B, Harker J, Saliba D. 2008. “Relationship of Reported Pain Severity to Perceived Effect on Function of Nursing Home Residents.” Journal of Gerontology, Medical Sciences. Sep; 63(9): 969-73.
Housen P, Shannon G, Simon B, Orlando M, Cadogan M, Sohn L, Jones M, Buchanan J, Saliba D. 2008. “What the Resident Meant to Say: Use of Cognitive Interviewing Techniques to Develop Questionnaires for Nursing Home Residents.” The Gerontologist. Apr; 48(2): 158-69.
Hascall, T, Lorenz, K, Orlando M, Cadogan M, Jones M, Yosef J, Simon B, Harker J, Saliba D. 2007. “A pilot description of dyspnea among nursing home residents.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Apr; 55(4): S109.
Books
Jones, M. A Kids Book About COVID-19. Published by A Kid’s Book About, Portland, Oregon. 2020.
Authored Columns
Jones M. “Most people are thinking of herd immunity all wrong.” Slate.com. May 13, 2021.
Jones M and Whelan C. "Welcome to the pandexit." The Cap Times. April 23, 2021.
Jones M. "Can We Finally Stop Talking About “Natural” COVID-19 Herd Immunity? Please?" Slate.com. Dec 3, 2020.
Jones M. "Dear Pandemic: An Origin Story." IAPHS Blog, October 26, 2020.
Jones M. “Halloween is not canceled.” Slate.com. Sept 29, 2020.
Albrecht, S., Jones M, Kumar A, Leininger L. “What it will take to reopen schools safely.” American Scientist Magazine. July 21, 2020.
“Malia Jones and James H. Conway: Respect social distancing—and keep your kids home from school ASAP.” Op-ed, Capital Times, March 15 2020.
“I’m an epidemiologist. Here’s what I told my friends about the coronavirus and COVID-19.” Op-ed, USA Today, March 11 2020.
Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). July 31, 2019. “How Wisconsin’s Past and Present Population Will Shape Its Future: The Diverging Demographics of Rural and Urban Places Around the State.”
Jones M. Mar 21, 2019. “What is Vaccine Refusal and What’s Its Effect on Public Health?”
Foltman, L, Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). Feb 28, 2019. “How Redlining Continues to Shape Racial Segregation in Milwaukee: 1930’s Lending Map Reveals the Policy Roots of Housing Discrimination.”
Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). Jan 16, 2019. “Cartogram: Wisconsin’s 2018 Election for Governor.”
I authored more than 2 dozen items in WisContext.org between 2015 and 2020 as part of a funded collaboration with this media outlet. For the full list, visit this website.
Jones M and Buttenheim A. September 22, 2014. “Anti-Vaccination beliefs are contagious like a disease.” Guest post at The Monkey Cage, The Washington Post online. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/09/22/anti-vaccination-beliefs-are-contagious-like-a-disease/
White Papers and Research Briefs
Meiman J, Shaw S, Cassidy L, Jones M, Boeck A, Case, R. “COVID-19 in Children: Implications for Schools.” Wisconsin Department of Health Services white paper series. July 2020.
Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). Health Insurance Coverage Reached Historic High in 2015. Nov 4, 2019.
Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). Significant Changes in Wisconsin Poverty: Comparisons of the Census Bureau's American Community Survey 2010-2014 and 2005-2009 5-Year Estimates. December 9, 2015.
Jones M, Bourbeau C (graphics). Health Insurance Coverage Is Up in Wisconsin and Nationally. Sept 21, 2015.
Babey SH, Jones M, Yu H, Goldstein H. 2009. “Bubbling Over: Soda Consumption and its Link to Obesity in California.” Los Angeles, CA: UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, September Policy Brief.
World Health Organization. 2009. “Children’s Environmental Health Indicators (CEHI): Presenting Regional Successes Learning for the Future. Summary.” Geneva, Switzerland.
Professional Conference Activity
Selected Conference Presentations
Jones M, Simanek A, Dodd J, Leininger L. “Dear Pandemic: Nerdy Girls Curating COVID-19 Content for the Greater Good.” Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences (virtual), October 2020.
Foltman L, Engelman M, Garoon J, Jones M. The Persistent Influence of Redlining on Racial Disparities in Educational Attainment in Milwaukee, WI. Accepted for oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, April 2020.
Jones M. “Demography of Voting and Political Boundarymaking in Wisconsin.” Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, April 2018.
Jones M. “Methods for the Analysis of Human Spatial Behavior.” Session Discussant at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, April 2018.
Jones, M., Buckingham, WR. “Geographic Information Systems and Public Health: applications and approaches to promote health equity.” Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Public Health Association, May 2016.
Buttenheim, A, Jones, M. “Under covered? Cohort changes in time to vaccination among California schoolchildren.” Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, March 2016.
Jones, M, McKown, C. “Decomposing increases in health insurance coverage: Population processes and policy processes.” Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, March 2016.
Jones, M, Dunton, GF. “Kids’ daily activity spaces, physical activity and stress: Linking real-time geospatial data with other real-time data sources in a sample of Southern California children.” Poster presentation at 2015 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, San Diego, CA.
Jones M, Pebley AR. 2014. “The great recession and neighborhood change: the case of Los Angeles County.” Oral presentation, 2014 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Boston, MA.
Jones M, Huh J, Dunton GF, Spruijt-Metz D, Pentz MA. 2014. “Spatial profiling: a latent profile analysis of obesogenic activity spaces and adult BMI.” Oral presentation, 2014 annual meeting of Active Living Research, San Diego, CA.
Kim C, Choi T, Jones M, Huh J. 2014. “The effects of neighborhood contexts on perceived smoking norms among young Korean Americans.” Oral presentation, 2014 annual meeting of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, Philadelphia, PA.
Jones M. 2013. “Neighborhood social characteristics and Chronic Disease Outcomes: Does the Geographic Scale of Neighborhood Matter?” Poster presentation, 2013 annual meeting of the Population Association of America, New Orleans, LA.
Jones M, Taylor A, Dunton GF, Intille SS. 2013. “Momentary versus durable stress experiences as predictors of BMI among adults.” Poster presentation, 2013 annual meeting of the Society for Behavioral Medicine, San Francisco, CA.
Jones M. 2013. “Testing the mediating role of physical disorder in the relationship between neighborhood poverty and adult obesity.” Poster presentation, 2013 annual meeting of Active Living Research, San Diego, CA.
Jones M and Pebley AR. 2012. “Redefining Neighborhoods Using Common Destinations: Social Characteristics of Activity Spaces and Home Census Tracts Compared.” Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, San Francisco CA.
Jones M. 2011. “Self-assessing weight status: a comparison of self-assessment and measurement of weight among Los Angeles County adults.” Poster presentation at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Washington DC.
Jones M, Chang HC. 2011. “Assessing walkability using structured observation of the built environment by community volunteers: are Los Angeles neighborhoods walkable?” Oral presentation at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, Washington DC. Winner, Best Doctoral Student Abstract, Community Health Planning and Policy Development (CHPPD) Section.
Jones M, Sastry N, Pebley AR. 2010. “Neighborhood-level Physical Disorder and its Relationship to Poverty, Affluence, Residential Stability, and Ethnicity in Los Angeles.” Oral presentation at the Annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Dallas, TX.
Jones M, Gore F. 2008. “Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Project: What the World’s Children Have in Common.” Poster presentation at the Annual meeting of the Southern California Public Health Association and at UCLA Public Health Week.
Lorenz K, Cadogan M, Buchanan J, Yosef J, Hascall T, Simon B, Orlando M, Harker J, Meier M, Jones M, Saliba D. 2007. “To what extent do serious psychiatric illnesses impair symptom reports?” Presidential poster presentation at the Annual American Geriatrics Society Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Media appearances
This is a partial list. For a full list of pandemic-related media appearances, see the Dear Pandemic website.
"We're thinking about herd immunity all wrong, says social epidemiologist." live interview on WDET. May 18, 2021.
"Dane County No. 1 in COVID-19 vaccination among large U.S. counties." by David Wahlberg, Wisconsin State Journal. May 17, 2021.
"FDA clears the way for adolescents ages 12 to 15 to get vaccinated." by Jillian Kramer, National Geographic. May 10, 2021.
"Funding Announcement: Connecting Behavioral Science to COVID-19 Vaccine Demand Network." UW-Madison. May 10, 2021.
"You're Vaccinated. Your kids are not. Now what?" by Melinda Wenner Moyer, New York Times. April 13, 2021.
"A Viral Sensation." by Megan Provost, On Wisconsin. March 1, 2021.
"'The choice is ours': Panel discusses COVID-19 and schools." By Scott Girard, Madison.com. January 13, 2021.
"'Dear Pandemic:' Local researchers commit to COVID-19 facts." by Kasey Chronis, Fox 6 Milwaukee. January 6, 2021.
"The Madsplainers podcast: Is now the time to reopen Madison's schools?" by Natalie Yahr and Scott Girard, The Capital Times. December 29, 2020.
"Could you prevent a pandemic? A very 2020 video game." The Nature Podcast. December 16, 2020.
"What did we learn? Malia Jones notes that polarization is a public health crisis." by Natalie Yahr, The Capitol Times. December 23, 2020.
"Women look to affect public health for the better through communication." by Nathan Phelps, Spectrum News 1. December 11, 2020.
"Experts comment on current COVID-19 climate, vaccine potential." by Scott McInerney, The Badger Herald, Nov 30, 2020.
"Coronavirus cases are rising. This is the kind of communication design we need now." by Lilly Smith, Fast Company. November 17, 2020.
"Dear Pandemic, Wisconsin Is Not Fine." A Public Affair, WORT 88.9. November 11, 2020.
"Newsmakers: Malia Jones & Amanda Simanke of Dear Pandemic." with Steve Walters, WisconsinEye, November 11, 2020.
"How to have Safe, Healthy, & Intentional Holidays with Dear Pandemic." with Laura Froyen, The Balanced Parent (podcast). November 10, 2020.
"Here are all the reasons COVID-19 cases are surging again." by Jaimy Lee. MarketWatch. October 28, 2020.
"Women who inspire: Culturists breaking through during Covid-19." by Lindsay Hoffman and Caroline Kim. NBC News: Know Your Value. October 26, 2020.
"Badger Talks: How to keep the virus away on Halloween." UW-Madison News. October 20, 2020.
"Wisconsin GOP: We ‘Don’t Care’ Guv Is Trying to Save Lives" by Huntar Woodall, The Daily Beast. October 9, 2020.
"Campus COVID-19 spike subsides: What's behind UW-Madison's drop in cases?" by Kelly Meyerhofer, Wisconsin State Journal, Oct 8, 2020.
"President Trump getting COVID-19 could influence others’ behavior." by Caroline Dade, ABC News Affiliate WKOW27, Madison, WI. October 3, 2020.
"Wisconsin College Towns Top Nationwide List For Rapid Spread Of COVID-19." by Bridget Bowden, Wisconsin Public Radio. Sept 22, 2020.
"Epidemiologist On Risk of Going Back to College, K-12 School." by Frederica Freyberg, PBS Wisconsin's Here & Now. Sept 18, 2020.
"UW-Madison threatens 'more drastic action' as experts say COVID-19 outbreak impacting broader community." Wisconsin State Journal. Sept 16, 2020.
"With Washington silent, states are torn between saving bars and stopping coronavirus." NBC News. Sept 10, 2020.
"11 Supposedly Fun Things We’ll Never Do the Same Way Again." New York Times. August 11, 2020.
"5 Epidemiologist and Public Health Moms on Their Children’s Back-to-School Plans." Working Mother. August 17, 2020.
"Is In-Person Voting Really Unsafe?" The Daily Beast. August 10, 2020.
"Madison mom, epidemiologist asks public health department to tighten restrictions to get kids back in school ." Channel 3000 news. July 29, 2020.
"'It Is Insanity': Petition Calls For Tighter COVID-19 Rules On Dane County Businesses, Gatherings." Wisconsin Public Radio. July 28, 2020.
"Q&A: Malia Jones discusses returning to school as pandemic continues." The Cap Times. July 26, 2020.
"The Madsplainers podcast: Is it safe for kids to go back to school?" Featured guest, The Cap Times, Madsplainers Podcast. July 21, 2020.
"Coronavirus is revolutionizing scientific practices and communication. Here's how." USA Today Network-Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 7, 2020.
"What We Know About Herd Immunity and Coronavirus." Spectrum News 1. July 2, 2020.
"COVID Questions: Polite distancing, second wave, should I get a test." UW-Madison News. June 23, 2020.
"Is It Safe To Visit Family And Friends?" Wisconsin Public Radio. June 22, 2020.
"Women scientists' voices aren't as loud during this pandemic. A Wisconsin epidemiologist and her 'nerdy girls' want to change that. " USA Today Network-Appleton Post Crescent. May 27, 2020.
"Play COVID Crush with an epidemiologist." UW-Madison News. May 19, 2020.
"Where coronavirus isn’t: What’s kept cases officially at zero in these 200 counties?” USA TODAY Network, May 18 2020.
"Try out Social Distancing Scenarios With This Pandemic Simulator.” Lifehacker, May 20 2020.
"COVID-19’s missing cases: Official numbers of infections and deaths only tell part of the story.” Erik Gunn, Wisconsin Examiner, April 28 2020.
"Diverse group of women academics launch 'Dear Pandemic' Facebook page." Insight into Diversity. April 8, 2020.
“What’s next with this pandemic?” Featured guest, The Cap Times Madsplainers podcast, April 3, 2020.
"4 Bright Spots Amid the Gloom of Coronavirus.” Maria Cramer, New York Times, March 27 2020.
"How will society change in response to COVID19?” Featured guest, The Annex sociology podcast. March 20 2020.
"Got Questions About Social Distancing? These Experts Have Answers.” Healthline, March 19 2020.
"As virus paralyzes daily life, Food Fight furloughs about 750.” Wisconsin State Journal, March 18 2020.
"Social Epidemiologist Offers Tips To Slow Down The Spread Of Virus That Causes COVID-19 ." Dr. Phil. March 17, 2020.
"What can I do to slow the spread of COVID-19?” Featured guest, The Cap Times, Madsplainers podcast, March 14 2020.
Honors & Awards
Regents of the University of Wisconsin Award for Staff Excellence, 2021.
NBC News, “Women who Inspire”, October 2020
National Excellence in Multistate Research Award from the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), for work with W4001: Social, Economic and Environmental Causes and Consequences of Demographic Change in Rural America, October 2020
Best Online Coverage of the News, Milwaukee Press Club, 2019
Best Online Coverage of the News, Milwaukee Press Club, 2018
Best Doctoral Student Abstract, Community Health Planning and Policy Development (CHPPD) Section of the American Public Health Association’s Annual meeting, 2011
Community Service Recognition Award, City of Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, 2011
Division Medalist, City of Los Angeles Triathlon, 2002, 2004 and 2005
Outstanding Service Award, RAND Research Staff Management Department, 2004
American University Presidential Scholarship, 1995-1999
National Merit Scholar, 1995
Scholarship for the Fine Arts: Drawing, Moore College of Art, 1994
Talks, Affiliations, and More Professional Stuff
Public Lectures, Invited Talks, and Video Appearances
"Dear Pandemic's Facebook Live--COVID Q&A." Dr. Jones hosted a live Q&A on the Dear Pandemic Facebook Page. It was live each week from September 2020 to May 2021.
"The Dear Pandemic Project at 1 Year." Wednesday Nite @ The Lab. May 21, 2021.
“Vaccines and You. Yes, we will take questions.” Presentation for Sleeves Up for the Kids! Project. May 2021.
“Social media and science: messages from the information frontlines.” Presentation for the Wisconsin Department of Justice Wellness Committee. April 2021.
“What we know about COVID-19 (and what we don’t).” Presentation for Sleeves Up for the Kids! Project. April 2021.
“Dear Pandemic: Lessons learned on the COVID-19 infodemic frontlines.” Presentation for A Time To Talk, Johns Hopkins University. April 2021.
“Dear Pandemic: Lessons Learned on the COVID-19 infodemic frontlines.” UW-Madison Population Health Institute, April 2021.
"The Dear Pandemic Project at 1 Year." University Place, PBS Wisconsin. Aired first February 24, 2021.
“Dear Pandemic: Practical Advice for Life in a Pandemic. Yes We Will Take Your Questions.” Panel session at the annual meeting of the Wisconsin Head Start Association (virtual), February 2021.
"Health of the State: Rural Health Disparities in Wisconsin." Keynote address, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality Statewide learning Assembly's 2020 meeting. Upcoming on Nov 12, 2020.
"What Happens After a COVID-19 Vaccine Arrives?" Cap Times Idea Fest Panel. October 5, 2020.
“Crossroads of Ideas: COVID-19 Edition, Part 1.” UW-Madison’s Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery. April 2020.
“Population Data, GIS, and the Geography of Redistricting.” Geometry of Gerrymandering Conference, Madison, WI. Oct 12, 2017.
“Increasing numbers of parents are refusing to vaccinate their kids: should public health be worried?” Presentation at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association’s Wednesday Nite @ the Lab series, September 2017. Aired on Wisconsin Public Television’s University Place.
Academic Talks, Guest Lectures, and Panel Appearances
“Health Geography and Spatial Approaches to Infectious Disease: applications for community design” Guest lecture for UW-Madison, Professor Kristín Thorleifsdöttir, February 2021.
“Simulating measles outbreak risk in an unevenly distributed vaccine environment: lessons learned from early ABM models. And other things.” Guest lecture for UW-Madison, Professor Ajay Sethi, March 2021.
“Space-time geography: an organizing framework for infectious disease epidemiology research.” UW-Madison Health & Place Seminar, March 2021.
"Science in Practice." Panel discussion for Epistemic Practice and Science Teaching, UW-Madison, August 2020.
“Social and Behavioral Science Communications in the COVID 19 Pandemic.” Center for Demography and Ecology DemSem, April 20 2020.
“Increasing Numbers of Parents are Refusing to Vaccinate Their Kids: Should Public Health Be Worried?" Guest lecture for UW-Madison, Professor Peter Schult, February 2020.
"Space-time geography in health disparities and demographic research.” CCPR 20th Anniversary Celebration, Oct 2018.
“Vaccine Exemptions Among California Public School Kindergarteners Declined After Implementation of New Law.” Health Affairs Special Issue Symposium, Santa Monica, CA, Sept 2018.
“Planning for an Aging, More Diverse Wisconsin Population” MPO/RPC/WisDOT Transportation Planning Conference, Madison, WI. Sept 2018.
“Simulating Measles Outbreak Risk in an Unevenly Distributed Vaccine Environment: Lessons Learned from Early Models.” Computational Demography, Madison, WI. May 30, 2018.
“Assessing Segregation and Access to Primary Care across the Urban-Rural Spectrum in Wisconsin: A Space-Time Geography Approach.” UCLA-HKUST Conference, Los Angeles, CA, May 2017.
“Health geography and population science: applications for community design” Guest lecture for UW-Madison, Professor Kristín Thorleifsdöttir, March 2016.
"Intentionally undervaccinated and unvaccinated children in California: Will policy fix this?” UW-Madison Center for Demography and Ecology, March 2016.
“GIS in the Health and Social Sciences.” Guest Lecture, University of Southern California, April 2015.
“Los Angeles Family and Neighborhood Survey (L.A. FANS).” Guest lecture for Dr. Michael Lens, UCLA, May 2014 and May 2015.
Professional Memberships
Interdisciplinary Association of Population Health Scientists, member, 2020-present
Wisconsin Public Health Association, 2015-present
Delta Omega public health honor society, 2012-present
Population Association of America, 2009-present
Affiliations
W4001 Project: Social, Economic and Environmental Causes and Consequences of Demographic Change in Rural America, affiliate, 2020-present
La Follette School Faculty Affiliates program, affiliate, 2020
UW-Madison Center for Child and Family Well Being, affiliate, 2017-present
UW Collaborative for Reproductive Equity (UW CORE), affiliate, 2019-present
Center for Demography and Environment, affiliate, 2015-present
California Center for Population Research, affiliated researcher, 2008-present
Software skills
Stata, ArcGIS, QGIS, GeoDa, Geospatial Modeling Environment, Epi Info. Learning R & NetLogo. Extensive experience working with software and web developers.
Workshops I Have Led
"Witnessing Whiteness.” An 11-part workshop for white people based on the workshop and book “Witnessing Whitness” by Shelley Tochluck.
“Best Practices in Translational Research for Social Scientists.” Health Disparities Research Scholars postdoctoral fellows, Nov 2019 and Demographic Responses to Changes in the Natural Environment mini-conference, Oct 2019.
“GetFacts: Accessing Demographic Data for Policymaking.” Workshop presentation for the Evidence-Based Health Policy Project, Dec 2017.
“Making the Most of Demographic Data for Libraries.” Workshop presentation for the Wisconsin Library Services Association, July 2017.
“An overview of GIS theory and applications in the social sciences.” Presentation to the UW-Madison Center for Demography and Healthy Aging, February 2016.
“Implementing the Pedestrian Environmental Quality Index." Workshop for the UCLA-RAND Center for Adolescent Health and Development, Los Angeles, CA. May 2014; the Academic-Community Collaborative in our Neighborhood (ACCION), and Palms Neighborhood Council, City of Los Angeles, 2013
“Implementing the RAND modified Delphi methodology for expert panels.” RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, CA. May 2010.
University Teaching
I do not currently teach classes. Below I list a few of the university classes I have taught in the past.
Introduction to Community Health Sciences (CHS100), Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
Gender and Minority Health Issues (HP420m), Department of Health Promotion, University of Southern California
Community Mapping (SW241G), Department of Social Welfare, Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA
Multicultural Health (HEA468), Health Sciences Department, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Research Methods (HEA479), Health Sciences Department, California State University, Dominguez Hills
Recent Ad-Hoc Journal Review
Social Networks
American Journal of Epidemiology
American Journal of Preventive Medicine
American Journal of Public Health
Annals of the Association of American Geographers
BMC Pediatrics
Demography
Health and Place
Preventive Medicine
Social Forces
Social Science Research
Hobbies and so on
I like to do stuff. Hobbies include knitting, writing, reading science fiction, fishing, foraging, stand-up paddleboarding, indoor cycling, running, swimming, gardening, raising monarch butterflies, looking at old maps, and more. I love to learning new things. I know how to can tomatoes, use a sewing machine, replace a toilet, and wire a vintage truck.
I have fostered 100 cats and kittens with Underdog Pet Rescue between 2016 and 2021, and only kept two of them. I live in Madison, WI with my partner Noah, our two sons, and our two cats, two rabbits, seven chickens, and assorted invertibrates.