Hi, I'm Helen, and this is my academic web site.

For more about my work in program evaluation, go to informedevaluation.com!

Academic work

My academic work focuses on cultural adaptation. I'm interested in the norms that regulate the distribution of needed resources between members of a social group (e.g., risk-pooling systems).  To understand how these cultural systems are constituted, I look at how they respond to socioeconomic change.

Applied work 

I'm interested in working toward achieving health equity in rural communities.

OVERLAP

My recent efforts are focused on understanding social support in central Appalachian communities (eastern Kentucky).  See Sharing in Kentucky for more.

TRAINING and SKILLS: I am an anthropologist with applied training in program evaluation. I completed my Ph.D. at Rutgers University and continued my research in a postdoctoral role in the Department of Psychology at Arizona State University, where I was to do both lab-based experimental work as well as fieldwork. In my master of public health program (MPH, University of Arizona, 2020), I added skills and practical experience in advocacy, policy analysis, community-based evaluation, and program planning.