I am currently a post-doctoral researcher with the FLUX Consortium at the University of Helsinki in Finland and a Guest Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany.

I am currently researching the impact of low fertility and population aging on society, as well as how family dynamics interact with these population trends in the Family Formations in Flux (FLUX Consortium) program.

I am developing a theory of micro-uncertainty and fertility decision-making based on empirical register data from U.S. restricted birth records. Additionally, I am collaborating with the Population Research Unit at the University of Helsinki and colleagues at MPIDR to study the development of fertility assimilation in the next-generation in Finland, focusing on recent immigrants and the dyadic typology of parents' immigrant status.

For my doctoral research, I explored stratified reproduction, investigating the relationships between macro-level institutions and micro-level outcomes in inequality. My work has been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, Social Science and Medicine, The Journal of Sex Research, Studies in Family Planning, Contraception, and the African Journal of Reproductive Health.

During my doctoral studies, I was supported by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies. I used intersectionality and reproductive justice frameworks to examine stratified reproduction, including novel research using in-depth interviews with young adult women during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore how uncertainty affected reproductive experiences.

I also conducted a critical discourse analysis of welfare reform debates in the 1990s that highlighted the construction of "unwanted" pregnancy as specifically non-marital and lower class; this analysis carries forward into today’s reproductive policy milieu with its extensive legacy (work is under revision).

Finally, I employed formal demographic methods and an afterlife of slavery framework to explore intergenerational inequalities in exposure to climate change, fecundity, birth outcomes, and the right to birth in the United States (work is forthcoming).

Prior to entering the doctoral program in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, I received a B.A. in Social Anthropology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2006, and an M.S.P.H. in International Health Systems from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I also worked with the Population Council, USAID, Jhpiego, and UNAIDS before returning to graduate school.

Teaching Experience

I have experience as a primary instructor, guest lecturer, teaching assistant, grader, and tutor in a variety of courses at the graduate and undergraduate level. This includes designing and implementing applied research courses, supervising independent study, guest lecturing on special topics, and providing teaching and grading assistance for large undergraduate courses on required topics, including race and ethnicity requirements.

Student Testimonials

“The experience has been very good. The instructor combines assertiveness, caring, and flexibility at an optimal balance supporting students to succeed.”

— COS-R406, Applied Research Project, Spring 2023

“Kelsey was extremely helpful in every aspect. She knows what she is doing and talking about, and she has a very welcoming aura about her which makes her discussions very enjoyable. I feel like if I were to have a different TA, the experience wouldn’t be the same and I would not be able to focus and understand the class content as I did this semester. If I could, I would have this TA again and recommend her to others just because she is very smart and responsible and I feel like that is what every student wants in a TA, someone they can rely on and ask for help whenever.”

— Soc 170, Contemporary Population Problems, Fall 2020