An environmental economist by training, Dr. Dickinson’s interdisciplinary research focuses on the impacts of policies and interventions on environmental, social, and health outcomes. Much of her current work involves community-engaged environmental justice research in Colorado, exploring issues that include public housing, oil and gas development, and city planning. Meanwhile, several past and current projects have addressed problems at the nexus of environmental quality, economic development, and human health, including sanitation in India, malaria in Tanzania, and improved cookstoves in Ghana. Other branches of research look at responses to natural hazards, including wildfire and hurricanes, and vector-borne disease risks in the US. Several projects have examined the role of social interactions and social networks in shaping risk perceptions and behaviors.
Dr. Dickinson received her PhD from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke Univeristy, and did her postdoctoral training as a Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society scholar at the University of Wisconsin from 2008 to 2010, and at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) from 2010 to 2013. Before joining the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at ColoradoSPH, Katie spent four years as a Research Scientist/Project Scientist with joint positions at NCAR and CU Boulder. Katie is currently a JPB Environmental Health Fellow, a program run by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health that aims to support scholars in studying the social and environmental determinants of health.
Areas of Expertise
- Environmental economics
- Environmental justice
- Social survey design and analysis
- Impact evaluation
- Community-engaged research
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Environmental Economics, Duke University, 2008
- MS, Earth Systems, Stanford University, 2003
- BA, Earth Systems, Stanford University, 2002
Resumes/CV:
Awards
- JPB Environmental Health Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2018-2021
Courses
- EHOH 6601 Public Health Concepts for Non-MPH Students
- EHOH 6618 Environmental Health Policy and Practice
Research
- National Science Foundation, Oil and Gas Siting, Housing Choices, and Environmental Justice in Colorado. January 2020-December 2022. Role: PI
- JPB Foundation, Sun Valley Public Housing Redevelopment Study. 2019-2021. Role: PI
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Social feasibility and economic cost-benefit analysis of mosquito control in Texas. 2018-2021. Role: PI
- National Science Foundation. Prices, Peers, Perceptions (P3): Improved Cookstoves in Northern Ghana. 2015-2018. Role: PI
Publications and Presentations
- Dickinson, K.L., Brenkert-Smith, H., Madonia, G. and Flores, N.E., Risk interdependency, social norms, and wildfire mitigation: a choice experiment. 2020. Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, pp.1-28.
- Dickinson, K.L., Brenkert-Smith, H., Madonia, G. and Flores, N.E., Risk interdependency, social norms, and wildfire mitigation: a choice experiment. 2020. Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, pp.1-28.
- Hannigan, M.P., Moro, A., Dickinson, K.L., Oduro, A., Banacos, N., Pfotenhauer, D., Begay, T., Agao, D., Mukherjee, A., Dalaba, M. and Coffey, E.R. 2019. Kitchen Area Air Quality Measurements in Northern Ghana: Evaluating the Performance of a Low-Cost Particulate Sensor within a Household Energy Study.
- Kroepsch, A.C., Maniloff, P.T., Adgate, J.L., McKenzie, L.M. and Dickinson, K.L., 2019. Environmental justice in unconventional oil and natural gas drilling and production: A critical review and research agenda. Environmental science & technology, 53(12), pp.6601-6615.
- Dickinson, K.L., A. Monaghan, I.J. Rivera, L. Hu, E. Kanyomse, R. Alirigia, J. Adoctor, R. Kaspar, A.R. Oduro, and C. Wiedinmyer. 2017. Changing weather and climate in Northern Ghana: comparison of local perceptions with meteorological and land cover data. Regional Environmental Change: 1-14. doi:10.1007/s10113-016-1082-4.
- Wiedinmyer, C., Dickinson, K.L., Piedrahita, R., Kanyomse, E., Coffey, E., Hannigan, M., Alirigia, R., andOduro, A.. 2017. Rural-urban differences in cooking practices and exposures in Northern Ghana. Environmental Research Letters 12(6): 065009. PMID:11445512