Research That Works

Data and Solutions for Florida

Florida faces complex issues — demographic change, public health, housing, infrastructure, resilience, and economic mobility. COSSPP researchers work alongside communities, agencies, and policymakers to produce evidence-based solutions. Using data science, policy analysis, and community partnerships, we translate research into real, actionable insights that help Florida prepare for tomorrow.

COSSPP Announces 2026 Awardees: Specialized Faculty Professional Development Program

Published: | 12:38 pm | Posted in: News, Research That Works

FSU’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy awarded four faculty with grants through COSSPP’s Specialized Faculty Professional Development Program to enhance their teaching, research, and professional development activities.

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FSU Researcher Provides New Insight Into Economic Outcomes of the U.S. Space Race

Published: | 3:55 pm | Posted in: News, Research That Works

A Florida State University economics professor’s latest research offers a new perspective on the long-held belief that the space race of the 1950s and 60s served as a primary engine for broad American economic growth. Shawn Kantor, Ph.D., FSU L. Charles Hilton Jr. Distinguished Professor of Economic Prosperity and Individual Opportunity, and co-author Alexander Whalley, […]

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Department of Geography Hosts December 2025 Colloquium

Published: | 11:16 am | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works, Students

FSU’s Geography Department hosted their monthly Colloquium on Friday, December 5, 2025. The event, titled, “Estimating the Impact of Drone Strikes on Civilians using Call Detail Records” was a lecture based event hosted by Aidan Milliff, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at FSU. The Colloquium was followed by a social […]

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COSSPP Professor Helps Unveil Innovative Tool to Measure Healthy Aging

Published: | 4:16 pm | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works

A Florida State University College of Social Sciences and Public Policy researcher is part of a pioneering team that has developed a new measure to understand and support healthy aging, with the potential to change how health care workers, employers, and policymakers assist older adults in remaining active and engaged.

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ISS Assistant Teaching Professor Receives American Sociological Association Award

Published: | 11:00 am | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works

FSU Interdisciplinary Social Science Assistant Teaching Professor Maria Cristina Ramos, Ph.D., was awarded the Outstanding Recent Contribution Award from the American Sociological Association’s (ASA) Social Psychology Section.

Her first-author article, titled “Identity Networks as a New Frontier: Conceptualizing, Mapping, and Analyzing Identity Structures and Their Impact on Well-Being,” offers a cohesive approach to addressing sociology’s fragmented efforts to conceptualize, measure, and examine identity structures as networks. In this article, Dr. Ramos takes a network-based approach to capture identity structures.

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Research Spotlight: Ready for the Next Storm? An Analysis of Florida’s Hurricane Preparedness for its Residents with Disabilities

Published: | 10:37 am | Posted in: Alumni News, Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works

Anne Barrett, Ph.D., Professor of Sociology, Mildred and Claude Pepper Eminent Scholar, co-authored “Ready for the next storm? An analysis of Florida’s hurricane preparedness for its residents with disabilities,” alongside fellow FSU researchers: sociology doctoral candidate Hope Mimbs, sociology doctoral student Brianna Soulie, and postdoctoral scholar Jessica Noblitt. The team also collaborated with independent researcher Cherish Michael. Their study was published in the Journal of Elder Policy (2024). The following summary was written by Kharisma Langston (M.S. Integrated Marketing and Management Communication ’26).

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Department of Geography Hosts GIS Day 2025 Celebration

Published: | 2:55 pm | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works, Students

The GIS Day 2026 Celebration, held on November 19, 2025 (11 a.m.–1 p.m.) at the Claude Pepper Center, was a great success! The event featured talks from four distinguished speakers representing Florida State University and the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI).

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Research Spotlight: The Protective Efforts of Psychological Resilience on Fall Risk

Published: | 9:55 am | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works

Dawn Carr, Ph.D., was the lead author of a recently published article titled “The Protective Effects of Psychological Resilience on Fall Risk.” The study was a collaborative effort with Shekhar Chauhan, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow; Miles G. Taylor, Ph.D., director of the Pepper Institute on Aging and Public Policy and professor of sociology; Matthew Lohman, Ph.D., of the University of South Carolina; and Amanda Sonnega, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan.

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Department of Geography Hosts November 2025 Colloquium

Published: | 9:54 am | Posted in: Alumni News, Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works, Students

FSU’s Geography Department hosted their monthly Colloquium last Friday, November 7, 2025.

The event, titled, “GeoAI and Human Mobility: Paving the Way for an Intelligent Geospatial Future” was an lecture based event hosted by Xiao Huang, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor from Emory University.

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FSU Claude Pepper Center, AARP Florida Unite Caregivers, Leaders Through Inaugural Florida Caregiving Summit

Published: | 1:08 pm | Posted in: Faculty/Staff, News, Research That Works, Students

More than 4.4 million adults in Florida are family caregivers  who primarily provide unpaid and unsupported care to older parents, spouses and other relatives. As Florida’s population ages, with one in five residents expected to be 65 or older by 2030, caregivers and families continue to need access to essential resources and information for support more than […]

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