Biography
Mason Mathews is a visiting professor in the Geography Department at Florida State University. He graduated from the University of Florida’s Interdisciplinary Ecology doctoral program (Human Geography) and worked extensively with UF’s Center for Latin American Studies. Mason is interested in social networks and social capital theories and methods and how they can be combined with geographic information systems to understand how communities and individuals respond to social, economic, and environmental shocks. Mason is also interested in how qualitative ‘thick’ data can be combined with quantitative ‘big data’ to enhance our understanding of human behavior. Mason spent seven years living, working, and conducting research in Latin America. This includes experiences in Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Brazil.
Selected Publications
Mason Clay Mathews, Jamie Vickery, Lori Peek. Resource exchange patterns between Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs): A multilevel network assessment to improve disaster response capacity. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104455.
Mason Clay Mathews, A. Stewart Fotheringham. The Effect of Place on Voting Behavior: The Case of the Arizona Proposition to Legalize Recreational Marijuana. Politics & Policy. 52 (1): 196-226 DOI:10.1111/polp.12580.
Jack DeWaard, Lori M. Hunter, Mason C. Mathews, Esteban J. Quiñones, Fernando Riosmena, and Daniel H. Simon. Operationalizing and empirically identifying populations trapped in place by climate and environmental stressors in Mexico. Regional Environmental Change. (DOI: 10.1007/s10113-022-01882-7).
Haorui Wu, Lori Peek, Mason Clay Mathews, and Nicole Mattson. Cultural Competence for Hazards and Disaster Researchers: Framework and Training Module. Natural Hazards Review. (DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000536.)
Mason Clay Mathews. How village leaders in rural Amazonia create bonding, bridging, and linking social capital configurations to achieve development goals, and why they are so difficult to maintain over time. World Development. (doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105541).
A. Christine Swanson, Stephanie Bohlman, Mason Mathews, Simone Athayde. Assessing inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration among Amazon Dams International Research Network (ADN) participants: preliminary results from the Palmas Workshop. In Rios, terras e culturas: Aprendendo com o sistema socioecológico do Tocantins. Rivers, lands and cultures: Learning from the Tocantins social-ecological system. pp. 196-214. Porto Alegre: Editora Fi.
Simone Athayde, Mason Mathews, Stephanie Bohlman, Walterlina Brasil, Carolina RC Doria, Jynessa Dutka-Gianelli, Philip M Fearnside, Bette Loiselle, Elineide E Marques, Theodore S Melis, Brent Millikan, Evandro M Moretto, Anthony Oliver-Smith, Amintas Rossete, Raffaele Vacca, and David Kaplan. Mapeando pesquisas sobre energia hidráulica e sustentabilidade na Amazônia brasileira: avanços, lacunas de conhecimento e rumos futuros. In Rios, terras e culturas: Aprendendo com o sistema socioecológico do Tocantins. Rivers, lands and cultures: Learning from the Tocantins social-ecological system. pp. 711-765. Porto Alegre: Editora Fi.
Chuyuan Wang, Ziqi Li, Mason Clay Mathews, Sarbeswar Praharaj, Brajesh Karna, and Patricia Solís. The spatial association of social vulnerability with COVID-19 prevalence in the contiguous United States. International Journal of Environmental Health Research. doi: 10.1080/09603123.2020.1847258.
Rachel M. Adams, Candace Evans, Mason Clay Mathews, Amy Wolkin, and Lori Peek. Mortality from Forces of Nature Among Older Adults by Race/Ethnicity and Gender. Journal of Applied Gerontology. doi:10.1177/0733464820954676.
Lori Peek, Heather Champeau, Jessica Austin, Mason Mathews, and Haorui Wu. What Methods Do Social Scientists Use to Study Disasters? An Analysis of the Social Science Extreme Events Research Network. American Behavioral Scientist. 64 (8): 1066-1094. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764220938105.
Lori Peek, Jennifer Tobin, Rachel Adams, Haorui Wu, and Mason Clay Mathews. A Framework for Convergence Research in the Hazards and Disaster Field: The Natural Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure CONVERGE Facility. Frontiers in Built Environment, section Earthquake Engineering. July, 2020. 6-110. doi: 10.3389/fbuil.2020.00110.
Emmanuelle Hines, Mason Mathews, and Lori Peek. Global List and Interactive Web Map of University-Based Hazards and Disaster Research Centers. Natural Hazards Review. 21(2): doi: 10.1061/(ASCE)NH.1527-6996.0000371 2019.
Simone Athayde, Mason Mathews, Stephanie Bohlman, Walterlina Brasil, Carolina RC Doria, Jynessa Dutka-Gianelli, Philip M Fearnside, Bette Loiselle, Elineide E Marques, Theodore S Melis, Brent Millikan, Evandro M Moretto, Anthony Oliver-Smith, Amintas Rossete, Raffaele Vacca, and David Kaplan. Mapping Research on Hydropower and Sustainability in the Brazilian Amazon: Advances, Gaps in Knowledge and Future Directions. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 37:50–69. (DOI:10.1016/j.cosust.2019.06.004)
Mason Clay Mathews and Marianne Schmink. “Differentiated Citizenship” and the Persistence of Informal Rural Credit Systems in Amazonia. Geoforum. 65: 266-277.

Mason Mathews
Visiting Assistant Professor
Areas of Interest: Spatial Data Analysis, Network Science, Research Methods, Human Geography
Bellamy 316