Matthew M. Brooks

Biography

Matt Brooks, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in Rural Sociology and Demography from Pennsylvania State University in 2021.

Dr. Brooks is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Florida State University and is an associate of the Center for Demography and Population Health. A Rural Sociologist and Demographer by training, Matt’s research focuses on the demographic future of Rural America and a broad range of social and economic inequalities between rural and urban areas including poverty, family well-being, mortality disparities, and affordable housing. The role of space and place are central to his research, and his work has been published at outlets such as Demography, the American Journal of Public Health, and Rural Sociology. Before his time at Florida State, Matt was a postdoctoral researcher at McGill University and is particularly interested in comparisons of rural communities in the United States and Canada.

Education

2021 PhD. Rural Sociology and Demography (Dual Title) Pennsylvania State University

2017 M.A. Geography Kansas State University

2015 B.S. Community and Regional Planning, Sociology minor Iowa State University

Courses Taught

Florida State University
Cities in Society. Instructor of Record (F2023)

McGill University
Rural Life in a Global Society. Instructor of Record (F2022)

Pennsylvania State University
Population and Policy Issues. Guest Lecture: The 2020 Census and You (S2020)

Development Issues in a Global Context. Guest Lecture: International Migration (F2019-S2020)

Introductory Rural Sociology. Reoccurring Guest Lecturer (F2019-S2020)

Community Development Concepts and Practice. Guest Lecture: Community Capital Framework (S2019)

Kansas State University
Human Geography. Teaching Assistant (Four Semesters, F2015 – S2017)

Awards & Honors

2021 Alumni Association Dissertation Award. Pennsylvania State University

2020 Outstanding Dissertation Award, College of Agricultural Sciences. Pennsylvania State University

2020 Francena L. Miller and Michael F. Nolan Graduate Scholarship in Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology. Pennsylvania State University

2020 Dr. Fern “Bunny” Willits Graduate Award Endowment in Rural Sociology. Pennsylvania State University.

2020 Paul Hand Award for Research Excellence. College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University.

2019 Natural Resources RIG Graduate Student Paper Award. “Who bears the burden of renewable energy? A multi-scalar analysis of distributional injustice and wind energy.” Awarded with J. Tom Mueller. Rural Sociological Society

2019 Olaf Larson Graduate Student Paper Award. “Who bears the burden of renewable energy? A multi-scalar analysis of distributional injustice and wind energy.” Awarded with J. Tom Mueller. Rural Sociological Society

2018 M.E. John Student Professional Development Grant

2017 University Graduate Fellowship. College of Agricultural Sciences, Pennsylvania State University

2017 College of Arts and Sciences Diversity Lecture Series Grant

2017 Best Student Research Poster. “Countering Depopulation in Kansas: Understanding Perceptions of Rural Life and the Effectiveness of the Rural Opportunity Zone Program.” Rural Geography Specialty Group, The American Associated of Geographers

2017 Graduate Student Travel Award. College of Arts and Sciences, Kansas State University

2015-2017 Student Travel Award. Department of Geography, Kansas State University

Professional Experience

2023- Assistant Professor of Sociology, Florida State University

2023- Research Associate, Center for Demography & Population Health, Florida State University

2021-2023 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Sociology and Centre on Population Dynamics, McGill University

Selected Publications

Peer Reviewed Articles

2023 Lichter, Daniel T., Brian C. Thiede, and Matthew M. Brooks. 2023. “Racial Diversity and Segregation: Comparing Principal Cities, Inner-Ring Suburbs, Outlying Suburbs, and the Exurban Fringe.” Russell Sage Foundation Journal of Social Sciences 9(1): 26-51 2023 Brooks, Matthew. M.

2023 “Persistent Disparities in Affordable Rental Housing among America’s Ethnoracial Groups.” Social Science Research 113 (102828): 1-14 2022 Mueller, J. Tom, Matthew M. Brooks, and Jose Pacas.

2022. “Cost of Living, Nonmetropolitan America, and implications for the Supplemental Poverty Measure.” Population Research and Policy Review 41: 1501-1523 2022 Brooks, Matthew M.

2022. “Measuring America’s Affordability Problem: Comparing Alternative Measurements of Affordable Housing.” Housing Policy Debate. Online First. 1-20 2022 Brooks, Matthew M.

2022. “The Changing Landscape of Affordable Housing in the Rural and Urban United States, 1990-2016”. Rural Sociology. 82(2): 511-546 *Top Cited Article from Rural Sociology in 2021-2022 2021 Brooks, Matthew M., J. Tom Mueller, and Brian C. Thiede.

2021. “Rural-urban differences in the labor-force impacts of COVID-19 in the United States”. Socius 7: 1-12.

2021 Thiede, Brian C., Matthew M. Brooks, and Leif Jensen.

2021. “Unequal from the Start? Poverty across Immigrant Generations of Hispanic Children”. Demography 58 (6): 2139-2167 2020 Brooks, Matthew M.

2020 “Countering Depopulation in Kansas: An Assessment of the Rural Opportunity Zone Program.” Population Research and Policy Review 40: 137-148

2020 Brooks, Matthew M., J. Tom Mueller, and Brian C. Thiede.

2020. “County reclassifications and Rural-urban mortality disparities in the United States (1970- 2018)”. American Journal of Public Health 110 (12): 1814-1816. 2020 Brooks, Matthew M., and J. Tom Mueller.

2020. “Factors affecting mobile home prevalence in the United States: Poverty, natural amenities, and natural resource employment.” Population, Space and Place 26(4): 1-13.

2020 Mueller, J. Tom, and Matthew M. Brooks. 2020. “Burdened by renewable energy? A multi-scalar analysis of distributional justice and wind energy in the United States.” Energy Research and Social Science 63: 1-13 *Winner of

2019 Olaf Larson Award. Rural Sociological Society 2019 Brooks, Matthew M.

2019. “The Advantages of Comparative LISA Techniques in Spatial Inequality Research: Evidence from Poverty Change in the United States.” Spatial Demography 7: 167–193 2018 Thiede, Brian C., and Matthew M. Brooks.

2018 “Child poverty across immigrant generations in the United States, 1993-2016: Evidence using the official and supplemental poverty measures.” Demographic Research 39(40): 1065-1080 Chapters in Edited Volumes

2020 Brooks, Matthew M., and Sabrina Voltaire. 2020. “Rural Families in the United States: Theory, research and policy”. In Rural Families and Communities in the United States: Facing Challenges and Leveraging Opportunities, edited by S.M. McHale, V. King, and J. Glick. Springer. 253-267

Book Reviews

2019 Brooks, Matthew M. 2019. Review of “We’re Still Here: Pain and Politics in the Heart of America”, by Jennifer M. Silva. Rural Sociology 84(3): 622-624

Policy Briefs and other Reports

2020 Zhou, Shuai, and Matthew M. Brooks. 2020. “Pennsylvania Pomp and Circumstance: Trends in High School Drop Outs.” Pennsylvania Population Network Briefs 3: 1-4. https://pop.psu.edu/sites/pri/files/HSDropOutRatesBrief_RFCdocx.pdf

Matthew M. Brooks

Assistant Professor

Areas of Interest: Social Demography; Rural and Urban Sociology; Family and Childhood Well-being; Health Disparities; Affordable Housing; Spatial Analysis

Matt.Brooks@fsu.edu

850-644-1378

https://www.mattbrooksresearch.com/

Google Scholar

Curriculum Vitae