Heather Randell

Heather Randell

  • Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology and Demography
110A Armsby Building
University Park, PA 16802

Areas of Expertise

  • Population and Environment
  • Global Health
  • International Development

Websites

Education

  • PhD, Brown University, 2016
  • MEM, Duke University, 2008
  • BS, Cornell University, 2005

I am a sociologist and demographer interested in questions surrounding environmental change and human health and well-being. I investigate how populations are impacted by and adapt to climate change, the social processes underlying dam-induced displacement, and relationships between environmental change and migration. I use both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine these issues in low- and middle-income countries including Brazil and Ethiopia. 

Publications

Heat, mortality, and health, Randell, Heather, 2022

The Childhood Origins of Climate-Induced Mobility and Immobility
Population and Development Review, Thiede, Brian C., Randell, Heather, Gray, Clark, 2022

Climate Change, Agrarian Distress, and the Feminization of Agriculture in South Asia*
Rural Sociology, Southard, Emily M.L., Randell, Heather, 2022

Food insecurity and compound environmental shocks in Nepal: Implications for a changing climate
World Development, Randell, Heather, Jiang, Chengsheng, Liang, Xin Zhong, Murtugudde, Raghu, Sapkota, Amir, 2021

Climatic conditions and infant care: implications for child nutrition in rural Ethiopia
Population and Environment, Randell, Heather, Grace, Kathryn, Bakhtsiyarava, Maryia, 2021

Hydropower Development, Collective Action, and Environmental Justice in the Brazilian Amazon
Society and Natural Resources, Randell, Heather, Klein, Peter, 2021

Stunted from the start
Ethics in Science and Medicine, Randell, Heather, Gray, Clark, Grace, Kathryn, 2020

Climate change and educational attainment in the global tropics
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Randell, Heather, Gray, Clark, 2019

Qualitative data sharing and synthesis for sustainability science
Nature Sustainability, Alexander, Steven M., Jones, Kristal, Bennett, Nathan J., Budden, Amber, Cox, Michael, Crosas, Mercè, Game, Edward T., Geary, Janis, Hardy, R. Dean, Johnson, Jay T., Karcher, Sebastian, Motzer, Nicole, Pittman, Jeremy, Randell, Heather, Silva, Julie A., da Silva, Patricia Pinto, Strasser, Carly, Strawhacker, Colleen, Stuhl, Andrew, Weber, Nic, 2019

The strength of near and distant ties: Social capital, environmental change, and migration in the Brazilian Amazon
Sociology of Development, Randell, Heather, 2018

Forced Migration and Changing Livelihoods in the Brazilian Amazon
Rural Sociology, Randell, Heather, 2017

The short-term impacts of development-induced displacement on wealth and subjective well-being in the Brazilian Amazon
World Development, Randell, Heather, 2016

Climate variability and educational attainment
Global Environmental Change, Randell, Heather, Gray, Clark, 2016

Structure and agency in development-induced forced migration
Population and Environment, Randell, Heather, 2016

Networks Versus Need
Population Research and Policy Review, Randell, Heather F., VanWey, Leah K., 2014

Socio-economic status and malaria-related outcomes in Mvomero District, Tanzania
Global Public Health, Dickinson, Katherine L., Randell, Heather F., Kramer, Randall A., Shayo, Elizabeth H., 2012