Director of Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4)

Assistant Professor of Population Studies (Research)

Mwenda joined Brown University and the PSTC in 2018. He is Director of Brown’s Spatial Structures in the Social Sciences (S4).

Mwenda's research focuses on changing spatial patterns of health outcomes among vulnerable populations around the world, and how these patterns are influenced by various environmental, climatic, and socioeconomic factors. His research interests include designing and applying mixed methods that explore, analyze and visualize spatial data patterns, to better understand human-environment dynamics (e.g. population health, climate and society), and the role humans play at the nexus among these.

Prior to arriving at Brown, Mwenda served as Social Demography Lab Manager at the UCSB Broom Center for Demography, and previously worked as a GIS & Spatial Analysis Specialist at Dartmouth College. He holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA and PhD degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB).

Selected Publications

deSouza, P.N., Hammer, M., Anthamatten, P., Kinney, P. L., Kim, R., Subramanian, S. V., Bell, M.L., Mwenda, K.M. 2022. Impact of air pollution on stunting among children in Africa. Environmental Health. 21 (128). DOI: 10.1186/s12940-022-00943-y

Nour, A., Mwenda, K.M., Wei, G., Lurie, M.N. 2022. Healthcare accessibility in preconflict Syria: a comparative spatial analysis, BMJ Open 2022;0:e059210. DOI:10.1136/bmjopen-2021-059210

McKenzie, G., Mwenda, K.M. 2021. Identifying regional variation in place visit behavior during a global pandemic. Journal of Spatial Information Science. 23(2021): 95-124. DOI: 10.5311/JOSIS.2021.23.170

Scholarly Interests

Population Health and Environment, Spatial analysis, Spatial demography