Claire Kamp Dush

Who I have fun with

Here are my awesome students and collaborators.

I was trained in Human Development and Family Science which has a deep team science ethos that is ingrained in me. These are the collaborators I’ve built studies with across the years, and my incredible students and postdocs who make this job a joy.

Collaborators

My scientific partnerships behind NCHAT, NCHAT-BIO, WAFLS, and NPP. It’s a privilege to work with my friends!

Wendy Manning
Bowling Green State University
My co-principal investigator on NCHAT and one of the world’s best family demographers.
Miles Taylor
Florida State University
My collaborator since my earliest papers — we established the honeymoon-as-ceiling effect together, and today we’re working on examining forty years of marital quality in WAFLS.
Lisa Christian
The Ohio State University
Clinical health psychologist and co-principal investigator of NCHAT-BIO. Lisa is the reason I am studying the immune system and the epigenome. We started with collecting diapers and now we are collecting blood in our participants’ homes.
Ann Meier
University of Minnesota
My co-principal investigator on our study of parenting, stress, and health during crises.
Sarah Schoppe-Sullivan
The Ohio State University
Developmental psychologist and the brains behind the New Parents Project. Together we built the study that shaped our understanding of family relationships in dual-earner couples at the transition to parenthood.

Current doctoral students

Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Hyunjae Kwon
Hyunjae Kwon
Doctoral student · NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Hyunjae uses quantitative methods to examine how the social organization of paid and unpaid work shapes inequalities across class, gender, race, and sexual identity.
Emma Goldstein
Emma Goldstein
Doctoral student · NIH T32 Population Health Science Trainee
Emma studies digital life, family well-being, and now is starting to examine the biological correlates of our digital lives.

Postdoctoral fellows

Current and Former Postdoctoral Mentees.

Michelle Eilers
Postdoctoral NIH T32 Population Health Science Trainee, Minnesota Population Center (2023–2025) · now Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University
Michelle’s work examines sexuality, fertility, and gender.
Autumn Bermea
Dean’s Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow, The Ohio State University (2019–2020) · now Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University
Autumn studies intimate partner violence, stress, and queer families.

Doctoral alumni

Where my former students landed.

Rachel Arocho
Ph.D. 2018 · Associate Professor of Family Science, Utah Valley University
NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Rachel researches donor-conceived families and marital expectations.
Sara Mernitz
Ph.D. 2016 · Research Scientist, Population Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin
Sara researches same-sex and different-sex intimate relationships and health.
Letitia Linville
Ph.D. 2015 · Data Analytics Manager, The Ohio Department of Education
Letitia led some of the New Parents Project’s defining work on parenting and father involvement.
Prospective students

Want your name on this page?

I take mentoring seriously: my students tend to publish early, lead papers, win fellowships, and leave with skills in population data, causal analysis, and time diaries that very few programs teach. If you’re interested in doctoral study in Sociology at the University of Minnesota and your questions touch couples, families, time, or health — review this page for prospective students then email me. Tell me what research question you are really excited about!