About

Professor Elizabeth Ackert is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at UC Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on population geography, immigration, health geography, and urban geography. She employs quantitative social science research methods to explore these areas, contributing to a deeper understanding of demographic and social dynamics within urban and population contexts. Professor Ackert's work integrates multiple aspects of human geography to analyze patterns and processes related to population and health, emphasizing the intersections of immigration and urban environments.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Demography
• Geography
• Computer Science
• Economic growth
• Political Science
• Economics
• Medicine
• Psychology
• Gender studies
• Environmental health
• Developmental psychology
• Business
• Demographic economics

Selected publications

• Availability of federally qualified health centers in Latinx communities

  Health & Place · 2026-04-12

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are a key source of safety net healthcare in the U.S., and much of the patient population of FQHCs identifies as racial or ethnic minorities. Latinx individuals are overrepresented in the patient population of FQHCs, and this group exhibits increasing geographic diversity in places of residence over time. This study investigates associations between FQHC availability and two Latinx community attributes: Latinx destination type and Latinx-White segregation. Prior research shows that established Latinx destinations have more FQHC availability than "new" destinations, and higher levels of residential segregation of non-White groups from Whites is also associated with a higher supply of FQHCs. However, no prior study has assessed whether Latinx-White segregation explains or moderates associations between Latinx destinations and FQHC supply and access. Using multiple national data sources, we investigate the county-level relationship between Latinx destination type, Latinx-White residential segregation (dissimilarity and isolation indices), and the supply of FQHCs by 2022. In fully adjusted models controlling for Latinx isolation, the likelihood of having any FQHC in the county and the predicted total count of FQHCs in the county did not differ significantly between new and established destinations. In contrast, the Latinx-White dissimilarity index and Latinx isolation were consistent predictors of FQHC availability across counties. Latinx isolation attenuated differences in FQHC availability between new and minor and established destinations in the predicted count of FQHCs in the county. These results indicate that county-level FQHC availability is more consistently associated with Latinx-White segregation indicators than with Latinx destinations.

  PublisherDOI

• Integration or Exclusion? The Racial/Ethnic and Socioeconomic Composition of US Schools Attended by Mexican-Origin Youth

  International Migration Review · 2025-07-31

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This study examines the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition of schools attended by US Mexican-origin youth. On average, Mexican-origin students are double-segregated in high-minority, high-poverty schools, but the prior literature does not consider how markers of immigrant and residential integration shape differences in school compositional characteristics between Mexican-origin and non-Latino/a white students or how these factors are related to intragroup heterogeneity in Mexican-origin schooling contexts. Using the restricted-use High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09), we analyze two school compositional characteristics of Mexican-origin ninth-graders: School percent white and school average peer socioeconomic status (SES). We investigate the extent to which observable factors related to immigrant integration explain school compositional differences between Mexican-origin and non-Latino/a white students, and show how school compositional characteristics differ within the Mexican-origin student group by these markers of integration. We find that several observable factors, including household SES, parental race/ethnicity, and school type and location explain around three-quarters of differences in school percent white and school SES levels between Mexican-origin and white students. School percent white and SES levels increase among Mexican-origin students whose households exhibit indicators of integration. One exception to these patterns is for parental nativity, which does not play an important role in explaining school compositional differences between Mexican-origin and white youth, or contribute to intragroup heterogeneity in Mexican-origin school composition patterns, once other markers of integration are considered. In sum, Mexican-origin students whose families exhibit socioeconomic integration, parental racial/ethnic mixing, engagement in school choice, and geographic dispersion attend less minority-concentrated and higher-SES schools.

  PublisherDOI

• “Do people walk and bike more when their neighbors do?”: Analyzing racial/ethnic disparities in active transportation using neighborhood peer effects

  Journal of Transport & Health · 2025-07-15 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  Not all racial/ethnic groups in the US have access to the health benefits of active transportation (AT) (i.e., walking and biking). While the physical drivers of racial/ethnic inequities in AT use, such as inaccessibility to built infrastructure, are well-established in the literature, quantitative evidence for the contextual socio-cultural drivers is sparse. Our goal is to use a neighborhood peer effects framework to investigate the question, “Are people more likely to engage in AT use in neighborhoods where more people of their same race/ethnicity engage in AT use?” We approach this question by estimating multilevel logistic regression models measuring the likelihood of an individual to engage in AT, based on the proportion of AT commuters of their same race/ethnicity within their neighborhoods. We define neighborhoods at the Public Use Microdata Area (PUMA) level and include all PUMAs (n = 265) in California, which encompass a sample of 32,510 individuals. To construct the exposure variable, PUMA same group AT rate, we use commuting data from the 5-Year American Community Survey (2017). We measure the outcome variable, individual-level AT use, from travel data provided by the National Household Travel Survey (2017). In both observed and adjusted models, we find a positive and significant relationship between individual-level AT use and PUMA same group AT rate for White, Asian, and Hispanic people. We find that PUMA same group AT rate has the largest association with the individual-level AT for the White group, with Asians being the only group with an association significantly lower than that of Whites. Our study provides key quantitative evidence of the systemic socio-cultural forces that prevent racial/ethnic minorities from fully accessing AT systems, and broadly informs AT interventions that aim to create more equitable neighborhoods for any and all people. • White, Asian, and Hispanic people are more likely to use AT if more neighbors of their same race/ethnicity use AT. • The association between neighborhood AT rate and individual AT use is significantly larger for Whites compared to Asians. • We provide evidence of the systemic forces that prevent racial/ethnic minorities from fully accessing AT systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Resources for Health Within Latinx Communities: A Social-Spatial Determinants of Health Perspective

  Global perspectives on health geography · 2025-10-31

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract There is substantial spatial variation in healthcare access among the US Latinx population. In this chapter, we present social-spatial determinants of health framework to examine the interplay of Latinx community attributes and availability of federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). The main constructs within this framework that we operationalize are indicators of Latinx destination type (measured at the county level) and Latinx-White residential segregation (measured at the county and census tract levels). We find that FQHC supply is lower in new versus established Latinx destination counties, but there are more FQHCs in counties and tracts where Latinx segregation is higher.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Socio-demographic patterning of urinary mono-ethyl phthalate levels among children and adults in the U.S. (1999–2018)

  Environmental Research Communications · 2024-07-16 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Background . Phthalates are chemicals used to make plastics flexible and durable. They are found in clothes, varnishes, toys, pharmaceuticals, containers, and personal care products. Phthalates make their way into human bodies through ingestion, inhalation, and dermal absorption, and the breakdown of them within bodies can be measured as phthalate metabolites in urine. They pervade all aspects of the environment and our bodies, contributing to negative health outcomes. Education, SES, and gender influence where people live (their built environment), time-use patterns, occupation, treatment at healthcare facilities, and purchasing patterns; all affect phthalate exposures, and therefore phthalate metabolites in urine are also likely to vary by socio-demographic characteristics. Objectives . To study how levels of mono-ethyl phthalate (MEP) in urine samples of children and adults in the U S vary among key socio-demographic groups. We expect that disadvantaged groups will have the highest levels of phthalates. Methods . Using quantitative methods, we analyze levels of urinary MEP as a biomarker indicating exposure to phthalates. Within the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) (1999–2018) participants, we compare MEP levels across the following socio-demographic groups: age, gender, education, race/ethnicity, family income to poverty level, citizenship status. We use multivariate regression models to adjust results for differences in other factors that potentially influence MEP levels. Results . Historically disadvantaged groups—women, Non-Hispanic Blacks, Mexican Americans, Other Hispanics, and those with lower educational attainment—have higher predicted phthalate levels, even when holding all covariates that could be related to differences in phthalate levels by socio-demographic factors constant. Discussion . Our results suggest differences in socio-demographic factors could be leading to unequal exposures to phthalates and MEP excretions in their urine. This research contributes to understanding health experiences outside of clinical definitions, drawing attention to structural vulnerabilities and the way that environmental toxicants are embodied in individuals and populations.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Health Care Access Among Children in Latinx Families Across U.S. Destinations

  Population Research and Policy Review · 2024-08-31 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Latinx children now live in a wider array of U.S. geographic areas than in the past, including both established and new areas of Latinx settlement. This geographic heterogeneity could be consequential for Latinx children’s health care access, with prior research suggesting increased health access barriers for Latinx children in new versus established areas of settlement. Merging public-use county-level data with restricted individual-level health data from the National Health Interview Survey (2010–2014), we quantitatively examine how three health access indicators—health insurance coverage, delayed care, and usual place of care—differ among children (ages 4–17) in Latinx immigrant, Latinx U.S.-born, White U.S.-born, and Black U.S.-born families ( n = 89,994) across established, fast-growing hub, new, and minor Latinx destination counties. We also examine the potential roles of local immigrant hostilities and health care resources in contributing to health access differences across destinations. In fully adjusted models, children in new destinations are less likely to have health insurance than peers in established destinations, and this disparity is even wider for Latinx children of immigrants. Adjusted model results also show that children in new destinations are more likely to have delayed care than those in established destinations, and children in these four groups in new destinations, fast-growing hubs, and minor destinations are more likely to have no usual place of care than peers in established destinations. Our results are consistent with prior work suggesting that more health care access barriers exist for children, particularly Latinx children of immigrants, in new versus established Latinx destinations.

  PublisherDOI

• Acknowledgment of Reviewers

  Demography · 2023

  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science

  The Editors of Demography rely on the expertise and judgment of outside reviewers in selecting manuscripts for publication. We thank our many colleagues for their thoughtful and professional contributions to this process. Their detailed, constructive criticism is essential in supporting authors during manuscript revision. Over the last year, we have experienced increased difficulty in recruiting reviewers and receiving timely reviews. Hence, we are especially grateful for this most recent roster of reviewers. The following individuals served as peer reviewers during the period September 1, 2022, to August 31, 2023.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Keeping kin close? Geographies of family networks by race and income, 1981–2017

  Journal of Marriage and Family · 2023 · 17 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Demographic economics

  Objective: This study examined changes in geographic proximity to family members among race and income groups in the United States from 1981 to 2017. Background: Close geographic proximity to family members can facilitate mutual support and strengthen family bonds. Some scholars argue that institutional sources of support have replaced many core family functions, which might mean that households are likely to live increasingly farther away from family. Advancing technology and changing labor market opportunities might reinforce this pattern. Yet, the ongoing cultural and emotional salience of family might curtail the effects of these factors on the increasing distance to family. Method: = 171,501 person-periods). Results: High-income White respondents showed the greatest increases in distance from kin over time, whereas proximity to kin among other race-income groups was relatively stable. Conclusion: Proximate kin has become less central in the lives of high-income White households over time, whereas close proximity to kin has been the norm over time for other racial and income groups. These results have implications for racial and income differences in kin relations over time.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Child Citizenship Status in Immigrant Families and Differential Parental Time Investments in Siblings

  Social Sciences · 2022-11-04 · 2 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This study describes how parental time investments in children in immigrant families vary according to children’s citizenship status. In families with multiple children, parents make allocation decisions about how to invest in each child. In immigrant households, a child’s citizenship status may shape parental time allocations because of how this status relates to a child’s prospects for socioeconomic mobility. It is unclear whether parents reinforce citizenship differences among siblings, compensate for these differences, or treat all siblings equally regardless of citizenship status. Moreover, past empirical research has not investigated differences in parental time investments in siblings with different citizenship statuses. To evaluate differential time investments in children based on citizenship, we conduct a quantitative analysis using data from the American Time Use Survey from 2003–2019 and focus on children in immigrant households with at least two children (N = 13,012). Our research shows that parents spend more time with children who have citizenship, but this result is primarily explained by a child’s age and birth order. Our study provides a basis for further inquiry on how legal contexts shaping socioeconomic mobility may influence micro-level family processes in immigrant households.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Understanding The Health Landscapes Where Latinx Immigrants Establish Residence In The US

  Health Affairs · 2021 · 13 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Environmental health
  • Geography

  The diversity of health contexts in which members of the US Latinx population establish residence may provide insights into the variety of health challenges they face. We investigated differences in health professional shortages, general health services, health care safety-net supply, health access, and population health rankings across 3,113 US counties classified as established, new, or other Latinx population destinations. Compared with new destinations, established destinations had more health professional shortages, as well as higher rates of child and adult health uninsurance. New destinations had fewer health care safety-net services per 100,000 county residents than established destinations. Health contexts thus differ in significant ways across new and established Latinx destinations, and these differences have key implications for Latinx immigrant health.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• STEM Achievement and Participation among Mexican-Origin Students across Latino/a Destinations

  NSF · $69k · 2018–2019

Frequent coauthors

• Robert Crosnoe

  9 shared

• Robert W. Ressler

  5 shared

• Arya Ansari

  The Ohio State University

  5 shared

• Brian E. Saelens

  Seattle Children's Hospital

  4 shared

• Cynthia K. Perry

  4 shared

• Kyle Crowder

  University of Washington

  3 shared

• Scott J. South

  University at Albany, State University of New York

  3 shared

• Jocelyn S. Wikle

  Brigham Young University

  3 shared

Labs

• Elizabeth Ackert's LabPI

  Population geography, immigration, health geography, and urban geography using quantitative social science research methods.

Education

• B.A., Biology

  Gustavus Adolphus College

• M.A., Latin American Studies

  University of California, San Diego

• M.A., Sociology

  University of Washington

• Ph.D., Sociology

  University of Washington