MSU Social Science Research Center

10/15/2026

Dr. Kathleen Ragsdale recently spent time in Rome, Italy, for the FAO Global Exhibition: From Seeds to Foods, celebrating the people, traditions and innovations shaping the future of our food.

09/30/2026

Aubrey Lohman joins Dr. Kathleen Ragsdale this fall as an undergraduate researcher. She will assist with the "Exploring Childhood Vaccine Hesitancy Among Rural Mississippi Parents project."

Aubrey is a sophomore agribusiness major who says she's looking forward to building on her professional development.

09/28/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Gina Rico Mendez, who was recently promoted to associate research professor!

Her applied research and evaluation work uses systems thinking to inform policy and practice across early childhood, food systems, and natural resource management. She leads the Systems Change Lab at the SSRC.

09/23/2026

Join SL4E's Community Speaker Series on Oct 14 to hear about Community Science in Action!
https://sl4e.ssrc.msstate.edu/community-speaker-series/

09/21/2026

The 3rd edition of Investing in our Future is here! It compiles five years of funding and performance data from multiple state agencies to help policymakers, educators, funders, and community stakeholders make informed decisions for young kids.

Join in a webinar on Sept. 29 to hear more from project leaders!

MSU, Mississippi First report details state’s investment in young children Contact: Emile Pennington STARKVILLE, Miss.—A new report from Mississippi State’s Systems Change Lab and Mississippi First provides a comprehensive look at how state-level funding and policy decisions affect programs se...

09/18/2026

New from SSRC researchers! ⬇ Read this evaluation of the Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program in the Justice Evaluation Journal.

The Mississippi Alcohol Safety Education Program (MASEP) is a statewide court-mandated intervention for individuals convicted of a first offense driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or anot...

09/16/2026

Dig into the data of how Mississippi invests in young children! ⬇

Register for the webinar at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/fWcVgW4sRKata3sDLYDjUQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawUXywlwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMWlKQ0tqVW81QW1zOU8wRHZzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeDppBqZcWl8ya58m3ixJ9cDw3PJP3W3Jj2jAg-lYYcghtlMqYMEYpJyiMjaU_aem_voD55tba09U9bWWiYekz9g #/registration

Mississippi's youngest children deserve informed investment. 👶📈

The 3rd edition of Investing in our Future is here — compiling five years of funding and performance data (FY2021–FY2025) across seven state agencies to help policymakers, educators, funders, and community stakeholders make informed decisions for young kids.

Join us for a free webinar to dig into the data:
🗓️ September 29 | 12:30–1:15 PM CT

We'll cover why data matters, key report highlights, and how this data plays out in practice — with insights from Todd Klunk (W.K. Kellogg Foundation), Gina Rico Mendez (MSU Social Science Research Center), and Micayla Tatum (Mississippi First).

📥 Download the report and register for the webinar — links below!

09/15/2026

Read about Holly Trisch, a postdoctoral associate at the SSRC!

For Holly Trisch, engineering has always been about more than just equations and technical designs

09/01/2026

Our Early Childhood ECHO team, including Dr. Katerina Sergi and Lisa Long, recently published an article in the International Journal of Early Childhood on their experience with the ECHO model.
Read at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13158-026-00537-6.

08/28/2026

Dr. Danielle Nadorff, Dr. Katerina Sergi, and Dr. Sujan Anreddy are developing Mississippi's first Statewide Comprehensive Behavioral Health Needs Assessment, which they are conducting through MSU in partnership with the Mississippi Department of Mental Health and funded through the state's opioid settlement resources.

Learn about the first stage at https://www.ssrc.msstate.edu/sites/www.ssrc.msstate.edu/files/2026-08/MS_Overdose_Infographic_Expanded.pdf.