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Dr. Ronald Cossman is an
Associate Research Professor and Research Associate at the Social Science
Research Center at Mississippi State University. He is also Research
Director for MS KIDS COUNT.
Dr. Cossman focuses his research on the spatial analysis and visualization
of health conditions and causes. He uses Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) and data visualization technologies to investigate the relationships
between social and environmental factors and resulting health outcomes
such as death rate patterns and chronic illness patterns.
His research has appeared in the American Journal of Public Health
(“Preliminary Evidence for an Emerging Non-Metropolitan Mortality Penalty
in the U.S.” and “Persistent Clusters of Mortality in the U.S.”),
Population Research and Policy Review (“Reconsidering the Rural-Urban
Continuum in Rural Health Research: A Test of Stable Relationships Using
Mortality as a Health Measure”), the International Journal of Health
Geographics (“A Brief Visual Primer for the Mapping of Mortality Trend
Data”), and Health & Place (Mapping High or Low Mortality Places
Across Time in the United States: A Research Note on a Health
Visualization and Analysis Project”).
He has also authored several policy papers and policy briefs for the
Mississippi Health Policy Research Center (http://www.healthpolicy.msstate.edu/)
including “Leading Causes of Death Among Children in Mississippi,”
“Impacts of Primary Seat Belt Laws on Motor Vehicle Deaths Among
Mississippi’s Youth”, “Motor Vehicle Injuries and Deaths Among Children in
Mississippi: The Role of a DUI Child Endangerment Law” and “Underage
Drinking and Driving in Mississippi: A Review of the Issue and Synthesis
of the Literature.”
Dr. Cossman earned his bachelor’s degree in economics at the University of
North Florida in Jacksonville, FL (1992), his master’s degree in
demography and population studies from Florida State University in
Tallahassee, FL (1993), and his doctoral degree in geography from the
University of Colorado, Boulder (2001).
Dr. Cossman’s community service is through Starkville in Motion (http://www.starkvilleinmotion.org/index.html),
a grass-roots organization promoting the development and maintenance of
bike lanes, sidewalks, trails and improving pedestrian and bicyclist
safety in Starkville Mississippi and Oktibbeha County. He authored the
funded $1.5 million Lynn Lane multi-use path grant on behalf of the City
of Starkville. He was co-author for the funded $280,000 Safe Routes to
Schools grant through the Mississippi Department of Transportation on
behalf of the Starkville School District. |
