Spartan Geographer earns College of Social Science Access Grant

August 25, 2025

The Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences congratulates Ph.D. student Hyunseo Park on being awarded a Dean’s Institutional Access Small Grant from the Michigan State University College of Social Science. 

Her project, titled “Mapping Health Inequities: Pandemic-Era Syndemogenesis and Access Disparities in the San Francisco Bay Area,” will explore the impact of COVID-19 on urban communities. Park will examine how pandemic-driven out-migration left many older adults and low-income residents in neighborhoods experiencing rising social disorder, declining public services, and reduced access to resources.  

Park’s research aims to map the demographic shifts in the Bay Area, showing how socioeconomic factors, including remote work flexibility, enabled middle- and high-income populations to move away from urban centers during the pandemic. Those with fewer resources, including older adults who often face greater health risks and less mobility, remained in increasingly unstable neighborhoods. From a health geography perspective, she plans to explore how inequities and structural vulnerabilities synergistically interact to affect health outcomes—a process known as syndemogenesis—making a complex, self-reinforcing system of health disparities. She hopes to use this research to help guide policies that improve access to health services, community resources, and safe living environments in post-pandemic cities. 

The Dean’s Institutional Access Small Grant Program is a competitive small grants program that provides up to $5,000 for social science innovation/scholarship that engages thoughtfully with, and advances the College of Social Science’s mission of inclusive excellence. 

Way to go, Hyunseo!