Megan Evans

Megan Evans is a Research Scientist and the PhD Training Chair for the Social Demography Department at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock, Germany, part of the Max Planck Society. She earned her PhD in Sociology and Demography from Pennsylvania State University in May 2023 and continues to contribute significantly to demographic research through her specialized expertise.

Dr. Evans's research program investigates the social processes that perpetuate place-based inequalities and shape racial and ethnic disparities, population health, and social stratification. Her work is organized around two interconnected lines of inquiry: structural racism and place-based inequalities, exploring how racialized perceptions of place and structural racism shape housing markets, neighborhood reputations, and segregation; and population mobility and neighborhood networks, examining how social and spatial networks influence mobility, health disparities, and neighborhood spillovers. She integrates advanced methodologies including social network analysis, spatial analytics, and text and sentiment analysis with diverse data sources ranging from traditional surveys to big data to deepen sociological understanding of urban stratification.

Her recent publication record demonstrates a strong trajectory in spatial demography and health disparities research, with multiple high-impact articles published in 2024-2025. These works reveal consistent methodological sophistication and theoretical depth, particularly in examining how structural racism manifests in housing markets, how neighborhood networks influence health outcomes like opioid overdoses, and how spatial patterns affect aging populations across Europe.

As the PhD Training Chair for the Social Demography Department, Dr. Evans plays a pivotal role in mentoring and developing the next generation of demographic researchers at MPIDR, contributing to academic training while advancing her own research agenda that aims to inform policy efforts addressing housing inequality, segregation, and health disparities across communities.