Michael C Lotspeich-Yadao II

Michael C Lotspeich-Yadao II serves as Research Assistant Professor in Kinesiology and Community Health and Assistant Director of Research and Educational Programming at the Chez Veterans Center within the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's College of Applied Health Sciences, with additional affiliation at the Center for Social & Behavioral Science.

His academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Applied Sociology from Baylor University
• B.A. from Capital Scholars Honors Program at University of Illinois Springfield

His research leverages big data and administrative microdata to analyze spatial inequalities and resource stratification across social groups in rural/urban communities, integrating qualitative interviews with computational methods like GIS and hierarchical linear modeling. Core expertise spans rural sociology, military sociology, and veteran studies with emphasis on place-based variation and ecological dynamics.

Recent publications reveal consistent focus on spatial analysis of rural prosperity, military lending impacts, and community stratification using participatory mapping. Work bridges sociology, geography, and economics with direct policy applications for veterans and rural populations through computational social science approaches.

He leads a research lab dedicated to repurposing administrative data for social science applications, specifically targeting program/service delivery improvements through granular spatial analysis of socioeconomic dynamics.