Advance at UNM 2018 Women in STEM awards: Kira Villa

Dr. Kira Villa, an assistant professor in the Department of Economics. Her proposal is “The Intergenerational Health Impact of Early Life Climate Variability and its Implication for Child Recovery from Natural Disasters: Evidence from Indonesia.”

“For a sample of Indonesian women, we will examine the effects of early life climate variability on not only their adult health but also on the long-term health of their children,” Villa said. “We will further examine how this intergenerational transmission of mother-to-child health affects child resiliency to four natural disasters that occurred in Indonesia during the 2000s: the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, the 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake, the 2009 Pandang Earthquake, and the 2010 Marapi Mountain Eruption,” Villa said.

In 2017, 10 women scientists won awards for a variety of research, including investigations into the structure of the galaxy and the Galactic Bulge, the link between mitochondrial function and insulin signaling, and the treatment of amyloid diseases.