Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é

MA Program

Thesis Advisor: Dr. Sara Grineski

Thesis: Lacking a connection to a community water system: Water quality and human health impacts in El Paso colonias

Post MA in Sociology

PhD Program: I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é (TAMU). Funding to support my graduate training has been obtained through several fellowships (e.g. Ford Fellow; Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of New Mexico Cancer Center Graduate Fellowship, TAMU Doctoral Graduate Diversity Fellow), university-wide scholarships (e.g. Unocal Graduate Scholarship, Academic Excellence Award) and non-profit industry based scholarships (e.g. American Water Works Association). As an interdisciplinary scholar, I have completed coursework in human geography, Geographic Information System (GIS), epidemiology, spatial epidemiology, and statistics. My dissertation research, “An Intersectionality Approach to Assessing the Landscape across the Cervical Cancer Continuum of Care: Geographic and Sociodemographic Inequalities in New Mexico” situates spatial factors (e.g. geographic accessibility and rural versus non-rural residence) at the forefront of health inequalities research in examining cervical cancer prevention and control in New Mexico.

Publications:

• McDonald, Y.J., Goldberg, D.W., Scarinci, I.C., Castle, P.E., Cuzick, J., Robertson, M., and Wheeler, C.M. on behalf of the New Mexico HPV Pap Registry Steering Committee. (2016). Health service accessibility and risk in cervical cancer prevention: Comparing rural versus non-rural residence in New Mexico. The Journal of Rural Health. DOI:10.1111/jrh.12202
• McDonald, Y.J., Grineski, S.E., Collins, T.W., and Kim, Y.A. (2015). A scalable climate health justice assessment model. Social Science & Medicine 133, 242-252.
• Grineski, S.E., Collins, T.W., McDonald, Y.J., Aldouri, R., Aboargob, F., Eldeb, A., Romo, L., and Velázquez-Angulo, G. (2015). Double exposure and the climate gap: Changing demographics and extreme heat in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 20 (2), 180-201.
• Grineski, S.E., Chakraborty, J., Collins, T. W. and McDonald, Y.J. (2013). Environmental health injustice: Exposure to air toxics and children’s respiratory hospital admissions. The Professional Geographer 65 (1), 31-46.
• McDonald, Y.J. and Grineski, S.E. (2012). Disparities in access to residential plumbing: A bi-national comparison of environmental injustice in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez. Population and Environment 32 (4), 376-387.
• Collins, T.W., Grineski, S.E, Chakraborty, J., and McDonald, Y.J. (2011). Understanding environmental health inequalities through comparative intracategorical analysis: Racial/ethnic disparities in cancer risks from air toxics in El Paso County, Texas. Health & Place 17 (1), 335-344.
• Grineski, S.E and McDonald, Y.J. (2011). Mapping the uninsured using secondary data: An environmental justice application in Dallas. Population and Environment 32 (4), 376-387.
• Book Chapters: Lachica, J., Castenada, E., and Y.J. McDonald. (2013). Poverty, place, and health along the US-Mexico Border. In K. Fitzpatrick (Ed.) Poverty and health: A crisis among America's Most Vulnerable, (pp. 87-104). Goleta, CA: ABC-CLIO.
• Velázquez-Angulo, G., Aldouri, R., Collins, T.W., Grineski, S.E., Romo, L., M., Aboargob, F., Eldeb, A., McDonald, Y.J., and F. Poblano-Amparán. (2012). Characterizing climate change risks and informing adaptation strategies in the Ciudad Juárez-El Paso metropolitan region based on spatial analyses of extreme heat–vegetation abundance–population vulnerability relationships. In E. Sánchez Flores and R.E. Díaz Caravantes (Eds.) Dinámicas locales del cambio ambiental global: Aplicaciones de percepción remota y análisis espacial en la evaluación del territorio (pp. 155-178). Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México: Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez Press.

Jobs: Instructor, Course: Cultural Geography, The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso, Summer 2016

How has the MA in Sociology program prepared you? I cannot express how thankful I am to have received my MA from the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at UTEP. I received top-notch graduate training. As a MA student, I had the opportunity to learn the research process from start to finish. The seminars were well structured. I gained a great deal of knowledge from the discussions among the students and the professor. I was encouraged to apply for fellowships, grants, scholarships, and seek out specialized training pertinent to my research. I learned how to be collegial by observing the interactions of the faculty and staff.

Organization memberships:

• 2016 - American Association for the Advancement of Science
• 2015 - Women in Science & Engineering (TAMU local chapter)
• 2015 - Supporting Women in Geography (TAMU local chapter)
• 2015 - NSF-funded Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (TAMU local chapter)
• 2015 - Gamma Theta Upsilon
• 2013 - American Public Health Association
• 2013 - Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
• 2013 - North American Association of Central Cancer Registries
• 2013 - Society for Advancing Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science
• 2011 - American Association of Geographers
• 2011 - American Water Works Association

Future Goals: To obtain a tenure-track position.

Education

BA- Multidisciplinary Studies, The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso, 2009 2009
MA- Sociology, The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Teas at El Paso, 2012

Email: ymcdonald77@tamu.edu 

Favorite Memory

Tea time! About 3:00 p.m. the graduate students would take a break and have tea together. We would encourage each other, vent our feelings/problems, commiserate, and laugh together.