We conducted a systematic review of the effect of in-utero exposure to ambient air pollution on the sex ratio at birth. Evidence is scarce and we need more studies employing rigorous causal inference designs. Work led by Ursula Gazeley @oxforddemsci.bsky.social, preprint available below.

Thank you @mpidr.bsky.social colleagues, @ezagheni.bsky.social and @conteristo.bsky.social for excellent and stimulating discussion points in the Department of Digital and Computational Demography's lab talk! Check out upcoming lab talks and events here: www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_even...

🚨 Earth's vital signs are flashing red. 🌡️ 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history. Read the latest Climate report from @williamripple.bsky.social and Christopher Wolf's team, published in BioScience. oxford.ly/47i6K5j

Excited to come back to @mpidr.bsky.social for a short visit from next week! Presenting our work on the effect of temperature on sex ratios at birth on Nov 5, 10.00 Rostock time (ZOOM link below!) & excited for @iussp.bsky.social's Climate Change, Environmental Hazards & Pop Dynamics conference! 🍃

The first half of 2025 was the costliest ever recorded for U.S. weather & climate disasters - info the public might never have learned b/c the Trump admin cut the NOAA program that tracked such events. A private group hired the researcher who'd handle it at NOAA to redevelop the database.

Heart full of joy and gratitude for my depicted, literal superhero team 🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸🦸of incredible supervisors Josh Wilde, @ridhikashyap.bsky.social, @melindacmills.bsky.social, and excellent examiners @drjenndowd.bsky.social & @ftorche.bsky.social, as well as my terrific mentors, peers, & friends!!!

While the recent interim funding by the Gates Foundation for the DHS Program buys time for data collection of selected surveys and data availability, many countries don't benefit and the future of new surveys remains uncertain. Read the updated version of our preprint that got 1,000+ views now here:

Postdoc w/Miyuki Hino

I'm excited to have started my Nuffield Postdoctoral Prize Research Fellowship in Sociology this month at @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social. Grateful for this community - and for Oxford views... More work on environmental inequalities and also fertility to follow!!

Looking forward to submissions to session "1310: Climate, Environmental Change, and Population Health" as part of the Mortality and Morbidity strand at PAA 2026 @popassocamerica.bsky.social! Call for papers is open until 5 Oct 2025 📮📮📮

Join us for a 1-week course on the Demography of Fertility at beautiful @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social, 8-12 Dec! 📮 We'll cover theory, methods foundations, and many current issues at the intersection of fertility & maternal health! 🚼 Book your spot. @oxforddemsci.bsky.social

Two exciting PhD positions at @oxforddemsci.bsky.social on predicting health outcomes at the population level and natural language of health and social care! Apply to work in a wonderful team.

📢Calling all sociology scholars, including social policy and demography: applications for the 2026-27 Sociology Visitorships at Nuffield College are now open. 🗓️Deadline: 29 Sep 2025 ℹ️More info & applications: www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/our-research...

Are you looking for easy to use temperature data for Europe from 1980 to 2024? If so, check out the Temperature Extremes in Europe (TEE) dataset! It includes 67 commonly used extreme temperature metrics at the NUTS 2 and 3 scales. See here for more info: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This cycle on repeat... #fixedeffects #causalinference @oxforddemsci.bsky.social's Research Away Day 🙌

🚨 New paper out in @plosone.org w/ @lenacwt.bsky.social & Michaela Kreyenfeld! How does women’s economic independence shape their risk of physical IPV during separation in Germany? We find that mothers with low education who are unemployed face the highest risk. journals.plos.org/plosone/arti...

OfS guidance urges ‘very strong’ approach to permitting lawful speech on campus Strong "free speech" regulations benefit those with the power to (ab)use them: “this is not a neutral space but is linked to ‘culture war’ divisions – people will be motivated to use regulatory routes to make a point"

How is the termination of the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) impacting your work❓ Fill out this short questionnaire by #UNDESA by 30 June to inform future demographic and health data collection and dissemination! 📝 form.jotform.com/250913880478...

“While the future of existing DHS datasets remains in flux, the global health and demographic research community should diversify its use of data sources, invest in strengthening data infrastructure in LMICs, and share data management and use practices publicly to accelerate research progress”

This crisis is also an opportunity. Our team — including @jasminabdelghany.bsky.social , @aasli.bsky.social, Josh Wilde, Ursula Gazeley & global collaborators — calls for: ✅ LMIC-led data systems ✅ New investment in equitable infrastructure ✅ Research integrity, even in uncertainty

🚨 The end of an era for global health data — and a defining crossroads. In Jan 2025, the DHS Program—the backbone of health & demographic data in 90+ countries—was terminated after US aid cuts of up to 84%. Our researchers & global collaborators reflect on it in a recent pre-print🧵

My colleagues & I have something to say! With the termination of the DHS Program, we must exercise good data governance & rebuild data infrastructure that respects country data owners, ensures data integrity, is equitable, & highlights LMIC research leadership.

The Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program was central in improving the evidence base for health policies and interventions, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Central & Southern Asia - figure by @aasli.bsky.social. Our preprint on the termination of the DHS Program: osf.io/preprints/so...

More than 9,000 studies, reports, & book chapters published based on 400+ DHS surveys that were conducted in 91 countries, according to our bibliometric analysis (by @aasli.bsky.social). The termination could set the global research community back for years or even decades. osf.io/preprints/so...

Moving towards equitable data infrastructure and research integrity after the termination of the DHS Program osf.io/preprints/so... SocArXiv preprint by @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social student @jasminabdelghany.bsky.social‬

🚨 Our preprint on the termination of the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) Program is now available. How can we move towards an equitable data infrastructure and maintain research integrity after the DHS Program's termination? 🧵

Submission Deadline 15 May! 📮@mpidr.bsky.social

👶 Do early life conditions shape how long/well we live? Find out w/ @Jasonmfletcher.bsky.social (UW-Madison): 🗓️ 27 May | 🕑 2–3:30pm | @nuffieldcollege.bsky.social Oxford 👉https://www.demography.ox.ac.uk/news/jason-fletcher-gives-lcds-seminar-moving-forward-looking-back-new-evidence-early-life-shapes

‼️Deadline approaching 9 May‼️ for a Researcher position in Reproductive #Demography in Dr Josh Wilde's ERC SEXRATIO project at @oxforddemsci.bsky.social!

‼️Still time to submit your abstract (250 words) to #BSPS in Swansea on 2-4 September by Friday 9 May! 🌱📪

Link is here: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

Working on environment & population and want to connect at an insightful and fun conference with the British Society for Population Studies? Submit your abstract (250 words) to our climate change strand by 9 May! ☄️ #BSPS2025 w/ Dermot Grenham & @ruettenauer.bsky.social

💥 Postdoc recruitment in reproductive demography w/ the wonderful Josh Wilde at Oxford's Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Sciences @oxforddemsci.bsky.social. If you want to work in an inspiring, ambitious & friendly environment, on reproductive health topics, in the most beautiful city - apply!!! 🤩

‪Working paper led by Jorden Jackson (w/ @clarklgray.bsky.social): osf.io/ryfdm_v1. We use linked historical US census data to examine the impacts of weather shocks on socioeconomic attainment in the early 1900s.

Packed room for our session on #perinatal-demography at #paa2025 with Payal Hathi, @alisongemmill.bsky.social, Tim Bruckner, Haley Comfort @ihmeuw.bsky.social, and @jnobles.bsky.social as inspiring discussant. You can download their submissions here: submissions.mirasmart.com/PAA2025/Itin...

💪 We're starting #PAA2025 off strong with a packed day of #demography talks and posters buff.ly/B6mEfxJ Here's what's in store this morning ⬇️ @popassocamerica.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk @mpidr.bsky.social

Stop by at booth 112! 🤗 #PAA2025

Very, very excited to follow this new Substack "Data for Health" written by Jenn Dowd @drjenndowd.bsky.social on hot topics in health! 💥 Really fun, informative and accessible reads on issues that impact our health & public health discussions. 📑

It's been a week of open science 🔑 We also had a ⚡️⚡️ workshop in Oxford @oxforddemsci.bsky.social with Doug Leasure and Andrea Aparicio on using GitHub for collaborative coding - your most accessible intro yet!!

Really great discussions at MPI's Open Science Workshop 2025 this week! Thank you for organizing @mpidr.bsky.social 🤝

The DHS era is over. We could now share DHS data with each other and publicly - but should we? 🤔 Here are some ethical considerations I'm grappling with. Let's discuss! A thread 🧵

📣Call for Papers‼️ Climate Conference "Climate Change, Environmental Hazards and Population Dynamics" 📅Nov 11–12, 2025 🗺️@mpidr.bsky.social 📰Submission Deadline: May 15, 2025 www.demogr.mpg.de/en/news_even... @iussp.bsky.social @conteristo.bsky.social @ezagheni.bsky.social @ebrusanliturk.bsky.social

📢 Just gave a talk @oxforddemsci.bsky.social, @ox.ac.uk on #gene-environment interactions in #child #development - #RCT & #quasi-experimental evidence! 🧬 Great discussions on #genetics & social science, with an engaged & insightful audience. Tx++ @drjenndowd.bsky.social for the invite!🙏🏻

I’ve struggled to find the right words following Musk/Trump’s decision to end the Demographic and Health Surveys Program (the OG DHS). While nothing is inevitable, there is no denying this is a huge blow personally, professionally and for the world. /1 dhsprogram.com

📣Reminder! Join us tomorrow for an exciting London Universities Population Seminar! We are hosting Joshua Wilde (@oxforddemsci.bsky.social) who will present his work on climate change and fertility. More details below 👇

N-IUSSP: Intimate partner violence and low birth weight in Colombia www.niussp.org/family-and-h... #demography #populationstudies

Demographers ability to model the global population ("10 billion by 2050 followed by plateau") rely on DHS surveys. Without them we're blind to large parts of the globe and quality of forecasts will go down. Which is of course a non-issue if planing-horizons don't extend beyond next Friday.