Megan Costa

Megan.Costa@asu.edu
480-965-3943

Assistant Professor
Faculty
TEMPE Campus
Mailcode
3701

Biography

Megan Costa is currently an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s  T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics who completed a dual doctorate in demography at the University of Pennsylvania Population Studies Center and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania Department of Sociology  in August 2016. She joined Natalie Eggum-Wilkens' ECLiPSE Lab as a postdoc in August 2016. She teaches Sociology 333: Population within the SSFD. 

She is a demographer whose research focuses on two distinct yet connected aspects of the family: fertility and multigenerational households. She examines the relationship between fertility intentions, ideals, and behavior and implications of multigenerational living arrangements for children in low- and middle-income households using statistical and demographic methods.

Education

  • Ph.D. Demography and Sociology (joint), University of Pennsylvania, 2016
  • M.A. Demography, University of Pennsylvania 2014
  • M.Sc. Demography and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 2012
  • B.A. Anthropology (with Distinction), University of Washington 2009

Research Interests

Fertility, maternal and child health, and family demography; my research interests lie at the intersection of maternal health and household determinants of child well-being. These areas are key in the reproduction of health disparities, leaving their mark in the childhood years and hold long-term implications for health across the life course. Current projects explore fertility, fertility intentions, and child health in the  Tsimane , a population experiencing rapid demographic, economic, and dietary transitions in the Bolivian lowlands. I am also working with data from the  Young Lives Cohort Study to better understand the intersection of child health and aging in low and middle income countries.

Publications

Lozano, Rafael, et al. "Measuring progress from 1990 to 2017 and projecting attainment to 2030 of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals for 195 countries and territories: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017." The Lancet 392.10159 (2018): 2091-2138. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618322815

James, Spencer L., et al. "Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017." The Lancet 392.10159 (2018): 1789-1858. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618322797

Murray, Christopher JL, et al. "Population and fertility by age and sex for 195 countries and territories, 1950–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017." The Lancet 392.10159 (2018): 1995-2051. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618322785

Stanaway, Jeffrey D., et al. "Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017." The Lancet 392.10159 (2018): 1923-1994. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673618322256

Costa, M. E., Trumble, B., Kaplan, H., & Gurven, M. D. (2018). Child nutritional status among births exceeding ideal family size in a high fertility population. Maternal & child nutrition, e12625 IF: 3.23 https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12625

Gurven, M., Costa, M., Trumble, B., Stieglitz, J., Beheim, B., Rodriguez, D. E., Hooper P. L., & Kaplan, H. (2016.) Health costs of reproduction are minimal despite high fertility, mortality and subsistence lifestyle, Scientific Reports, 6. doi:10.1028/srep30056 IF: 5.228 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep30056

Rajaratnam, J. K., Marcus, J. R., Flaxman, A. D., Wang, H., Levin-Rector, A., Dwyer, L., Costa, M., Lopez, A. D., & Murray, C. J. (2010). Neonatal, postneonatal, childhood, and under-5 mortality for 187 countries, 1970–2010: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4. The Lancet, 375(9730), 1988-2008. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60703-9 IF: 45.217 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60703-9

Rajaratnam, J. K., Marcus, J. R., Levin-Rector, A., Chalupka, A. N., Wang, H., Dwyer, L., Costa, M., Lopez, A.D., & Murray, C. J. (2010). Worldwide mortality in men and women aged 15–59 years from 1970 to 2010: a systematic analysis. The Lancet, 375(9727), 1704-1720. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60517-X IF: 45.217 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60517-X

Courses

Spring 2019
Course Number Course Title
SOC 333 Population
Spring 2018
Course Number Course Title
SOC 333 Population
Spring 2017
Course Number Course Title
SOC 333 Population

Professional Associations

Population Association of America

American Sociological Assocation 

Service

Analysis: More Women In Early 40s Who Have Never Married Have Kids

https://theshow.kjzz.org/content/607720/analysis-more-women-early-40s-who-have-never-married-have-kids

Expertise Areas