Rock Ethics Institute

Biography

Jennifer Kowalkowski is a postdoctoral scholar in biobehavioral health with the Rural Health Disparities Lab at Penn State and will transition to assistant professor in the College of Nursing in July 2023. She is a registered nurse who uses mixed methods to study structural factors within local contexts that influence health and well-being across the lifespan and socioecological levels. Her program of research has evolved to focus on social structures and processes, including social determinants of health, social networks, and social infrastructure, that influence access to health and contribute to systemic disparities in mental well-being among rural working-aged adults. She has recently begun exploring the concepts of stigma and recovery capital within the context of community-based mental health and substance use programming and services for rural populations.