Dr. Ruktanonchai is a Collegiate Assistant Professor in Population Health Sciences at Virginia Tech. Her research interests involve quantifying and mapping when, where, and why health and socioeconomic inequities occur, particularly in rural areas, where spatial disparities can be especially stark. She has worked closely with policy makers at the East African Community (EAC), a regional intergovernmental network, to spatially and temporally disaggregate maternal and child health outcomes across five East African countries, identifying historically overlooked health disparities. At Virginia Tech, she expanded those methods to the Central Appalachia region to quantify exposure pathways mediating the observed relationship between residential proximity to environmental hazards such as surface mining and natural oil & gas drilling and adverse birth outcomes. Dr. Ruktanonchai’s work is informed by a multidisciplinary background grounded in an MPH degree in Epidemiology from the University of Florida, followed by an interdisciplinary PhD program in Geography and Social Statistics through the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.