Pyung Kim

(Name pronunciation: P-young Kim)

I am a Postdoctoral Scholar at the Center for Spatial Studies and Data Science, University of California, Santa Barbara, beginning in January 2026. My research lies at the intersection of geography, public policy, and causal inference. My work has three primary threads:

  1. Neighborhood Effects: How do childhood neighborhood environments shape educational, economic and health outcomes in adulthood?
  2. Spatial Policy Analysis: Why do policy effects vary across place? What are the distributional consequences of place-based policy?
  3. Spatial Causal Inference: How can causal identification strategies leverage geographic boundaries and spatially defined instrumental variables while explicitly accounting for the spatial assumptions?

I use a wide range of methods, including econometrics, quasi-experiment, GIS, and Geo AI. My analyses draw on longitudinal administrative records (more than 10 million individuals) and real-time health records collected using portable devices. Beyond desk-based analysis, I also conduct fieldwork in under-resourced settings (including rural Kenya) to engage directly with the communities. I apply these approaches to questions at the intersection of public health, human capital, disability, and Social Security.

As a PI and data scientist, I have contributed to grant-funded projects supported by U.S. federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), as well as Korean government agencies, including the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER), and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

I am the recipient of the GIS Pioneer Scholarship (2025), JSIT Research Competition Award of Social Security Administration (2024), Keith Lankford Taylor Fellowship (2023), Brian J.L. Berry Scholarship (2021-2025), Brain Korea 21 PLUS Scholarship (2018-2020), President’s Award for Outstanding Graduate (2018), and National Excellence Scholarship of Korea (2015-2018).

Research Interests

  • Neighborhood Effects
  • Health, Social, & Disability Policy
  • Policy Evaluation / Causal Inference
  • GIS / Spatial Data Science
  • Geo AI / Deep Learning

Contact Me

pyungkim@ucsb.edu
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