Allison Karpyn

Associate Professor, Education; Senior Associate Director, Center for Research in Education and Social Policy University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Prof. Karpyn can speak to topics such as obesity, food policy and community nutrition.

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Spotlight

2 min

University of Delaware experts share insights and strategies for navigating the upcoming school year

The College of Education and Human Development in the University of Delaware has a number of stories and experts for the upcoming school year.  Stories Bridging the language gap: How AWE software fosters inclusivity for English Language Learners and Non-English Language Learners alike Creating a mindful classroom: Tips for teachers on how to have a peaceful transition into the 2024-2025 school year Empowering Black and Latinx Boys in Their Postsecondary Journeys: The Role of School Communities UD assistant professor Eric Layland shares new research on LGBTQ+ developmental milestones and supporting LGBTQ+ youth University of Delaware assistant professor explores the tensions between hopes and expectations in vocational planning for autistic young adults Experts Allison Karpyn – an associate professor who can speak to topics related to hunger, obesity, school food, supermarket access, and food insecurity. She has spoken extensively about food in schools and can offer context to those subjects. Roderick Carey – an assistant professor whose current interdisciplinary research serves to make sense of the school experiences of black and Latino adolescent boys and young men in urban contexts. He can also talk about teacher education as it relates to men in the field/the impact of male teachers. To contact Karpyn or Carey, click their profiles.  More experts... If you would like to pursue any of these stories or speak to any of the following experts, they are all willing and excited to chat. Contact mediarelations@udel.edu to speak to them. Eric Layland – an assistant professor who can speak about LGBTQ+ student experiences from a research perspective. His work bridges LGBTQ+ developmental research to community impact through developmentally-informed, affirmative interventions. Sarah Mallory – an assistant professor who specializes in special education with a special focus on autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities. She also works within the Center for Disabilities Studies. Sarah Curtiss – an assistant professor who specializes in special education with a special focus on autistic youth. Brittany Zakszeski – an assistant professor and nationally certified school psychologist, licensed psychologist and behavior analyst. She focuses on student and teacher mental health and can comment on what concealed weapons carried by teachers can do for the mental wellbeing of both students and teachers. Lauren Bailes – an associate professor who focuses on the ways in which organizational, social-cognitive, and leadership theory unite to promote the success of school leaders and K-12 students. Bryan VanGronigen – an assistant professor who specializes in organizational resilience and change management in K-12 schools with specific interest areas in efforts to improve schools, the preparation and professional development of educational leaders and educational policy analyses. Lynsey Gibbons – an associate professor specializing in mathematics education, in teacher professional learning and school partnerships across content areas.  Contact mediarelations@udel.edu to speak to these experts or for more information on the stories above. 

Allison KarpynRoderick L. CareyJoshua WilsonLeigh McLean

2 min

Highlighting the Impacts of Insufficient WIC Funding on Low-Income Families

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of food has risen 25%, and many are struggling to provide enough nutritious food to their families. Federal safety net programs  – like the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for example – are intended to provide needed support for healthy foods during hard times, serving millions each year. The WIC program, however, is not guaranteed to all that might need it. Instead it relies on budget appropriations, which for the first time in the history of the program may not be enough to cover those in need. There is a chance that as many as 600,000 young children, pregnant and new mothers who qualify for WIC will not be able to receive benefits in the upcoming year. Allison Karpyn is Co-Director of the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) and Professor in the Department of the Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware. She is able to speak holistically about WIC and other federal food programs and what this funding can accomplish. "Federal Nutrition and related programs also need to address issues of stigma," Karpyn says. Recent frameworks developed by Dr. Karpyn and colleague suggest that more needs to be done to adequately understand and support families to use the benefits intended for them. Research is clear that food and nutrition security are closely tied to our health, she notes. Karpyn is able to speak about this and more. If you would like to speak to her, click her "View Profile" link. 

Allison Karpyn

2 min

Back to School: Experts Available to talk ChatGPT, Food Insecurity and Education Leadership

With the school year starting very soon, the University of Delaware media team have rounded up some education stories, experts and research to consider for feature/publication. Experts: Gary Henry is dean of the University of Delaware’s College of Education and Human Development and professor in the School of Education and the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy & Administration. He specializes in education policy, educational evaluation, educator labor markets, and quantitative research methods. Gary can lend context and steps to take to reverse/adapt to this new educational landscape. Allison Karpyn is an associate professor who can speak to topics related to hunger, obesity, school food, supermarket access, food insecurity, healthy corner stores and strategies to develop and maintain farmer’s markets in low-income areas. She has spoken extensively about food in schools and can offer context to those subjects. Joshua Wilson is an associate professor and has been featured in WaPo for his AI/ChatGPT knowledge in the past. His research broadly focuses on ways to improve the teaching and learning of writing and specifically focuses on ways that automated writing evaluation systems can facilitate those improvements. Stories: UD professor partners with Sesame Workshop to create Stories with Clever Hedgehog Among the casualties of the Ukraine war are 2 million-plus children. In an effort to restore some sense of normalcy to their education years, University of Delaware professor Roberta Golinkoff—a nationally recognized expert in childhood literacy—has partnered with Sesame Workshop and others to develop Stories with Clever Hedgehog, a website with free interactive e-books, games and other resources. Books are available in both Ukrainian and English, prompting a global experience for readers of any background. There are photos and video ready for this coverage. Golinkoff and Sesame Workshop leadership are open for interviews. Research: Study finds teachers’ anxiety in mathematics and science was associated with the mathematics and science anxiety of their low-SES students To reach out to specific experts, please click on their "View Profile" button. 

Allison KarpynJoshua WilsonGary T. HenryRoberta GolinkoffLeigh McLean

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Biography

Dr. Allison Karpyn is Co-Director of the University of Delaware at the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) and Associate Professor in the Department of the Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Delaware. Dr. Karpyn, in her 20 years of practice, has published widely in journals including Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine, and Health Affairs on program evaluation methods; topics related to hunger, obesity, school food, supermarket access, food insecurity, healthy corner stores; and, strategies to develop and maintain farmer’s markets in low-income areas. Dr. Karpyn has hands-on experience working with community-based agencies and institutions, including non-profit organizations and retailers, to implement and study-specific approaches to increase access to high-quality food in low-income communities. In 2017-2018 Dr. Karpyn served as a Fulbright Scholar to study food insecurity and hunger in the Bahamas. In addition to her position at the University of Delaware, she is a Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Public Health Initiatives. Allison earned her Bachelor’s degree in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University and her Doctorate in Policy Research Evaluation and Measurement at The University of Pennsylvania.

Industry Expertise

Public Safety
Food and Beverages
Food Distribution
Social Services
Public Policy

Areas of Expertise

Farmer’s Markets
Supermarket Access
Obesity
Food Insecurity
Public Health
School Food
SNAP
WIC

Answers

Why is food security an issue for island nations like the Bahamas?
Allison Karpyn

The majority of their food is reliant on imports, and that adds a different dimension to the word food security. A lot of times in the U.S., when we think about food security, it's having adequate access to affordable nutritious food. But there, adequate access means that the ship is able to arrive at port, that it has food on it, and that the relationship with wherever it's coming from is strong.In the U.S. we have a school breakfast program and a school lunch program, but if you really think about what the cost of those programs looks like, for a small developing nation, it's kind of out of reach. The Bahamas, in particular, has very little capacity, if any, to monitor food security. Fundamental data that can drive any decision making is just missing, so it's really a matter of helping a country that is desperate for the information but doesn't have the infrastructure or the money to be able to fund it.

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Media Appearances

Examining food insecurity and nutrition in schools

Delaware Public Media  radio

2023-09-01

Karpyn discusses school lunches, food deserts and other factors in Delaware that are impacting grades and health of students.

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A Century After the Tulsa Race Massacre, a Grocery Store Opens to Serve the Community

Civil Eats  online

2021-05-28

The effects of a new, independently owned grocery store on a community are multi-layered, said Allison Karpyn, co-director of the Center for Research in Education and Social Policy at the University of Delaware. First off, they provide jobs, usually on a local scale. Sometimes they can provide jobs to people with criminal records who otherwise may not be able to earn a livable wage to support themselves and any family they may have, she said.

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Dollar Stores Aren’t the Answer To Alleviating Food Insecurity, So What Is?

Well+Good  online

2020-10-15

Dollar stores typically operate in low-income areas without grocery stores, according to a paper published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. "Our research found that about 60 percent of dollar-store [shoppers come from] households with incomes less than $50,000 a year, and 30 percent [earn] less than $25,000 a year," says Allison Karpyn, PhD, an associate professor and senior associate director of the University of Delaware's Center for Research in Education and Social Policy and the co-author of a paper published in UNSCN Nutrition that discusses how people in food-insecure areas shop for groceries.

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Articles

Pandemic-Era WIC Participation in Wilmington, Delaware: Participants’ Experiences and Challenges

Nutrients

2023

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants faced unprecedented challenges during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic including financial concerns, a national infant formula shortage, and rising food costs. To mitigate these challenges, the United States Department of Agriculture implemented WIC program waivers and flexibilities aiming to simplify program operations (eg, remote appointments and food package substitutions). However, little is known about WIC participants’ perceptions of these changes and their impact on in-store benefit redemption. As such, this study aimed to characterize how pandemic-related events impacted Delaware WIC participants’ shopping experiences and program perceptions.

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Meeting Parents' Needs for Education and Preparation following Congenital Heart Disease Diagnosis: Recommendations from a Crowdsourced Study

American Journal of Perinatology

2022

Objective This article characterizes the educational needs of parents following fetal or neonatal congenital heart disease (CHD) diagnosis and generates recommendations for meeting these needs.
Study Design Online crowdsourcing methods were used to collect qualitative data from 95 parents of children with CHD regarding their needs for education and preparation following fetal or neonatal diagnosis. Data were analyzed using qualitative methods and themes were organized around the substructure of met and unmet needs.

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The Impacts of Social Support and Relationship Characteristics on Commitment to Sobriety Among People in Opioid Use Disorder Recovery

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

2022

Objective:
Despite evidence that social support is beneficial for people living with opioid use disorders (OUDs), research has yet to investigate whether social support within certain relationships is more or less effective. The current study examined whether social support, relationship closeness with a disclosure partner, and/or the history of joint substance use between participants and disclosure partners affect commitment to sobriety among people receiving medications for OUD.

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Accomplishments

Nominated, Excellence in Honors Mentoring Award from the University of Delaware, Honors Program

2020

Ratledge Family Award. Delaware Public Service from the University of Delaware

2019

Fulbright Scholar Award, Council for International Exchange of Scholars

2016-2018

Education

University of Pennsylvania

PhD

Policy Research, Evaluation and Measurement

2003

Johns Hopkins University

BA

Public Health

1998

Affiliations

  • American Public Health Association
  • National Collaborative on Childhood Obesity Research (NCCOR)
  • American Heart Association Policy and Advocacy Board Committee (DE)
  • NIH Review Panel
  • The Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)

Languages

  • English

Event Appearances

Journeying to the New Norm Reimaging Education, Environmental Sustainability & Public Health In A Post Pandemic Bahamas

(2021)  

Outcomes from an Institution-Wide Community Engagement Framework: Comparing Perspectives Across Student, Faculty, and Community Partners

(2020) IUPUI 2020 Assessment Institute  Virtual

Healthy default beverages in kids’ meals: Evaluating policy implementation and impact in California and Delaware

(2020) APHA's Annual Meeting and Expo  San Francisco, CA

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