Sara Yeatman

Sara Yeatman Headshot
Professor
Health and Behavioral Sciences

Office Location:
North Classroom 3018B

Office Hours:
Please email to schedule an in-person or remote meeting. 
 

Dr. Yeatman’s research focuses on the causes and consequences of fertility, and in particular the mismatch between fertility desires and behavior, whether that leads to undesired or unrealized fertility. Early in her career, she co-designed and led a 6-year longitudinal study of young adults in southern Malawi between 2009-2015. Through the project, Tsogolo la Thanzi, she sought to understand how a generation of young adults growing up in Malawi’s HIV epidemic navigated their lives while avoiding or dealing with the consequences of HIV. Data from the project have been used in over 70 publications, including many theses and dissertations from students at institutions throughout the United States and Malawi.

Currently, Dr. Yeatman’s research is focused on access to contraception and reproductive health care in the U.S. and the way in which access—and more recently lack of access—impacts people’s health outcomes and life trajectories. Much of this work is part of a rich collaboration through the Colorado Fertility Project, which is based at the CU Population Center, where she serves as Development Director.

Ph.D. Sociology, University of Texas at Austin, 2008

M.Sc. Demography and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2004

B.A. International Relations and Environmental Studies, Tufts University, 2001

Yeatman, Sara and Christie Sennott. 2024. “Fertility desires and contraceptive transition.” Population and Development Review. https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12669.

Yeatman, Sara, James M. Flynn*, Amanda Stevenson, Katie Genadek, Stefanie Mollborn, and Jane Menken. 2022. “Expanded contraceptive access linked to increase in college completion among women in Colorado.” Health Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00066Press coverage

Stevenson, Amanda, Katie Genadek, Sara Yeatman, Stefanie Mollborn, and Jane Menken. 2021. “The impact of contraceptive access on high school graduation.” Science Advances. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abf6732Press coverage

Yeatman, Sara, Jenny Trinitapoli, and Sarah Garver. 2020. “The enduring case for fertility desires.” Demography. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13524-020-00921-4.

Westbrook, Marisa*, Lisette Martinez^, Safa Mechergui^, and Sara Yeatman. 2020. “The influence of school-based health center access on high school graduation: evidence from Colorado.” Journal of Adolescent Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.04.012.

Yeatman, Sara, Abdallah Chilungo, Sydney Lungu, Hazel Namadingo, and Jenny Trinitapoli. 2019. “Tsogolo la Thanzi: A longitudinal study of young adults living in Malawi’s HIV epidemic.” Studies in Family Planning. https://doi.org/10.1111/sifp.12080.

Yeatman, Sara, Stephanie Chamberlin*, and Kathryn Dovel. 2019. “Women’s (health) work: a population-based, cross-sectional study of gender differences in time spent seeking health care in Malawi.” PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0209586.

*mentored doctoral student; ^mentored undergraduate student

PBHL 2052 Global Demography and Health

PBHL 3070 Perspectives in Global Health

HBSC 7041 Research Design in the Health and Behavioral Sciences

2019 Excellence in Research and Creative Activities Award, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Denver

2015 Graduate School Dean’s Mentoring Award, University of Colorado Denver

2008 Graduate Fellow, American Academy of Political and Social Science (Award)