Megan E. Gilster is an Associate Professor at the University of Iowa School of Social Work and a Research Affiliate with the Center for Social Science Innovation. Much of her published research addresses how neighborhood conditions matter for the well-being of residents. Stemming from this research are projects that seek to understand how macro social work impacts communities and residents and how community conditions intersect with housing conditions to impact residents. Her current projects include a collaborative project investigating the attitudes towards and impacts of library social work. Another current project examines the correlates and consequences of housing insecurity among social work and graduate students. 

Before coming to the University of Iowa, she was a NICHD-funded Postdoctoral Scholar in the Health Disparities Research Scholars Training Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she researched the link between neighborhoods and disparities in health and mental health.

Teaching areas

• Organization and Community Practice
• Research

Research interests

• Neighborhoods
• Housing
• Community social organization
• Community participation
• Social determinants of mental and physical health
• Racial disparities in mental and physical health

Work experience

• Non-profit management
• Community building
• Program evaluation
• Research

Megan Gilster CV