Somjen Frazer was recently chosen as the St. Lawrence University Beyer resident in queer studies for this year.

She will deliver a free public lecture at 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 11, in Carnegie Hall, room 010.

In her talk, “Social Science and Social Justice: Research to Promote LGBT Health and Rights in New York State,” Frazer will discuss how social science research can be used to support social justice for LGBTQ communities in a variety of ways, according to a release from the university.

“It can illuminate the underlying causes of social problems, provide scientific evidence of the existence and outcomes of those problems and suggest new ways of rectifying injustice,” the release said.

Frazer’s presentation will focus on a social science research project conducted in partnership with a network of LGBT health and human services providers and activists to understand the challenges facing LGBT people in New York and suggest legislative, funding and programmatic solutions to those challenges.

Frazer is the founder, president and principal consultant at a Brooklyn-based “Strength In Numbers” consulting group. She has over 15 years of experience in research, evaluation and program design for LGBT communities locally, nationally and internationally.

She is also the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and conference papers.

Frazer received her master’s degree in sociology from Oxford University and her bachelor’s from Cornell University.

She was a Rhodes Scholar, Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, John Kenneth Galbraith Fellow in Inequality and Social Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Progressive Women’s Voices Media Fellow.

Her methodological interests include community based participatory action research (CBPR), multi-method research designs, quasi-experimental design and multivariate statistics, according to the release.

The St. Lawrence University Beyer Residency is sponsored by a gift from Rick Beyer, the department of gender and sexuality studies, and the chaplain’s office.

For more information call 229-5130.