University of Virginia psychology professor Charlotte Patterson is among 31 members of a newly established National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations, the U.S. Census Bureau announced Friday.

The National Advisory Committee will advise the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census. The committee, whose members hail from multiple disciplines, will advise the Census Bureau on topics such as housing, children, youth, poverty, privacy, race and ethnicity, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations.

Patterson, who also directs the interdisciplinary Women, Gender and Sexuality program in U.Va.’s College of Arts & Sciences, has focused much of her recent work on sexual orientation, human development and family lives. Best known for her research on child development in lesbian- and gay-parented families, she is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association, and is a past-president of the Society for Psychological Research on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Issues. She recently served as a member of the interdisciplinary Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Health Issues and Research Gaps, convened by the U.S. Institute of Medicine.

“We expect that the expertise of this committee will help us meet emerging challenges the Census Bureau faces in producing statistics about our diverse nation,” said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director. “By helping us better understand a variety of issues that affect statistical measurement, this committee will help ensure that the Census Bureau continues to provide relevant and timely statistics used by federal, state and local governments as well as business and industry in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The National Advisory Committee members, who serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director, are chosen to serve based on expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and statistical needs of hard-to-count populations.

For the complete list of committee members, click here.