My primary role is as a researcher. My current projects include examining the social and economic well-being of rural families, understanding the individual, family and community factors contributing to health disparities, and evaluating methods of engaging a diverse group of community members in public deliberation. I also study leadership development, particularly in the areas of developing cultural and emotional intelligence.

I developed a highly successful education abroad course “Leadership Lessons from Prague” and led 4 cohorts of UK students to the Czech Republic to develop their EQ & CQ, study costs of leadership, and enhance their leadership skills across cultural contexts. I was honored to be selected as the Fulbright-Masaryk University Distinguished Chair in Social Studies and spent 6 months in Brno, Czech Republic, in 2014 teaching family sociology and community sociology to international students.

My personal mission statement is “To help individuals and organizations identify and overcome barriers that keep them from achieving their potential.” Hence my research, teaching and service focus on giving voice to those not usually "at the table," developing people, and raising awareness to transcend challenges. As a two-time breast cancer thriver, I am pleased to be volunteering with Kentucky CancerLink, a nonprofit whose mission is to provide support by reducing and/or eliminating barriers to screening, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Areas of Interest

• Adolescent Psychosocial Development
• Community Engagement
• Cultural Intelligence
• Ecological Systems Theory
• Health Disparities
• Low Income Rural Families
• Ripple Mapping
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
• Emotional Intelligence