The Community Engagement Academy (CEA) is an interdisciplinary professional development program designed for new UTK faculty (0-3 years), postdocs, and graduate students who want to learn the foundations of community engagement and engaged scholarship and apply knowledge to research and practice. CEA provides background literature, facilitated discussion, mentoring, and presentations designed to increase their knowledge and enhance their practice of community engaged scholarship throughout Knoxville and East Tennessee by creating new partnerships and/or building upon existing ones.
Emerging engagement scholars will participate in seminars, with optional opportunities for engagement available through the Office of Community Engagement and Outreach (OCEO) initiatives. OCEO is committed to the principles of equity, shared governance, reciprocity, and mutual decision-making. Seminars are co-led by UTK faculty, staff, community partners, and national experts.
2024 Fall Cohort
Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Public Health Counseling, Human Development, and Family Science Counseling, Human Development, and Family Science Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Theory and Practice in Teacher Education Nutrition Social Work Social Work Nutrition Nutrition Theory and Practice in Theory Education
Amanda Shimizu
Research interests include collaborative/multimodal composing, digital literacy, STEM, community-engaged research, and multimodal methods.
Caroline Barnes
Research interests include rural health, nutrition, obesity, health and food access, communication, mental health, and public health.
Hannah Thompson
Research interests include the well-being of early care and education professionals through (a) trauma-reducing practices to enhance resilience, (b) community-engaged, long-term professional development, and (c) amplifying the voices of educators and marginalized communities.
Joash Koh
Research interests include attachment-based approach in counselor education and systemic therapy, as well as the acculturation, mental health, and wellness of international students and the Asian diaspora in the United States.
Kai Zhuang Shum
Research interests include school-based mental health research and developing interventions and testing their efficacy/effectiveness.
Kimberly Jones
Research interests include authentic science education through activity such as Citizen Science and garden-based education, teacher preparation for global collaboration, and culturally responsive and sustaining STEM education.
Komal Jethmalani
Research interests include the use of digital technology and health in promoting healthy behavior, especially exclusive breastfeeding, in the continuum of care extending from health facilities to the community.
Robert Lucio
Research interests include schools, school-based mental health, school social work, and marginalized youth.
Sangmi Kim
Research interests include developing intervention strategies for adolescents experiencing psychological challenges due to isolation and loneliness, particularly through AI-based digital storytelling, suicide prevention, and resilience-building among adolescents.
Sherifa Iddrisu
Research interests include how “food parenting”, child development, food decisions, preservation practices, and family meals impact preschoolers’ fruit and vegetable intake and calorie consumption, examined through the Family Ecological Model.
Uduak David
Research interests include infant feeding, maternal nutrition, and breastfeeding literacy to promote optimal feeding practices.
Zhen Xu
Research interests include promoting access to meaningful and engaging STEM learning experiences for underrepresented students and exploring the cognitive mechanisms underlying disparities in STEM learning.
2024 Summer Cohort
PhD Student, Nursing Research interests include nurse wellbeing, academic practice partnerships, and health disparities in rural Appalachia. PhD Student, Child and Family Studies Research interests focus on approaches of justice and how they intersect with the family across the lifespan, as well as holistic and restorative alternatives. PhD Student, Public Relations Research interests lie at the intersection of ethnic public relations, message effects, and culture. PhD Student, Social Work Research interests include migration-related trauma and help-seeking practices among Latinx immigrants; risk and protective factors for the mental health and well-being of Latinx communities; culturally-relevant prevention programs for Latinx communities; culturally-responsive trauma-informed care for Latinx and immigrant communities. Master’s Student, Nutrition and Public Health Research interests focus on school and community-based interventions to prevent childhood obesity and increase access to healthy foods for vulnerable populations, as well as the promotion of physical activity levels. PhD Student, Creative Writing (Poetry) Research interests focus on increasing writer self-efficacy and the links between writer self-efficacy and post-secondary application completion at Knoxville’s Flagship high schools. Master’s Student, Forestry Research interests focuses on characterizing the constraints Black and Brown individuals from underserved communities face when considering careers in natural resources. MFA Student, Studio Art Research interests include community engagement, nonprofit, budgeting, free and accessible art for the community. Master’s Student, Epidemiology Research interest focuses on developing countries and rural health and health equity. Master’s Student, Exercise Physiology Research interests include maternal and child health. PhD Student, Community Nutrition Research interests include migration, eating habits, malnutrition, breastfeeding, AI and nutrition education, and the transfer of nutrition education from one setting to another. PhD Student, Sociology Research interest focuses on substance use recovery. PhD Student, Child and Family Studies Research interests focus on the familial relationships impact on adolescent development and how (dis)similarly parents and adolescents perceive the family, each other, and how these perceptions predict adolescent outcomes. PhD Student, Public Health Research interests include health disparities. PhD Student, Math Education Research interests include Early Childhood teachers’ self-efficacy in relation to their identity as they teach math to children and the impact this has on Black students’ identity. 
Alisa Poe
Cole Green
Curry Wilson
Eliza Galvez
Gladys Hlorgbe
Kate Wright
Kayla Stuart
LaKesha Lee
Leul Negussie
Mikayla Greene
Rizwan Majeed
Samantha McIntyre
Shailey Curtis
Sompa Reza
Temvelo Matsebula
View Previous Cohorts Below
PhD Student, Social Work Research interests focus on housing, homelessness, weather, and infrastructure as well exploring the ways individuals utilize methodology and large data networks in the social sciences. Assistant Professor, Counselor Education Research interests focus on investigating the well-being and quality of life of persons living with or impacted by HIV/AIDS, substance use disorders, and psychiatric disabilities within marginalized communities. Assistant Professor, Psychology Research interests focus on reducing mental health disparities for marginalized youth and families by (a) understanding mechanisms by which mental health problems and resilience develop following adversity (e.g., adverse child experiences, trauma, discrimination) and (b) increasing access to culturally competent evidence-based interventions. PhD Candidate, Public Health Research interests revolve around disease prevention in rural Appalachia, specifically, how anthropogenic and pathophysiological factors conjointly influence disease outcomes. Post Doctoral Research Associate, Kinesiology Research interests involve preventing sexual abuse for youth sports, analyzing polices and prevention schemes, and understanding stakeholders of youth sport clubs/programs. Master’s Candidate, Public Health Research interests include refugee mental health disparities and community-based interventions to mitigate the impact of post-migration stressors on refugee mental health. Assistant Professor, Psychology Research interest involves increasing mental health service access among minoritized youths and their families. PhD Candidate, Mathematics Education, TPTE Research interest centers in teachers, Hispanic parents, and the Community engagement toward an equitable learning space in mathematics and STEM, focusing on racial justice.
Zakary Amen
Jamian Coleman
Cynthia Navarro Flores
McKenzie Granata
Yunjung Kim
Su Chen Tan
Alejandro Vázquez
Francia Zelaya
PhD Student, Social Work Research interests investigate the educational experiences of Black students in White spaces, particularly in music education. PhD Student, Implementation Science in Community Nutrition Research interests revolve around maternal and child health, specifically, exploring breastfeeding/chestfeeding rates and the introduction of solid feeding among families with lower income. PhD Student, Counselor Education and Supervision Research interests explore the impact of the “Strong Black Woman” schema on doctoral student’s mental health. PhD Student, Microbiology Research interests focus on understanding how mobile genetic elements drive interactions between microorganisms and how resulting interactions influence marine ecosystems on a broader scale. PhD Student, Adult & Continuing Education Research interests explores spirituality, BIPOC adult learners’ social-emotional learning, service learning, and community engagement. PhD Student, Science Education, Theory & Practice in Teacher Education Research interests revolve around equitable science education in Latinx communities and the practice of learning and teaching science in formal and informal settings. PhD Student, Higher Education Administration Research interests center on the executive leadership pipeline at public research universities and identifying best practices in developing future leadership. PhD Student, Information Sciences Research interests revolve on topics such as polarization, misinformation, and fake news. PhD Student, Counselor Education Research interests includes assessing school counseling interventions for effectiveness with diverse populations and school counselor readiness regarding school crisis response.
Kenyette Garrett
Emilie Holloway
Myia Makupson
Frank May
Deidra Rogers
Jaquelina Schmittlen-Garbocci
Dale TeGantvoort
Namrita Varier
LeAnn Wills
Assistant Professor, Public Health Research interest focuses on determining whether secondary cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention disparities exist between US rural and urban residents in the Southeastern US. Assistant Professor, Nursing Research interests focus on how alterations of the gut microbial compositions and diversity (called gut dysbiosis) affect the host immune dysregulation, leading to critical adverse health outcomes. Assistant Professor, Nursing strategies for disease self-management. Assistant Professor, Nursing Research interests include exploring the interaction between oral and gut microbes and its implications on human health. Assistant Professor, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology Research interests revolve around the evolution of communication in acoustically communicating animals, especially treefrogs. Assistant Professor, Child & Family Studies Research interests focus on providing equitable and high-quality early care and education for all children and their families, especially those from non-dominant communities. PhD Candidate, Sociology Research interests are focused on inadequate medical care, misdiagnoses, and lack of high-quality medical care for Black patients in the hospital setting as material representations of racism. PhD Candidate, Higher Education Administration Director, Project Excellence Research interests include examining the benefits of pre-college access programs and retention of underrepresented students at higher education institutions.
Phoebe Tran
Ji Youn Yoo
Dominique Bulgin
Anujit Sarkar
Jessie C. Tanner
Jun Ai
Christopher Rogers
Kimberly HIll
PhD Student, Higher Education Administration Research interests will explore how adverse childhood experiences (ACES) affect educational outcomes in Black Americans. PhD Student, History Research interests revolve around working with juniors and seniors at Austin East High School as they apply to post-secondary institutions (i.e. 4 year, 2 year, and vocational). PhD Student, Energy Science and Engineering Research interests include strategies for effective communication in scientific research related to energy, environmental, and natural resource sustainability. Master’s Student, Public Health Nutrition Research interests focus on community-based interventions to increase access to healthy foods for vulnerable populations. PhD Student, Higher Education Administration Research interests center on the role of restorative justice as a practice in higher education in preventing and responding to harm. Research Specialist III Research interests revolve around creating sustainable, eco-friendly management strategies for plant diseases, and outreach to farmers.
Quannah Washington
Coordinator, Office of Community Engagement and Outreach
Camren Murray
Isis Fukai
Yetunde Fadipe
Jill Malolepszy
Associate Director, Office of Equity and Diversity
Shalini Yerukala
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology
Clinical Assistant Professor, Theory & Practice in Teacher Education My research centers community voices around equitable access to high-quality education and providing holistic services to children and their families. PhD Student, Nutrition My research explores the behavioural aspects of infant and young child nutrition and the development of interventions to positively modify those behaviours across the socio-ecological gradient, especially amongst vulnerable populations. PhD Student, School of Communication Studies My research interests include organizational communication, leadership, and DEI within the context of higher education. Assistant Professor, Africana Studies and English I study literary depictions of the relationships between Black and Indigenous peoples in nineteenth- to twenty-first-century African American literature. PhD Student, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology I aspire to leverage my research examining the impacts of climate change on salamanders to inspire students’ connection with the ecology of Appalachia and initiate conversations about practical conservation strategies for rural communities. Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Electronic Media My research explores changing roles, routines, and practices in newsrooms with a particular focus on local media. PhD Student, College of Education, Health and Human Sciences My research centers critical care and communities of care within formal and informal learning settings through a critical feminist lens. PhD Student, English I’m a graduate student in the rhetoric, writing & linguistics division of the English department. I’m interested in how place, race & religion affect the writing that takes place at some of the community gardens I work at in East Knoxville. Assistant Professor, College of Nursing My research interest is investigating the cardiovascular disease risk factors in informal community caregivers caring for ill relatives. PhD Student, Theory & Practice in Teacher Education I am researching the functions of racial identity and belonging in educational contexts. PhD Student, Microbiology My community engagement interests revolve around creating a socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable community within the Knoxville area. Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering My current outreach efforts focus on assisting and providing training to small water and wastewater utilities in Appalachian areas of Tennessee. I am also actively participating in efforts in LGBTQIA topics.
Janine Al-Aseer
Director, University Assisted Community Schools
Temitayo Abayomi
Jalen Blue
DeLisa Hawkes
Morgan Fleming
Joy Jenkins
Miranda Rutan
Kelly Sauskojus
Jennifer Smith
Mary Terry
Jillian Walton
Kristen Wyckoff
Corey Day
Entomology & Plant Pathology
Kimberly Mitchell
Architecture
Jeremy Kanter
Child and Family Studies
Rebekah Hermann
Industrial Engineering
Jessica Jones
Haslam College of Business
Kertesha Riley
Counselor Education
LaTrice Wright
Psychology
Kristen Ravi
College of Social Work
Kiley Compton
Educational Psychology & Counseling
Joseph Winberry
Communication and Information Sciences
Paula Lazarim
Counselor Education
Micheala DiPillo
Psychology
Laura Knight
Industrial Engineering