Faculty Mentor of the Week Natalie Pope College of Social Work
Dr. Natalie Pope is an Associate Professor, Director of Doctoral Programs, and Otis Professor in Gerontology and Intergenerational Social Work in the UK College of Social Work. Dr. Pope’s program of research broadly focuses on older adults and their family caregivers. Specifically, her scholarship aims to address the following areas: 1) planning for future caregiving needs, 2) behavioral health of community-dwelling older adults, and 3) family caregiving across the life span. With more than 10 years of experience as a family social worker, Dr. Pope is especially committed to producing research that informs social work practice, through curricular program development and improvement of social service provision.
In the last year, Dr. Pope has mentored eight students at both the undergraduate and graduate level, with between four to five undergraduate students participating in research. Although she primarily teachers in the graduate and doctoral programs, Dr. Pope appreciates her role as undergraduate research mentor, "Working with undergrads on research helps me stay connected with and get to know undergraduates at UK. It's fun to work alongside them on projects that get them excited about research." When considering undergraduate student mentees, Dr. Pope believes that strong undergraduate student researchers are motivated to learn and are open to new opportunities - even if they might be outside of their interest area. She explained, "Research skills are transferable and there may not always be a faculty member doing research in the exact area you want to be working in. I would encourage students to be open to trying new things and recognize that skills related to writing, collecting and analyzing data are versatile skills that will serve them well in other arenas - both as a student and working professional." Dr. Pope's advice to students considering undergraduate research is to talk to your professors and advisors about potential research opportunities in your college or department, "There is a ton of support at UK for undergrads doing research - the university community wants to support you all in this endeavor."
Dr. Pope's passion for research and her work reflects greatly on her mentees. We greatly appreciate the outstanding mentoring Dr. Natalie Pope provides and the difference she is making for so many UK undergraduates. We are pleased to recognize Dr. Pope's dedication this week as our Faculty Mentor of the Week.