Bio
Fiona Doherty, MSW, is a PhD Candidate whose scholarship addresses interconnected social and environmental crises. She draws from critical theories to investigate contextual vulnerabilities and employs participatory methods to generate community-centered solutions that bolster the well-being of people and the planet. Her methodological expertise includes systematic reviews, mixed methods research, and media analyses in U.S. and global contexts. Fiona’s dissertation, Social Connectedness and Extreme Weather Adaptive Capacity in Appalachian Ohio: An Intergenerational Participatory Photo Mapping Study, explores the converging issues of social disconnectedness and extreme weather vulnerability in an underserved, rural region. She integrates multiple data forms (e.g., visual, spatial, and narrative) to examine community capacities and inform action across scales. Her dissertation is funded by the 2024 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Grants-in-Aid and the 2024 Grand Challenges for Social Work Doctoral Award (Honorable Mention). Fiona’s research has yielded nine peer-reviewed publications, two as first author, in top tier journals such as Global Environmental Change, International Social Work, and The Gerontologist, and 20 presentations at national and international conferences. Her work has been featured in prominent news sources such as The Guardian and BBC Mundo. She has increased the public impact of her scholarship through podcasts, radio interviews, op-eds, and community presentations. In addition to her research and scholarship, Fiona has independently taught online and in-person at Cornell University and Ohio State University, including the courses Research for Social Work Interventions, Issues in Social Justice, and Lifespan Development. For her exemplary academic record, she was awarded the OSU College of Social Work Merriss Cornell and Selma & Alexander Erlen Scholarships. She was also a recipient of the competitive SARE Graduate Research Grant. Fiona is expected to graduate in May 2025
Research Interests
Environmental, climate, and food justice
Extreme weather events
Community-engaged research
Social connectedness