Natalie Cook, PhD

Dr. Cook earned her BS in Human Development at Cornell University, her MS in Agricultural and Extension Education from Virginia Tech, and her PhD in Program Development and Evaluation in the Department of Agricultural, Leadership, and Community Education at Virginia Tech. She also completed the Preparing Future Professoriate certificate and participated in the Global Perspectives Program at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Cook’s research includes program evaluation, culturally responsive evaluation, evaluation capacity building, health equity, and knowledge translation. Dr. Cook utilizes mixed methods and specializes in participatory research methods, including Community-based Participatory Research. As a transformative scholar, Dr. Cook’s research and practice lie at the intersections of evaluation, social justice, and human, family, and community development.

“A (Hopeful) Pre-Professor’s Ponderings on the Potential of Critical Pedagogy” refereed blog essay for the Reflections and Explorations blog of the Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance, October 5, 2017. Available here.

Archibald, T., Cook, N., & Hopson, R. (2019). Centering cultural responsiveness in the evaluation of community-based education. In B. McMahon, & L. Merriweather (Eds.), Convictions of Conscience: How Voices from the Margins Inform Public Actions and Educational Leadership. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Archibald, T., Sharrock, G., Buckley, J., & Cook, N. (2016). Assumptions, conjectures, and other miracles: The application of evaluative thinking to theory of change models in community development. Evaluation and Program Planning, 59, 119-127. doi:10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2016.05.015

“ICYMI: Roundup of Recent Evaluation Capacity Building Research,” invited blog post for the aea365 blog of the American Evaluation Association (with T. Archibald), October 5, 2016. Available here.

Ikonomidou, V. N., Richert, N. D., Vortmeyer, A., Tovar-Moll, F., Bielekova, B., Cook, N. E., ... & Bagnato, F. (2013). Evolution of tumefactive lesions in multiple sclerosis: A 12-year study with serial imaging in a single patient. Multiple Sclerosis Journal, 19(11), 1539-1543.

As a critical pedagogue and adult educator, Dr. Cook is interested in educating and inspiring students to become agents of social change. Dr. Cook teaches PHS 5644: Program Evaluation, an MPH public health education concentration course which covers program evaluation for prevention and intervention programs that promote public health and human development.