Current Catalyst Scholars

Trained as an interdisciplinary scientist, she uses qualitative, quantitative, and participatory methods to examine the multiple ways social and natural systems interact with and influence one another, and what that means for equitable resource management, adaptation, and governance.  As a Catalyst faculty scholar, Dr. Grace-McCaskey will build work with community members in Hyde County to design a community-engaged project that documents the history and cultural importance of Hyde County’s seafood industry, the ongoing economic changes and development, and the related impacts on fishing industry stakeholders and their livelihoods.

Her research interests focus on how Social Determinants of Health impact reproductive health and community gun violence. Dr. Maness currently partners with academic and community partners in community gun violence prevention research including the Safe Communities Coalition of Pitt County, Pitt County Firearm Safety Coalition, ECU Health Department of Surgery Firearm Injury Research Alliance, and the Rural Opportunity Institute in Rocky Mount. Her Catalyst project will deepen relationships with non-profit community partners working on firearm injury prevention in Eastern North Carolina, build capacity for community members with lived experience of firearm violence to participate in regional initiatives, and seek extramural funding to support community-engaged research violence prevention and intervention.

Dr. Oakes also serves as Senior Associate within a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, InFocus Advocacy, and previously served as RT Program Director and Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation at Temple University. Prior to this, Dr. Oakes served as Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Therapeutic Recreation in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State University. She received her Ph.D. in Public Health Education at the University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) in 2020 and served as the Student Support Coordinator at UNCG’s inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) program, Integrative Community Studies, for four years where she supported college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) through a certificate program and provided RT services to enrolled students with IDD. Dr. Oakes’ research interests include overall health/wellness and community inclusion of individuals/college students with IDD, inclusion of individuals/college students with IDD in community/campus recreation, best practices for inclusive service delivery within community/campus recreation, use of virtual reality among individuals with IDD, IPSE programs, and use of photovoice with individuals with disabilities to increase community inclusion. As a Catalyst Program scholar, Dr. Oakes will lead a community-engaged, participatory design project in partnership with Winterville Parks and Recreation, Awaken Coffee, and the Autism Society of North Carolina–Greenville. This 18-month initiative will engage self-advocates with disabilities, community organizations, and students in a design thinking process to co-create and prototype inclusive recreation spaces and programs. The project will culminate in the integration of these prototypes into a grant proposal to the North Carolina Division of Parks & Recreation Accessible Parks Grant Program, with the goal of advancing sustainable, multi-dimensionally accessible community recreation opportunities for individuals with disabilities in eastern North Carolina.

Her nursing experience in mental health includes caring for adolescent and adult patients as a staff nurse and in administrative roles in acute care and community settings. She practiced law in North Carolina and Maryland representing clients in criminal and family law matters. Her research interests include the influence of mental health courts on recidivism and mental health outcomes for court participants. Participation in the Catalyst Program will build on Dr. Pestaner’s prior work with the Pitt County Behavioral Health Treatment Court team through the EOSA cohort. She will strengthen and expand this partnership by identifying key service gaps and engaging new community partners to improve access to care and quality of life for justice-involved individuals with mental illness.