Natalie Pope
Associate Professor, PhD Program Director
Areas of Expertise
- qualitative research methods
- doctoral seminar
Highlighted Publications
- Pope, N.D. (2026). Using audit trail assignments to develop DSW students’ skills as practitioner-scholars. Journal of Social Work Education. Advanced online publication
- Pope, N.D., Loeffler, D.N. *Adesiyan, R., *Akomolafe, E., *Dillman, H., *Fields, C., *Fitisone, K., *Mountain, D., *Rooks, D., *Shahrjooihaghighi, E., & *Willis-Nichols, R. (Accepted October 2025). “Up the side of a mountain on a mattress”: A poetic representation of altruism in a natural disaster. Social Work & Christianity.
- Halpin, S.N., Harrison, T.C., Perone, A., Pope, N.D., & Schwartz, A.J. (2025). Qualitative research in gerontology: Rigor, legacy, and the next wave of innovation. Innovations in Aging.
Student & Research Availability
- Accepting Students in Programs: Doctoral | Masters
- Research or Interest Area Key Words: qualitative methods, family caregiving across the lifespan, gerontological social work
Get to Know Natalie
Natalie D. Pope, Ph.D., MSW is an associate professor and PhD program director in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky (since 2018). She earned her MSW and PhD from the University of Georgia and was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Natalie has specialized training and expertise in qualitative methods. She teaches qualitative research courses in the PhD program, using arts-based and experiential learning to provide students with hands-on educational experiences. As a qualitative methodologist, Natalie regularly collaborates with colleagues and students on qualitative and mixed methods studies and enjoys learning/ using new methods (e.g., dyadic analysis, poetic representation, etc.). Dr. Pope’s scholarship includes research in the areas of family caregiving across the lifespan, behavioral health of community-dwelling older adults, and planning for future care in aging families. She has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Women and Aging for over a decade and is also a qualitative methods expert on the editorial board for Innovations in Aging.