My research, practice, and community engagement have consistently focused on social justice, disrupting systems of power, developing and studying participatory social interventions, and engaging in systematic ways to create and disseminate knowledge driven by the community and individuals with lived experience.

I previously curated and hosted a Community Psychology and social justice radio show called RadioActive which aimed to bring visibility to the field of Community Psychology. Each episode I would engage with organizers, activists, and academics to challenge how we think, act, and react to social change efforts in our communities.

I also co-founded and am currently the co-chair of the Critical Community Psychology Interest Group out of the Society for Community Research and Action – a group of international scholars working to further the foundation of critical work in the field of Community Psychology.

My areas of interest include: theorizing and doing social transformation; building and applying critical social theory and participatory and critical methodologies; challenging epistemic authority and epistemic violence through the de(re)-centring of knowledge(s); and engaging in and studying intersectional social movements.

In my research, teaching, media activism and life, I seek out opportunities to be a part of and cultivate healthy, just, and connected communities.

• Alma H. Young Emerging Scholar Award, presented by the Urban Affairs Association (2018)
• Society for Community Research and Action Dissertation Research Grant (2017)
• Racial and Social Justice SCRA Mini-grant (2016)
• School of Education and Human Development Teaching Fellowships for two Academic Years (2015 & 2016)
• Rosen Doctoral Fellowship (2013-2017)

I am interested in advising students (undergraduate and graduate) who are interested in social transformation, social movements, centring community knowledge and lived experience, using research to challenge structural and social injustice, or who are interested in using creative and arts based methodologies in their research and action.

• Kivell, N., Evans, S.D. & Paterson, S. (2017). Community power structure analysis and the ethical considerations of “studying up”. American Journal of Community Psychology. Special Issue on Ethical Considerations, 60(3-4):467-475.
• Malpert, A. V., Suiter, S. V., Kivell, N., Perkins, D. D., Bess, K., Evans, S. D., Hanlin, C. E., Conway, P., McCown, D. & Prilleltensky, I. (2017). Community Psychology. In C. Willig and W. Stainton Rogers (Eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Methods in Psychology (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE
• Evans, S. D., Duckett., P., Lawthom, R. & Kivell, N. (2017). Positioning the Critical in Community Psychology. In M.A. Bond, C. Keys & I. Serrano-Garcia (Eds.), APA Handbook of Community Psychology (pp. 107-128). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.
• Evans, S.D. & Kivell, N. (2015). The transformation team: An enabling structure for organizational learning in action. Journal of Community Psychology, 43(6), 760-777
• Evans, S.D., Kivell, N., Haarlammert, M., Rosen, A. & Malhotra, K. (2014). Critical community practice: An introduction to the special section. Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology, (6)1, 1-15.

• PS482: Seminar in Community Psychology
• PS887: Application of Social Science Theories to Community Issues