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Year Entered Program

2018

Biography 

Candace M. Evans (she/they) is a doctoral candidate whose interests are broadly centered around chronic illness and disability, social theory, and inequality/stratification. . She received her bachelor's degree in sociology and psychology from McMurry University in 2016 and her master's degree in applied sociology from the University of Massachusetts-Boston in 2018. Her dissertation research is focused the construction of medical knowledge and expertise during public health emergencies. Evans is also actively engaged in activist and advocacy circles for chronic illness and disability rights, where she draws on sociological insights and her own embodied experiences to raise awareness for invisible chronic illness and disability conditions and the unique needs and challenges of these groups during disaster and disaster recovery.

Candace recently accepted a full-time position as an accounts specialist and research professional at the Natural Hazards Center, ²ÊÃñ±¦µä, where she has served as a graduate research assistant since 2019. In her current role, Evans supports daily operations at the Center, including managing the accounts for the Center’s federally-funded Research Award Programs and assisting in planning the annual . Additionally, as the Center’s undergraduate research assistant coordinator, Evans works closely with students, many of which are navigating their first involvement with academic research and professional work experience. Evans is also actively engaged in various ongoing projects for the National Science Foundation-supported CONVERGE facility, where she serves as the co-lead developer of the . Several of these modules have been supported by federal partnerships, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Geological Services.

In addition to her own research, Candace works as a graduate research assistant at the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and contributes to various ongoing projects for the National Science Foundation supported CONVERGE facility. One of her primary activities over the past few years has been serving as the co-lead developer of the CONVERGE Training Modules, which are part of a larger initiative to advance social science and interdisciplinary extreme events research efforts through the training and education of a diverse group of researchers. Several of these modules have also been supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.