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Meet Catherine Cotrupi, Ph.D.

Chair, Board of Directors

Catherine has lived in Virginia for most of her life and grew up spending time in the Warwick, York, and James Rivers, the Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic and they drove her interests in geography and environmentalism.

She moved to the New River Valley in 2009 and she and her wife now live in Radford, a 5-minute drive to the New River and 12 minutes from Claytor Lake where they enjoy kayaking, swimming, and boating with their dog, Hugo.

She is involved in her community in a variety of ways in addition to serving on the Board of the NRC. She is on the Radford Recreation Commission and serves in a variety of capacities with the Community Foundation of the NRV; on the Leadership Team for the NRV Livability Initiative; and is an Assistant Scoutmaster for a co-ed BSA Troop.

Catherine worked for Virginia Tech for 10 years before recently leaving to complete a PhD in Higher Education. She is passionate about university-community engagement efforts and has served in professional and personal roles working to bridge the two to leverage the resources of each for the benefit of the other. Her research is on Whiteness and White Supremacy Culture in service learning and community engagement.