Lab News

Fall 2026 Update:

The CSCR continues to grow! After a busy 2025–2026 academic year, Fall 2026 has focused on expanding our research, building student leadership, and moving several student-led projects toward publication.

• The lab has grown to approximately 16 current and incoming student researchers, including a graduate research assistant and two Lead Research Assistants.
• This summer, the CSCR offered its first five-day Qualitative Research Methods Bootcamp for students working on SURF, SEED, and work-study supported research.
• CSCR students and faculty presented work at the 2026 Rural Sociological Society Annual Meeting in Raleigh, including research on utility insecurity in Virginia, rural healthcare access in Buchanan County, and mental healthcare access in rural New Mexico. Therese Root, Rebecca Ford, and Kristina Wagner presented on their Virginia 211 work, Aidan Bridge gave a paper on Mental Healthcare Access in New Mexico, and Dr. Montañez presented on her Buchanan County research as well as held a panel with National Center of Frontier Communities on “Defining Rural”. 
• Several CSCR projects are now moving toward publication, including manuscripts using Virginia 211 data to examine utility assistance, aid demand, and the relationship between data center growth and utility insecurity.
• Our Rural Virginia Access Study is now underway in Buchanan County and the Radford/Pulaski area, examining barriers to healthcare and aid-program access through interviews and participant observation.
• Paige Dickerhoof joined the CSCR as Graduate Research Assistant and Project Manager, and Therese Root and Isaiah Moore are serving as Lead Research Assistants.
• Four CSCR students will participate with Dr. Montañez in the Council on Undergraduate Research’s Scholars Transforming Through Research program during 2026–2027, culminating in a trip to Washington, DC in Spring 2027. Congrats to Therese Root, Isaiah Moore, Leo Winston, and Kristina Wagner on this accomplishment! 
• Dr. Montañez received Radford University’s OURS Outstanding Mentor Award in Spring 2026 in recognition of her work mentoring undergraduate researchers.
• Paige Dickerhoof and her 211 Analysis Team had a poster accepted to Society of Southeastern Social Psychologists. They will present their work in Raleigh, North Carolina this November! 

We are excited to see where the year takes us—and especially excited to see more CSCR student research move from the lab, to conferences, and toward publication.