Laurel N. Bidwell

Dr. Laurel Bidwell is an Associate Professor and BSW Program Director at University of Colorado Colorado Springs. She began her career as a clinical social worker in Toronto, Canada, providing mental health services to young adults in hospital and community settings, and later earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University, focusing on risk and resilience.

 

With over 25 years of experience as a community-engaged researcher and evaluator, Dr. Bidwell’s work bridges practice and scholarship, centering equity, collaboration, and real-world impact for children, families, and systems-involved youth. She is co-author of Mixed Methods Research for Social Work (Oxford University Press) and is currently under contract with Oxford University Press for a second book on sustainable social work practice, emphasizing wellbeing, self-care, and community- and culture-of-care approaches.

 

At UCCS, she teaches across the BSW curriculum and contributes to efforts that promote a culture of care in social work education, while continuing to develop related research and initiatives. She was selected as a UCCS Faculty Teaching Fellow (2024–2026) and received the UCCS Faculty Culture of Care Award in 2025.