Laurel N. Bidwell

Office Hours: by appointment only. 

Schedule a meeting via Microsoft Bookings or by emailing me directly.

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

Dr. Bidwell brings over 25 years of experience as a community-engaged researcher and evaluator, with a focus on services for children, families, and systems-involved youth. Her work bridges practice and scholarship, centering equity, collaboration, and real-world impact. She is co-author of Mixed Methods Research for Social Work (Oxford University Press) and is currently co-writing a second book on sustainable social work practice, exploring the role of self- and community-of-care in practitioner and educator well-being.

At UCCS, Dr. Bidwell teaches introduction to social work, HBSE, SW research, and self-care, and leads initiatives that promote ethical resilience, holistic support, and values-aligned academic culture. She was honored to be selected as a two-year UCCS Faculty Teaching Fellow in 2024 and received the UCCS Faculty Culture of Care Award in 2025.

• Program evaluation
• Mixed methods
• Community based participatory research (CBPR)
• Participatory action research (PAR)
• Human Centered Design
• Systems change and innovation
• Child welfare
• Juvenile Justice
• Resilience
• Anti-racist pedagogy