Scholarship
Dr. Catherine Wright’s scholarship weaves together theology, ethics, sustainability, and community engagement to address real-world challenges. She is the author of Food and Faith: From Dirt to Dessert (2023), A Practical Guide to Creation Care: Living Laudato Si’ (2020), and Creation, God, & Humanity (2017, ACP Excellence in Publishing Award), and her research and writing explore how communities and individuals can live justly, sustainably, and faithfully. Her work bridges rigorous academic inquiry with accessible, actionable insights that inspire reflection, dialogue, and positive change.
Wright’s work extends beyond traditional scholarship through applied research, public writing, and grant-funded initiatives that support experiential learning, civic engagement, and ecological justice. She has secured funding from organizations such as the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, Carolina Farm Credit, and NC Resourceful Communities, and her research has been recognized nationally, including as a finalist for the AASHE Campus Sustainability Research Award (2022).
Through this integrated approach, her scholarship advances both academic knowledge and practical solutions, connecting theory, data, and lived experience to foster resilient, just, and flourishing communities.
Books
Our food stories are sacred stories. Food & Faith: From Dirt to Dessert weaves practical reflection, hands-on activities, and spiritual insight to help readers discover how nourishing soil, community, and spirit belong together.
A grounded, practical companion to Laudato Si’, this book brings Pope Francis’ vision to life through relatable stories, daily practices, and a theology rooted in love for people and planet.
Awarded the 2018 ACP Excellence in Publishing Award for Theology, Creation, Humanity & God weaves insights from theology, cosmology, and spirituality to help readers engage suffering, meaning, and divine presence within the unfolding story of the universe.
Peer Reviewed Articles
Wright, C., Lapan., C. (forthcoming). Bridging ethics and engagement: The promise of service-learning in religion courses. Michigan Journal for Community Service Learning.
Wright, C. (2025). Food and faith: A two-year study on the impact of service-learning and community engagement practices in a general education religion course. Transformative Social Impact: A Journal of Community-Based Teaching and Research, 1(1). VIDEO; ARTICLE
Wright, C. (2022). Cultivating a collaborative culture for ensuring Sustainable Development Goals in higher education: An integrative case study. Sustainability, 14(3). *2022 AASHE Campus Sustainability Research Award Finalist. LINK
Wright, C. (2020). Exploration of creation care and sustainability among CCCU members. AASHE Publication.
Wright, C., Keel, M., & Kellar, A. (2018). A new alliance for service-learning and community engagement: Cultivating citizens with an ecocentric vision of justice. Partnerships: A Journal of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement, 9(2).
Wright, C., Keel, M., & Fleurizard, T. (2017). Connecting SLCE with sustainability in higher education: Cultivating citizens with an ecocentric vision of justice. Michigan Journal for Community Service Learning, 23(2), 165–169. LINK
Wright, C. (2017). In the darkness grows the green: The promise of a new cosmological horizon of meaning within a critical inquiry of suffering and the Cross. Journal of the Center for Ecozoic Societies, 4, 465–480. LINK
Wright, C. (2017). We are stardust: Towards an ecological theological anthropology. The Other Journal: An Intersection of Theology and Culture. LINK
Stephenson, R., and Andrews (Wright), C. (1997). The Effect of Water Surface Tension on Feather Wettability in Aquatic Birds. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 75(2), 288–294. LINK
Book Chapters & Primers
Wright, C. (2021). CEE Primer: Civic and Community Engagement in Higher Education. NC Campus Compact. LINK
Wright, C. (2018). Social justice in service-learning and community engagement: A conversation about meanings, practices, and possibilities. In L. Jewett, F. Calderon Berumen, & M. Espinosa-Dulanto (Eds.), Critical Intersections in Contemporary Curriculum & Pedagogy. Information Age Publishing.
Book Reviews
Wright, C. (2019). Review of Incarnation: A New Evolutionary Threshold by D. O’Murchu. Modern Believing. Wright, C. (2018). Book reviews in Modern Believing Journal (Liverpool Press).
Wright, C. (2015). Review of God’s Good World: Reclaiming the Doctrine of Creation by J. R. Wilson. Toronto Journal of Theology, 31(1), 149–151.
Wright, C. (2014). Review of For Earth’s Sake: Towards a Compassionate Ecology by S. Scharper. Toronto Journal of Theology, 30(1), 161–162.
Public Scholarship
Heart for Monroe. 2024. Impact Report. LINK
Data Analysis and Author of CCG Impact Reports (2020-2024). LINK
Editor of CCG White Papers 2020-2023. LINK
Author of Ethics White Paper and Theology in Action White Paper