Caroline E Owens

Dr. Owens’ research explores how social and environmental conditions shape human health and well-being, with a particular focus on food as a fundamental resource. Much of her work examines how individuals and communities navigate food and nutrition insecurity, and how these strategies influence health outcomes through both biological and social pathways. Her work is rooted in the recognition that human engagement with food is simultaneously deeply cultural and biological, making food security a critical public health priority and an integral aspect of the human experience. She strives to apply her scholarship to inform interventions designed to improve food security and health.

Building on this work, Dr. Owens served as Research Assistant Professor at the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University before joining UNCW in 2025. Her recent projects evaluate the effectiveness and sustainability of programs and policies addressing food insecurity as a social determinant of health, while also examining their potential to reduce cardiometabolic and mental health disparities. In collaboration with colleagues, she explores how experiences of food and nutrition insecurity become embodied in health outcomes, and how frameworks such as syndemics—the synergistic interactions between multiple diseases and adverse social conditions—can illuminate overlapping insecurities across food, housing, water, and energy.

Education

Ph.D. in Anthropology, Emory University
B.A. in Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Specialization in Teaching

Dr. Owens teaches the following courses:
ANT 105 Introduction to Anthropology
ANT 210 Biological Anthropology
ANT 346 Medical Anthropology

She welcomes the opportunity to supervise honors theses and directed independent study projects on diverse topics spanning biocultural, medical, and nutritional anthropology. Please contact her if you would like to explore these opportunities.

Research Interests

Motivated by well-documented health disparities within and across populations, Dr. Owens’ research examines the intersections of environment, culture, and human well-being, with particular emphasis on food and nutrition. Her work addresses key questions at the heart of global health challenges: How does access to basic resources shape health in living populations? What social and biological mechanisms drive these outcomes? And how can insights into these pathways guide programs and policies to reduce health disparities?
Much of her research focuses on cardiometabolic and mental health, two central public health concerns. She has conducted studies internationally in Ethiopia and domestically in the southeastern United States, employing a biocultural lens to investigate the interplay between social, behavioral, and biological factors. Her scholarship is frequently multi-method, integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches to capture the complexity of peoples’ lived experiences and health outcomes.

Selected List of Publications:
Owens, C. E., et al. (2025). Medically tailored meals in lung cancer care: Patient experiences from the NutriCare Clinical Trial. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1-12.

Owens, C.E., Zhenan, An, Hadley, C. (2025). Discordant Experiences of Food Insecurity within Households in Cameroon: An examination of data from the 2018 Demographic and Health Surveys. Public Health Nutrition, 28(1), e113.

Owens, C. E., et al. (2024). Engagement in a pilot produce prescription program in rural and urban counties in the Southeast United States. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, 1390737.

Owens, C. (2024). Beyond a prescription: Applying a relational framework to the ‘Food is Medicine’ movement. Human Organization, 83(4), 326-339.

Professional Service

Dr. Owens has served as a peer reviewer for journals in anthropology and public health nutrition (e.g., Social Science & Medicine Population Health, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Journal of the Academic of Nutrition and Dietetics, and BMC Public Health). Formerly, she was a Junior Service Fellow for the Sausage of Science podcast, the official podcast of the Human Biology Association.

Community Engagement

Community engagement is central to much of Dr. Owens’ primary research. She works closely with communities to ensure her studies address the social and health challenges that matter most to them, and she values approaches that are collaborative, responsive, and grounded in local priorities. She welcomes opportunities to partner with communities and organizations seeking a committed social scientist to advance shared goals.