Grants Resources & Services

Karen Fletcher
Director, Grants Resources & Services

Karen joined Appalachian's Office of Research and Innovation in 2015. Karen holds a grant writing certificate from the University of South Carolina. She earned her MBA at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina and a Bachelor of Arts in communication from the University of Hartford in West Hartford, Connecticut. She came to Appalachian State University from Coastal Carolina University where she was the pre-award manager in the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Services. Karen received a grant in 2017 from the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) to develop a research mentoring program at Appalachian State University, PREParation for Appalachian Research Experiences (PREPARE). She specializes in proposal development, faculty research development, mentoring and strategic research advancement. Karen held a designated seat for Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) on the Board of Directors of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) from 2016-20; holding the office of secretary in 2017, vice president/president-elect in 2018-19, president in 2019-20, and immediate past president in 2020-21. She is a long-standing member of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) and the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA).

Katie Shoaf, PhD
Associate Director, Grants Resources & Services

Katie joined Appalachian's Office of Research and Innovation in 2015. Katie came to Appalachian as an undergraduate student and loved it so much, she never really left. She has her Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She earned an M.A. in romance languages, a Master of Library Science degree, a graduate certificate in rhetoric and composition and her B.A. in both English and Spanish, all from Appalachian State University. Katie is also a certified public librarian and a certified Teacher of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL/TESL). She specializes in supporting grant writers who are working in a language other than their first, and manages the peer-review program for internal grants, external proposals and fellowships. She also facilitates the development of large institutional and team proposals. Katie holds a seat on the board of directors of the National Organization for Research Development Professionals (NORDP). 

Brittanii Rogers

Research Development Specialist, Internal Programs and Proposal Support

Brittanii joined Appalachian’s Office of Research and Innovation in 2024. She earned her Bachelor’s in Business Administration in Finance from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2009. Brittanii came to Appalachian State University after working in the Office of Research Support of the Vice President of Research, Economic Development and Knowledge Enterprise at the University of Texas at San Antonio where she has gained experience working across the institutional research and grant development landscape. Brittanii specializes in internal grant programs management, research and grant development, grant budget management, and funding opportunity facilitation. She has been a member of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP) since 2018, and has served as the committee co-chair for the Southwest Region of the organization. 

Brooke Gowl, PhD

Research Development Specialist, Proposal Development and Competitive Intelligence

Brooke joined Appalachian's Office of Research and Innovation in 2025. She has been a research developer for over 15 years, focusing on faculty success in research and scholarship by increasing their funding to do the work they love. She holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Cincinnati with a background in the field of motivated behaviors. Following graduate school, she progressed to postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan (UM) where, in addition to her research, she wrote a F32 NRSA proposal to fund her own training and a NSF proposal on behalf of the Society for Neuroscience to fund a collaborative project with UM’s NSF ADVANCE program. Both proposals were funded and led Brooke to the realization that she wanted to continue her efforts in research development to help other researchers to obtain funding for their studies. She has also held positions at Duke University, George Mason University, the University of Houston, and Ohio University. Brooke is a member of the National Organization for Research Development Professionals (NORDP).