Current Community Students
Hometown: Wichita, KS
Education: B.A. in Psychology from the University of Kansas
Advisor: Dr. V. Gil-Rivas
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Racial and gendered health disparities, integrated healthcare settings, place-based health initiatives
Hobbies: Curating playlists, drawing portraits, playing basketball
Hometown: Sugar Land, TX
Education: B.A. in Psychology and Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University
Advisor: Dr. Virginia Gil-Rivas and Dr. Victoria Scott
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Disordered Eating, maternal health, body image, resilience, racial and ethnic health disparities
Hobbies: painting, reading mystery novels, plants
Hometown: Staunton, VA
Education: BA, Philosophy & Religion, James Madison Univ.; M.Ed., Community Development & Action, Vanderbilt Univ.; Geographic Information Science & Technology, Graduate Certificate (in progress at UNCC)
Advisor: Dr. Andrew Gadaire
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Sense of community (SOC), social cohesion, loneliness/isolation, and related constructs (eg, individualism, relational and political solidarity, pluralism), and implications for political and economic democracy. Specifically interested in, understanding and developing practices, interventions, and settings that decrease loneliness, isolation, and anomie, and support social cohesion, SOC, and both political and economic democracy in diverse societies. Through a geographic lens, interested in neighborhood-based interventions and settings, utilizing GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping tools and other participatory methods (both qualitative and quantitative). Also interested in neighborhoods as sites for democratic practices, including ones that build SOC and economic democracy.
Related interests involve contributing to research and practice around participatory processes for political and economic democracy, such as models for deliberative democracy, neighborhood cooperatives, and worker ownership and governance in businesses (e.g., in worker-owned cooperatives, unions, or traditional businesses), etc.
Find out more:
Hobbies: Woodworking; writing & reading poetry for open mics, etc.; Irish history & culture, including playing the guitar & bodhrán, or Irish drum, when i can; hanging around with my dog, Inis; traveling to the less-common places; watching political dramas (h/t Borgen, Madam Secretary, & Rebellion)
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Education: B.S. in Psychology from UNC Chapel Hill; M.S. in Health Psychology from North Carolina A&T State University
Advisor: Dr. Virginia Gil-Rivas
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Disordered eating and body image, LGBTQ+ health, social and cultural influences on well-being, community-based health promotion and prevention, chronic illness
Hobbies: Outside of school, you can find me knitting or crocheting, cuddling with my cats, trying a new recipe, or watching movies and reality TV!
Hometown: Richmond, VA
Education:
- B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University
- M.A. in Psychological Sciences from James Madison University
Advisor: Dr. Erika Montanaro
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Reducing sexual health disparities, health risk behavior intervention, community based participatory research
Hobbies: Painting, cooking, yoga, exploring nature, dog mom activities, binge-watching crime docs, game nights
Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA
Education: B.S. in Biology, minor in Psychology from Elon University
Advisor: Dr. Victoria Scott
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Mitigating racial health disparities through top-down policy change and bottom-up community empowerment; promoting health equity through integrated care, asset-based community development, and community-based participatory research; evidence-based interventions rooted in critical race public health praxis
Hobbies: Cycling, running, anything outdoors, travel, cooking/consuming delicious food
Hometown: Columbus, Ohio
Education:
- B.A. in Psychology from East Carolina University
- B.S. in Rehabilitation Services from East Carolina University
- M.A. in General Psychology from North Carolina Central University
Advisor: Dr. Jeanette Bennett
Program Track: Community
Research Interests: Physical and mental health disparities, root causes of health inequities, community-based participatory research and evaluation, place-based initiatives, and the connection between stress, coping mechanisms, and racism
Hobbies: Nexflix, volunteering, working out, cooking and trying new restaurants (I love to eat!)