Benton Renley joined the UConn Human Development and Family Sciences Department in Fall 2021 as a first-year doctoral student. Ben, though, is no stranger to UConn HDFS as he graduated with dual Bachelor of Arts degrees from UConn in Psychological Sciences and Human Development and Family Sciences with a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in 2020. As an undergraduate, he completed most of his courses at the UConn Stamford campus. He treasures UConn Stamford as well as his springtime walks through the cherry tree grove (the largest one in New England) across the street in Mill River Park.
As an Honors Scholar, Ben completed an Honors thesis in HDFS with Dr. Kari Adamsons. His research focused on dimensions of identity and self-identification of disability among emerging adults diagnosed with anxiety and depression disorders. During this time, he discovered an affinity for the research process as he liked having an avenue to pursue questions that lacked answers. Ben also began to work with Dr. Annamaria Csizmadia as her research assistant to examine the associations between family acceptance and psychological adjustment among biracial LGBTQ+ youth. Fortuitously, this research utilized data from the LGBTQ+ National Teen Survey conducted by Dr. Ryan Watson.
Ben now works with Dr. Watson and the other members of the SHINE (Sexuality, Health, and INtersectional Experiences) lab to study health disparities among sexual and gender diverse (SGD) individuals. Ben is particularly interested in understanding how mental health outcomes and health behaviors of SGD youth and young adults differ across combinations of overlapping identities. In the year ahead, he looks forward to working with the SHINE lab to launch another iteration of the national survey on LGBTQ+ teens. Participating in this process from the early stages will allow him to really learn what goes into executing research on this scale.
Ben is delighted and excited to continue his academic journey at UConn surrounded by the steadfast support and abundant knowledge of mentors, colleagues, and friends. When he’s not taking copious course notes, he may be found playing notes of the musical variety on his electric guitar.