Tracy Walters is a PhD candidate who studies sexuality development, including parental messages about sex and adolescents’ and young adults’ sexual attitudes, motives for sex, sexual behavior, and sex-related outcomes and experiences. She primarily conducts quantitative and mixed-methods research related to these interests with her doctoral advisor, Dr. Eva Lefkowitz. Tracy has also collaborated on projects with Drs. Sara Vasilenko and Christina Ross, and members of Dr. Lefkowitz’s DASH lab on topics related to college students’ sex-related consequences, female adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health, and LGBTQ+ college students’ romantic relationships and well-being.
Tracy successfully defended her dissertation in May on correlates of young adults’ sexual behavior and consequences. She wrote three papers using two different young adult samples and a range of methodologies. The findings from these papers advance our knowledge of caregivers’ sex-related messages and young adults’ sex-related consequences and further our understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation differences in these messages and consequences. In particular, the findings highlight the need for, and inform the development of, sexual health resources and interventions for caregivers and youth.
In addition to research, Tracy loves to teach and work with undergraduate students. While at UConn, she had the opportunity to teach Adolescent Development and Diversity Issues in HDFS, as well as advise students in the HDFS Student Services Center. She was recognized for her teaching with the 2021 Outstanding Instructor in Human Development and Family Sciences Award and the 2022 University Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. In the fall, Tracy will continue to pursue her love of teaching as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Integrated Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County.
When she’s not busy with work, Tracy enjoys reading books, traveling, baking, volunteering with an animal rescue (she fostered seven dogs in the last 1.5 years), and spending time with her family, friends, and dog.