Isabelle Aragon-Menzel
Isabelle Aragon-Menzel is a first-year PhD student specializing in Health, Wellbeing, and Prevention. Prior to coming to UConn, she earned her Master of Public Health (MPH) at the Colorado School of Public Health on the CU Anshutz Medical Campus, specializing in Population Mental Health and Wellbeing; and earned her BA at Colorado College, majoring in Sociology and double minoring in Education and English. During her MPH experience, Isabelle worked with her advisor on a mixed-methods needs-assessment on early adolescent mental health status in Darjeeling, India. The findings from the project were used to inform a community-based prevention program centering around community gardens. Additionally, Isabelle facilitated a pilot program for STEM-based learning with community partners in Denver through her work at the Hub for Justice-Centered Youth Engagement. Through this work, Isabelle has developed a passion for research surrounding adolescents’ mental health, community-based participatory research, and qualitative methodology.
At UConn, Isabelle is working with Dr. Beth Russell and the Center for Applied Research in Human Development (CARHD). As a doctoral student, she hopes to expand her research on adolescent mental health and applied research, focusing on specific adolescent mental health outcomes such as suicidality, substance use, non-suicidal self-injury, stress, and coping. She is currently a research assistant for two projects in Dr. Russell’s lab: the Connecticut School-Based Diversion Initiative and 21st Century. Over the course of her doctoral experience, she hopes to learn with and from her peers, gain experience in classroom-teaching, and develop her identity as a scholar, researcher, and lifelong learner. Her long-term goals are to conduct meaningful research and earn the opportunity to be a professor one day. Anchoring these goals are her core values of love, humanity, and equity for all.
Isabelle is a proud Minnesotan (brr!) but has called Colorado a second home for the past several years. In her free time, you can always find her working on a puzzle and watching a comfort TV show (for cold weather) or enjoying a run/walk/hike in the sun while listening to some good music (for warm weather). For all weather, spending time with loved ones – old and new – remains her favorite pastime!
Tochukwu Okolie
Tochukwu (TC) is a first year Ph.D. student in Human Development and Family Sciences, specializing in Adulthood, Aging, and Gerontology. His academic advisor is Dr. Candi Nwakasi. TC earned his Master’s degree in gerontology from Miami University in Ohio and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in social work from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. TC’s academic journey reflects a commitment to aging, and family caregiving, particularly in underserved communities such as in rural places where resources for aging adults are limited.
Primarily, TC’s interest in gerontology stems from his relationship with his grandma. As a young child who spent most of his summer holidays with his maternal grandma in the village, he became fascinated by his grandma’s resilience even though she was/and is still living with a chronic disease. With time, TC became concerned about his grandma’s wellbeing given the lack of formal infrastructure to support her aging experience, and he quickly realized that his grandma was not alone. In fact, her experience was common among older adults in Nigeria, especially in rural settings. Therefore, TC became invested in understanding aging issues in Nigeria and beyond. Secondarily, TC owes his commitment to gerontology as an academic field to his professors from his undergraduate education, and mentors who have contributed to his career growth in the field of gerontology.
TC loves to be actively involved in community service whenever he can. He served as Community Integration Officer (CIO) for the Nigerian Students’ Association at Miami University. He is also a member of Dibịa Akwụkwọ: Social Solutions Research Group (SSRG), a group of young emerging scholars who engage in supervised research. TC loves football (soccer) and is an ardent “Red Devil” (Manchester United fan).