Graduate Student Spotlights - July 2024
Veronica Hanna-Walker
Veronica Hanna-Walker will complete her Ph.D. in Summer 2024. She enrolled in the HDFS program in 2020 to work with Dr. Eva Lefkowitz on research about sexual identity development and the health and health-related outcomes of sexual and gender diverse (SGD) youth and young adults. During graduate school, Veronica worked on several research projects, including a longitudinal project examining SGD college students’ health and well-being during academic breaks with Dr. Lefkowitz.
Veronica successfully defended her dissertation in May. In her dissertation, she used qualitative and quantitative methods to understand the role of religion in SGD youth’s and young adults’ lives. Findings included a better understanding of SGD youth’s experiences of religious parents’ reactions to their diverse sexual orientations and gender identities along with narratives from SGD young adults’ experiences in religions that are disaffirming of sexual and gender diversity.
Veronica recently accepted a position as a research associate at UConn’s School of Social Work. She intends to continue pursuing applied research. Outside of work, Veronica can be found hiking, reading, walking, or working out.
See Previous Grad Student Spotlights
2023
January- Madison Mas
February- Peter McCauley
March- Suge Zhang
April- Yuanyuan Zhang
May- Jessie Gentilella
June- Eleanor Fisk and Eminet Gurganus
July- Alyssa Clark and Tracy Walters
August- Sarah McGee and Lindsay Westberg
September- Ciara Collins and Kaleigh Ligus
October- Nikole Babcock and Naomi Inman
November- Anne Berset and Delaina Carlson
December- Tianmei Zhu
2022
January- Nathaniel Stekler
February- Benton Renley
March- Lindsay Westberg
April- Samantha Lawrence
May- Qianxia Jiang
June- Mackenzie Wink
July- Hilal Kuscul
August- Yuan Zhang
September- Madeline Jones
October- Alexander Del Farno
November- Sabrina Uva
December- Fanwen Zhang
2021
February- Ellen Pudney
March- Ciara Collins
April- Morica Hutchison
May- Anne Thompson Heller
October- Sydney Klein
November- Sarah Wen Warakys
December- Darlis Juvino