DANIELA AGUDELO - Graduate Program: Latin American Studies, MA; Public Administration, MPA
While originally from Colombia, Daniela was raised in New York where she obtained her BSEd in Bilingual Education from the City College of New York. During her time there, Daniela worked with various nonprofits and youth organizations using soccer as a vehicle to build confidence, leadership, and connection among young people. She then began her teaching career as a dual language educator in the NYC Department of Education, where she found personal resonance in the cross-cultural and multilingual identities and lived experiences of the students she served. It was these stories that traveled with her as she served with Peace Corps Guatemala (2023-2025) as a Youth in Development Volunteer. During her service, Daniela partnered with local school leaders to bring life skills programming in leadership, identity, and social-emotional development to four local middle schools. She also established a youth leadership network, organized a leadership and soccer camp, and spearheaded a community-wide youth race in commemoration of International Youth Day, encouraging young people to see themselves as changemakers in their communities. Now pursuing a dual master’s degree in Latin American Studies and Public Administration, Daniela hopes to strengthen the connection between research and practice by developing equitable, community-centered programs that expand opportunities for youth across Latin America and Latino communities in the United States. She is particularly interested in how nonprofit organizations, public institutions, and local communities can work together to elevate youth voice and empower them to become leaders and changemakers in their communities.
In her free time, Daniela continues to indulge her love of soccer in rec leagues, and enjoys hiking, trail-running, painting, reading, and tending to her houseplants.
YECENIA ANDRADE – Graduate Program: Latin American Studies, MA; Global Health, MPH
Yecenia Andrade, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, holds a bachelor’s degree in public health and Spanish, cum laude, from Wartburg College. Her academic and professional journey reflects a deep commitment to health equity, cultural humility, and community-based service. Yecenia has contributed to a wide range of public health initiatives both in the U.S. and internationally. Her experience includes facilitating mental health referrals for underserved communities in post-Katrina New Orleans, co-leading the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program at a Denver community center, and addressing sex education stigma within a migrant community in rural Iowa. She has also served as a patient liaison at a behavioral health clinic in Phoenix and, most recently, worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia, where she collaborated with local counterparts to promote water security and sanitation, prenatal care, and health literacy. As the daughter of immigrants and a first-generation college graduate, Yecenia is passionate about amplifying community voices and designing health interventions that honor the lived experiences of those she serves. As a dual degree seeking student in Global Health and LAS, she is committed to expanding her knowledge and skills to better support marginalized populations. Outside of her academic and professional work, Yecenia enjoys roller skating and exploring new ways to stay active and build community.
LUIS ENRIQUE APARICIO-CHAIREZ – Graduate Program: Epidemiology, MPH
Luis is pursuing a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Arizona's Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences with an emphasis in Physiology from the University of Arizona in 2019. From 2024 to 2026, he served as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer in Rwanda, where he partnered with a rural health center to support maternal and child health, nutrition, vaccination, and community health education initiatives.
During his service, Luis collaborated with local health professionals to fundraise for and construct a community kitchen designed to strengthen nutrition services for vulnerable families. He also worked on improving nutrition screening and referral systems and supported community-based health education efforts.
Outside of public health, Luis enjoys hiking, camping, cycling, traveling, singing, and learning about new languages and cultures. After completing his MPH, he hopes to work in disease surveillance and public health policy design, helping translate epidemiologic evidence into culturally responsive policies that improve population health.
BERIT BLANK-PLAUTZ - Graduate Program: Epidemiology, MPH
Berit is originally from Missoula, Montana, where she developed a love for the outdoors. She earned a B.S. in Public Health with a minor in Spanish from Northern Arizona University. After graduation, Berit served as a Youth Health and Well-Being Facilitator with the Peace Corps in Panama, where she lived and worked in an Indigenous Ngöbe community. During her service, she partnered with community members to deliver HIV/AIDS education, established a running club with local kids, a community garden, and supported community-led projects to improve health outcomes. She is now pursuing a Master of Public Health at the University of Arizona, where she hopes to build on her experience working with underserved communities. In her free time, Berit enjoys running, traveling, rock climbing, and finding new outdoor adventures.
JENNIFER CARLSON - Graduate Program: Entry to the Profession of Nursing, MS
Jennifer graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Brain and Behavioral Sciences and a B.A. in Spanish in 2022. Jennifer then served as a Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia as a Community Health Facilitator from 2022-2024. She supported the management of severe and moderate malnutrition through counseling, home visits, cooking demonstrations, food distribution, and clinic referrals. She saw how many of the rural villages suffered discrepancies in care and worked with her counterpart to help villages not under their direct care.
After her Peace Corps service, Jennifer worked as a Direct Support Professional in group homes in South Central Minnesota, serving adults with both physical and intellectual disabilities. She supported developmental goals and behavioral challenges while providing medical care for individuals with varying needs, ranging from almost complete independence, needing help with medications and planning appointments, to full physical support for all of their daily living.
Jennifer is compassionate and has a passion for promoting health and improving the lives of others. She is entering the MS Entry to the Profession of Nursing Program in the fall of 2026.
HANNAH CASEY - Graduate Program: Public Administration, MPA
Hannah served as a Peace Corps Response volunteer in Poti, Georgia as a Youth and Community Engagement Specialist from 2024-2025. While there, she worked to expand youth programming at a local NGO by earning grants to renovate the space and host trainings and cultural events. She established a youth internship program that focused on youth voice, volunteerism, and community engagement. Additionally, she co-taught English classes to youth and adults. Before serving in the Peace Corps, Hannah earned her B.S. in Business Sociology from Nebraska Wesleyan University and worked in the nonprofit sector with organizations focused on youth and workforce development. These experiences led Hannah to pursue a master's degree in public administration to grow her career in public service. In her free time, she enjoys playing volleyball, reading, kayaking, and backgammon.
ROSTAM COLE - Graduate Program: Latin American Studies, MA and Public Administration, MPA
Rostam Cole, originally from New Jersey, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Georgia from April 2024 to June 2026, in English and Youth Engagement. Prior to his Peace Corps service, he received a bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from Hampshire College. During his Peace Corps service, he worked at a public school in Bolnisi Municipality for grades 1-12 that served an Azerbaijani ethnic minority community. Rostam co-taught English alongside local educators and also led youth employment workshops, literacy camps and environmental clean up days. He feels most proud of his work with parents in the community, encouraging deeper involvement in their children’s education and participation in the school system through special awareness day events. Rostam also volunteered for the Peace Corps Georgia Communications Committee, serving as video creator and editor. At the University of Arizona, Rostam is excited for the opportunity to begin his post-grad education in Latin American studies and Public Administration.
Rostam particularly enjoys learning languages, adding more to his existing knowledge of Georgian, Azerbaijani, and Farsi. He is passionate about history, fishing, soccer, somehow completely filling out his National Park Stamp Passport, and eating foods that are too spicy for him.
JAMES DUNLOP - Graduate Program: Health Services Administration, MPH
James served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco ('23–'25) in Youth Development. Working in underserved communities, he designed and implemented educational programs for over 100 students, leading English instruction across all proficiency levels and integrating technology-based learning tools to boost engagement and retention. Before his service, he Played Division 1 basketball at Hampton University and Arizona Western College. James worked as a Human Resources assistant at the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar, where he digitized and maintained hundreds of employee records and coordinated communication between local staff and U.S. personnel. James earned his B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Arizona with a minor in Africana Studies focused on Health & Development and speaks advanced Moroccan Arabic (Darija). His academic and professional path reflects a commitment to health equity and community-based service.
James is excited to serve the local Tucson community, focusing on health equity and public health administration, with an eye toward a future administrative role in the field. He is completing his MPH and is drawn to work that advances health and gender equity through collaborative, grassroots initiatives. Outside of his academic and professional work, he enjoys basketball as a two-time ACCAC College Player of the Month. Along with staying active and exploring the outdoors of the Southwest, he also works part-time as a native plant surveyor.
OLIVER FAHRNER – Graduate Program: Natural Resources & the Environment; Emphasis in Wildlife Conservation & Management, MS
Oliver is pursuing a master’s degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the School of Natural Resources and the Environment. He developed his passion for ecology and conservation while earning a B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara. After graduating, Oliver spent two years working in native habitat restoration at UCSB’s Cheadle Center, helping to create and monitor habitat for rare, threatened, and endangered species. He served in the Peace Corps as a Youth Development Volunteer in the Dominican Republic from 2022-2024. He taught high school science, physical education, and English classes and organized a local soccer team. Throughout his Peace Corps service, Oliver engaged youth in environmental education, led outdoor ecology excursions, and helped organize community clean-up projects. A long-time employee of the Morgan Autism Center in his hometown of San Jose, California, Oliver spent the 2024-2025 school year working as an Instructional Aide with neurodiverse children and adults. He is excited to return to the field of conservation biology and to connect with the Coverdell and graduate communities at the University of Arizona. In his free time, Oliver enjoys the outdoors, most commonly walking, hiking, skiing, climbing, and camping. He also enjoys reading and attending sporting events.
RILEIGH FAHRNER - Graduate Program: Special Education (Mild to Moderate), MA
Rileigh served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic in the Education sector as a Spanish Literacy Promoter from 2022-2024. She worked with teachers to integrate interactive teaching practices into the classroom, with students to improve their reading skills, and with families to strengthen their involvement in education. Her work involved modeling and co-teaching literacy strategies, improving classroom management skills, developing teaching materials, tutoring students, involving families in literacy, and promoting a culture of reading. She also created a girl’s club to work with young girls to promote a culture of healthy relationships, confidence, and self-esteem. Rileigh graduated with her B.S. in Psychological and Brain Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2020. She worked in behavioral health and gained meaningful experience and a professional certificate in ABA therapy. After serving in the Peace Corps, she continued to work in the school setting, teaching in a school for children and adults with autism. Her passion for education and working with the neurodiverse community led her to pursue a master’s degree in special education (mild to moderate). She uses her interests (art, nature, yoga) as tools to educate children and their families. She is dedicated to providing resources to marginalized communities and to promoting equality for marginalized people.
TYLER FRANK – Graduate Program: Teaching, Learning & Sociocultural Studies, PhD
Tyler is an educator, specialist in adult learning and literacy and a history nerd. He served in Peace Corps Peru 2012-14 as a youth development volunteer working in a small mountain town in the Peruvian Sierra at an elevation of nearly two miles. His work there focused on adolescent peer health promotion, youth sports, and alternative education. In the US, Tyler works in adult basic education, serving adults returning to school to earn a high school equivalency. Having previously completed an MA, Tyler is returning to the Teaching, Learning, and Sociocultural Studies Department in the College of Education at the University of Arizona to pursue a PhD. He is interested in continuing his focus on adult learning and literacy, particularly in digital literacies.
Outside of school, Tyler enjoys lots of other nerdy endeavors such as reading history books, studying languages, and writing. An avid cyclist he looks forward to getting out for rides in the Arizona sun again while avoiding potholes and goat’s heads.
MICHAEL GEIGER - Graduate Program: Landscape Architecture, MLA
Michael is originally from Upstate New York but has been a proud Arizona resident since 2019. Working as an Academic Advisor for Arts programs at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and Pima Community College here in Tucson, he is excited to switch teams and be a student again. He earned a B.S. in Community Health, a major chosen specifically to join the Peace Corps, and focused his capstone project on Malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. He served as a Health Extension volunteer in Tanzania, East Africa from 2017-2019 determined to tackle issues of HIV, Malaria, and Malnutrition. Michael’s host community was in the semi-arid Dodoma Region, which experiences average rainfall of 0mm from June-September. This harsh climate quickly shifted his project focus to the unfamiliar territory of water security, arid permaculture and multi-purpose tree nurseries. He trained with local partners and built rainwater catchment tanks, created biointensive gardens and installed drip irrigation systems. He felt great excitement watching plants grow from seeds and especially enjoyed the community garden design phases of his projects.
In his downtime during service, Michael rediscovered the imaginative world of drawing and hasn’t stopped since. He also picked up his first camera there, and began searching for endemic animals to photograph while exploring Tanzania’s Eastern Arc Mountains, a Sky Island chain very similar to ours in southeastern AZ. His love of art and design, deep appreciation of nature, and habit of procrastinating important tasks with yard work combined to make him a perfect fit for the Master of Landscape Architecture program. He is eager to take these passions and practices to new heights in another dry climate slice of the world. His work will make a positive impact on the health of people, plants, animals, ecosystems and the urban climate of Tucson and beyond.
YAMILKAL HERNANDEZ SANCHEZ - Graduate Program: Urban Planning, MS
From Yabucoa, Puerto Rico and later growing up in Benin, Chile, Hawaiʻi, Japan, and North Carolina gave Yamilkal Hernández Sánchez the opportunity to experience many different communities and ways of life. Seeing how each place approached transportation, public spaces, and community life sparked his interest in understanding how thoughtful planning can improve people's everyday lives. Pursuing a Master of Science in Urban Planning at the University of Arizona with a focus on environmental and transportation planning. Yamilkal earned his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, where he served as Student Body Vice President, chaired the student senate, and represented the university at the Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference, earning multiple awards for policy research and diplomacy. He later served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Dominican Republic as a Spanish Literacy Promoter, working alongside teachers to strengthen early literacy while also partnering with local transit operators and school leaders to improve transportation access for surrounding communities.
During his Peace Corps service, Yamilkal also served as an administrative lead for the Peer Support Network, helping coordinate volunteer wellness initiatives, facilitating mindfulness workshops, and supporting volunteers across the country. These experiences strengthened his belief that good leadership begins by listening to communities and working alongside them to achieve the goals they define for themselves. After graduate school, Yamilkal hopes to build a career in international development focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, working at the intersection of community engagement, transportation, environmental planning, and climate resilience. Outside of school, he enjoys tending his garden, exploring Tucson by bicycle, and is almost always in the middle of a good book.
JACOB HOOVER - Graduate Program: Information Science, MS
Jacob Hoover is originally from Atlanta, Georgia. He studied management information studies from the University of Georgia and after graduating with his bachelor’s degree, he went on to volunteer with the Peace Corps. Jacob served in Peru from 2024 – 2026 in the Community Economic Development sector, teaching financial education to high schoolers, working with small businesses to develop new products and review their cost structures, and promoted women economic empowerment through small clubs and workshops. One of his favorite projects that he had the pleasure of working on was hosting a series of training for the teachers at the local high school in the use of the 3D printers and laser cutters in the newly built school. Jacob also had the pleasure of working with an indigenous, family-run ceramics company where they worked to hold workshops for community members to learn the ancient tradition of ceramic pot-making and preserve the craft for future generations. Jacob is now going to the University of Arizona to study his master’s in information science with a subplan of machine learning. Jacob is passionate about data equity and ensuring disenfranchised communities have ownership and the rights over their digital footprint. A few of his hobbies include all things technology, video games, drawing, painting, spirituality, and cooking.
NICHOLAS IHLEY - Graduate Program: Landscape Architecture, MLA
Nick, Nicholas, and Nico is a multilingual, multi-disciplined: builder, artist, creative and is excited to be continuing his professional development with CAPLA. Rooted with an undergraduate education in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture from UVM, Nick served as an Environment Volunteer in Madagascar 2012-2014, developing a school garden and lunch program. In the years since, Nick has worked with hands-on education non-profits, started his own holistic-focused Design / Build company and serves as a project manager and guide for natural building projects. Nick relocated to the southwest in 2023 and is excited to explore the intersection of regenerative landscape design, natural building and education. Along with his dog Milo, Nick is looking forward to building community in Tucson and exploring all the trails and flavors this desert oasis provides.
CAITLIN KANCHANDA - Graduate Program: Entry into the Profession of Nursing, MS
Caitlin is a Californian native pursuing her Master of Science - Entry to the Profession of Nursing. A graduate of UC San Diego, she served as an education Peace Corps volunteer in rural Mozambique and later spent several years working in education alongside predominantly immigrant communities. During her time in the Peace Corps, Caitlin taught secondary education technology, and had plans to begin multiple community-building projects at her site including a women and girls empowerment group, a community library, and an adult computer literacy course designed to equip community members with essential technology skills and expand employment opportunities. Although her service was abruptly cut short by the global pandemic, the experience reinforced her commitment to community service. She continues to combine her love for cross-cultural connections, travel, and lifelong learning towards a career in nursing with the goal of serving her community through compassion and equitable healthcare.
ABIGAIL LENZ – Graduate Program: Global Health, MPH
Abigail is pursuing a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree at the University of Arizona’s Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Integrative Physiology from University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder, Colorado. Abigail served with the Peace Corps as an Early Childhood Literacy Development volunteer in Uganda, East Africa, from 2022-2024. While there, she worked at a rural primary school and collaborated with local counterparts to improve the literacy skills of both the students and teachers. She wrote a grant to construct a new library building after observing the limited access to books and the great enthusiasm of the learners who wanted to read. As a secondary project, she spearheaded a bio-fortified school garden, to bring more nutritious crops to the community and educate the students on a healthy diet. This led Abigail to pursue an MPH in Global Health. She hopes to gain knowledge and skills required to contribute to areas such as malnutrition, food security, and maternal and child health. In her free time, Abigail enjoys hiking mountains, reading, biking, and backpacking.
TORI MARKLE – Graduate Program: Landscape Architecture, MLA
Tori is originally from a rural farming town in southwest Michigan whose lakes, forests, and dunes instilled in her a deep appreciation for the natural world. She went on to earn her B.S. in Earth and Environmental Sciences and Russian at the University of Michigan where she spent time volunteering with local parks in restoration projects removing invasive shrubs, collecting native seeds, and establishing native plant nurseries. After graduation, she served in Peace Corps Senegal (‘23 – ‘25) as a Forestry Extension Agent and learned how to collaborate with community leaders and schools to develop projects aimed at natural resource management, tree propagation, and environmental education. Her work involved establishing a school garden and an environmental club, working with farmers to incorporate agroforestry practices into their fields, and creating nurseries to increase the community’s access to multi-purpose trees. There, she developed a passion for gardening and garden design, particularly in the realm of water conservation and agroforestry, which ultimately led to her pursuit of a degree in Landscape Architecture. She is excited to reach a professional standard in landscape design and apply those skills to underserved communities, increasing the capacity of landscapes to support communities in the face of environmental and climate change.
In her free time, Tori is known to sing and play piano and enjoys biking, hiking, gardening, and generally engaging with the outdoors. She is looking forward to exploring the Sky Islands region and all it has to offer!
CALEB MILFORD - Graduate Program: Natural Resources & Environment; Emphasis in Wildlife Conservation & Management, MS
Caleb is the Strategic recruiter for Peace Corps on campus and is studying to get his graduate degree in Wildlife Conservation. He served in Peace Corps Nicaragua from 2016 to 2018 as an environmental education volunteer teaching elementary school science classes, building school gardens/ tree nurseries, and developing environmental community programs. Since then he has spent time continuing his work in environmental education in a handful of different countries, always looking to educate the next generation of professionals. Starting in 2021, Caleb got involved with Casa Alitas, a local shelter here in Tucson that receives Migrants seeking Asylum. As an operations manager he helped to grow the organization in size and scope in order to receive more than a thousand immigrants a day. While this work was incredibly rewarding and inspired by his time in Nicaragua, he hopes to get back to his scientific roots and continue the much needed conservation work we need around the world.
In his free time Caleb enjoys soccer, pickle ball, tennis, volleyball, exploring national parks, hiking, biking or really just anything that gets him outdoors.
Angelyka Chaviano Montes - Graduate Program: TEACH Arizona, Education, MA
Angelyka Montes completed her Peace Corps service in 2026 in the Dominican Republic. There she served as a Spanish Literacy Promoter; she taught K-12 students how to read and write in Spanish. She also hosted adult English classes where community members could receive free English education. Angelyka also assisted teachers and school staff in creating specialized plans for students with mental disabilities in order for those students to receive the accommodations they deserve.
Before her service, Angelyka received her Bachelor’s of Arts, English, at Arizona State University. During her undergraduate years she assisted international university students in their reading and writing in English and in their acclimation to the university. Angelyka’s experience working with a variety of students from several different age groups and backgrounds has aligned her with the Tucson community where she hopes to teach English through the TEACH Arizona program, and to teach adults English through Literacy Connects. Angelyka is very passionate about language acquisition, travel, community outreach, and reading.
WINSTON POSEGATE – Graduate Program: Teaching English as Second Language, MA
R. Winston Posegate is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served as an English as a Foreign Language instructor/co-teacher in Armenia (2019–2020) and North Macedonia (2022–2024). He has over 30 years of experience teaching and tutoring English to speakers of other languages, including 20 years of self-employment – mostly while living on the island of Saipan in the Northern Marianas – and his current role as an ESL and digital literacy instructor in the Adult Education and Literacy program at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. He is passionate about learner-centered instruction, intercultural understanding, and expanding opportunities for immigrants and refugees. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and knowledgeable in several other languages, Winston has studied or worked in six U.S. states and territories as well as eight other countries. He enjoys music, photography, geography, economics, exercise, and cooking, and he brings a global perspective and deep cultural and linguistic curiosity to his work as an educator.
Winston has both a B.A. and a post-baccalaureate certificate from Hawaii Pacific University, and he will begin his M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Arizona in Fall 2025.
GABRIELLE RANGER - Graduate Program: Epidemiology, MPH
Gabrielle Ranger is from Phoenix, Arizona, and is excited to return to her home state to pursue a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the UA. She earned her B.S in Biological Sciences from Arizona State University, and has since built a multidisciplinary background across clinical research, health promotion, and community-based education. In her most recent role, she worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the University of Utah, supporting research initiatives aimed at improving access to physical therapy via telehealth for rural populations.
Gabrielle is passionate about advancing health equity and expanding access to care through community-engaged and culturally responsive approaches. She previously led bilingual nutrition and wellness interventions in Colorado elementary schools and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Colombia 2022-2023, where she co-developed English and health literacy programming in both classroom and community settings. Across her work, she is particularly interested in addressing health disparities and strengthening equitable care delivery systems. Outside of her professional pursuits, Gabrielle enjoys crocheting, hiking, skiing, and cooking with friends.
MARJORIE ROBINSON - Graduate Program: Water, Society, & Policy, MS
After earning her B.S. in Environmental Systems Engineering and minor in German at Penn State University in 2018, Marjorie worked in the private environmental consulting industry in southeast Pennsylvania for four years. She worked on projects ranging from erosion and sediment control design, environmental permitting, and groundwater and soil remediation projects in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. From 2024 to 2026, Marjorie served in Peace Corps Guatemala supporting local agronomists within the Ministry of Agriculture with their rural extension work in the department of Totonicapán. At her site, she worked closely with indigenous entrepreneurial women’s groups to help cultivate their knowledge of useful agricultural, nutritional, and health practices. She also collaborated with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources to support local education on varying topics including wastewater treatment and forest fire management.
Both in her Peace Corps service and work in the environmental industry, Marjorie witnessed the costly effects of poor water resource management (usually affecting the most vulnerable communities). She is pursuing a master’s degree in the Water, Society, and Policy program to deepen her understanding of how current water policy impacts marginalized communities and hopes to be a part of creating equitable and lasting change to water resource access for these communities. Outside of work, Marjorie’s favorite things to do are tennis, dancing (truly in any form), practicing her worsening German, and reading.
LYNDSEY SHAFIEI – Graduate Program: Architecture, M.Arch
Lyndsey Shafiei calls both Chapel Hill and Asheville, North Carolina home. After earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from NC State University, she joined the Peace Corps in Namibia in 2018, where she served as a STEM and health educator for grades 4-7. Alongside teaching, she collaborated with local partners to establish a school garden and a student-led agriculture club, supported the development of a woman-owned agriculture business, and directed a regional youth HIV educational conference. Inspired by her work in HIV prevention and community health, Lyndsey returned to the United States in 2020 and joined Research Triangle Institute International as a Public Health Analyst and Clinical Trial Study Manager. Lyndsey’s Peace Corps experience encouraged her to take another leap of faith and relocate across the country to pursue a Master of Architecture. Lyndsey aims to become a designer who utilizes architecture as a tool for community empowerment and environmental stewardship.
Outside of her academic work, Lyndsey enjoys playing the harp, dancing, hiking, camping, reading, cooking, studying botany, and participating in mutual aid. As an herbalist, she spends much of her time outdoors, drawing inspiration from natural systems that inform both her personal life and design philosophy.
HARRIET SIEGRIST - Graduate Program: Water, Society, & Policy, MS
Harriet served in the Peace Corps as a Rural Agriculture Development Facilitator Volunteer in Guatemala from 2024-2026. Working alongside the Ministry of Agriculture, she focused her time on increasing food security among rural households through supporting a variety of Rural Development Learning Groups, and her municipality’s Club de DA, a program for children with acute malnutrition. Through these groups, she co-facilitiated monthly cooking demonstrations and alimentation distribution, established over 50 family gardens and four small-scale poultry farms, as well as regularly taught lessons on nutrition, best agricultural practices, and fundamentals of compost. When she wasn’t working within her main service project, she could be found teaching English at a local school, supporting the municipal women’s office, maintaining school gardens, spending time with her host family, and hiking across the country.
Harriet is a proud Iowan who grew up in Southwest Iowa and graduated with her B.A. in Public Relations, Spanish and International Studies from Loras College in the spring of 2021. Upon graduation, she followed her passions of sports and conservation and became a collegiate swim coach, as well as worked within the National Park System in both Utah and Alaska before beginning her Peace Corps service in the spring of 2024. During her time as a volunteer, she realized that her passion for water security and sustainability was calling her to pursue a master’s degree in water, society & policy, with hopes to advocate for and protect the lands, people and cultures that shape our communities. Outside of school, she is an avid swimmer and coaches at a local club. She enjoys competing in open water events, as well as rock climbing, hiking and exploring local coffee shops and small businesses.
Kayla White - Graduate Program: Entry to the Profession of Nursing, MS
After attaining a Bachelor of Science degree from Queen’s University with a major in Life Sciences and a minor in Health Studies, Kayla served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana from 2023-2025. As a Clinic and Health Team Volunteer working with the District Health Management Team, she worked alongside counterparts to support their efforts in HIV prevention, community health education, and promoting community health services. She worked in a variety of settings, including an elementary school, where she started Girl’s Club to provide a fun and safe environment for young girls to build confidence with discussing health topics and standing up to peer pressure. Girl’s Club provided her with an opportunity to work alongside teachers to incorporate different teaching methods in the classroom with the goal of moving away from rote memorization. Another highlight of her service was successfully securing grant funding to host a week-long summer camp for middle school students. The camp followed the Grassroots Soccer curriculum, which mobilizes youth through activity-based lessons focused on critical thinking skills and goal setting to help kids achieve their full potential.
Throughout her service, her primary focus was working with counterparts to engage with community members in meaningful conversations about key community issues, including HIV testing, gender based violence, and noncommunicable diseases. Her passion for bringing health services to the community has led her to choose a career in the field of nursing. Outside of her passion for healthcare, Kayla enjoys long-distance trail running, reading, experimenting with new soup recipes, and spending time with friends and family.