DEN BASEDA - Graduate Program: Biomedical Engineering, M.S.
Den is pursuing a Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Arizona’s College of Engineering. He completed a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from North Carolina State University in Raleigh North Carolina. From 2014 to 2016 he served as an education volunteer with the Peace Corps in Namibia, where he taught math and science to 4th-7th graders in a small town of Khorixas. After returning from the Peace Corps, he joined Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte as an AmeriCorps member working as a Refugee Youth Program Assistant, to support newly resettled refugee families. Since moving to Tucson, he started hand cycling and enjoys exploring the landscape of Tucson. Driven by passion for community service and staying active, he hopes to pursue a career that creates positive impact.
AUREA CUNANAN - Graduate Program: Public Health, M.P.H
Aurea served in Peace Corps Zambia from 2017 – 2020. She served as a health volunteer in Luapula province and then as a volunteer leader for Central province. She focused her volunteer efforts on comprehensive sexual health programs and encouraging life skills for adolescent boys. Her service as volunteer leader was interrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and she helped facilitate the country-wide evacuation plan with PC Zambia staff. After returning to her home in Los Angeles, California she moved to Denver, Colorado to work as a project coordinator at a nursing workforce non-profit. There, she focused on rural healthcare and recruitment and retention of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners across 5 states. Aurea is pursuing a master’s in public health. She is hoping to focus on community-based health programs emphasizing diverse groups and historically disenfranchised peoples.
Aurea loves swimming in natural bodies of water, flower blooms, novel experiences, and justice.
GRAHAM DELLAPORT - Graduate Program: French Linguistics and Second Language Learning & Teaching, M.A.
Graham Dellaport, an experienced educator and international development practitioner, is an incoming Masters of Arts in French Linguistics and Second Language Learning & Teaching graduate student at the University of Arizona. As a Coverdell Fellow, Graham will continue to work at Tucson Magnet High School (TMHS) and provide French extracurricular opportunities to the students.He will also work with Boys to Men Tucson and hold restorative circles with the boys at the school once a week during the school year . He has been working as a French teacher at TMHS for the past three years. Prior to moving to Tucson, he left his job in Boston after over two years at the Education Development Center where he contributed his strong expertise in analytics, communications, research and evaluation, and logistics to EDC’s international development division (IDD). Prior to moving to Boston for EDC, he spent nearly five years overseas, including teaching English at a language school in Brazil, math in a public high school on Guam, math and physics in a middle school with the Peace Corps in Guinea and as a monitoring and evaluations intern promoting youth development in Rwanda.
Graham enjoys playing tennis, basketball, hiking and camping, yoga and meditation, and performing in musicals and operas.
MARLANA HINKLEY - Graduate Program: Water, Society, & Policy, M.S.; Public Administration, M.P.A.
Marlana began cultivating her passion for universal safe water access as an undergraduate student at Cornell University. While pursuing her B.S. in Environmental Engineering, Marlana conducted research on gravity-flow drinking water treatment technologies with the nonprofit AguaClara Reach. Post-graduation, Marlana served as a Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Comarca Ngӓbe-Buglé, Panama from 2015-2018. While there, she worked alongside local counterparts to improve access to safe drinking water through infrastructure improvements and capacity building efforts. Following her Peace Corps service, Marlana transitioned to working stateside as an Environmental Engineer for the Indian Health Service, serving the San Carlos Apache Tribe in Eastern Arizona. Throughout her five years serving San Carlos, she noticed public policy gaps in promoting the long-term sustainability of water resources infrastructure and came to recognize that engineering alone will not solve the world’s worsening water scarcity issues. Her goal in obtaining a dual degree M.S. in Water, Society, and Policy and Master of Public Administration is to hone the skills required to have a seat at the policymaking table and to serve as a liaison in ensuring sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation for underserved communities.
KELSEY JOHNSON - Graduate Program: Entry to the Profession of Nursing, M.S.
Kelsey is pursuing a Master of Science for Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MS-MEPN) degree at the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing. She completed a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. From 2012-2014 Kelsey served as a Health Extensionist volunteer with the Peace Corps in The Gambia, West Africa. While in The Gambia, Kelsey was able to support her local community through large and small projects including a village health group and a community wide water and sanitation project. She also collaborated with local and international organizations to co-organize a weeklong leadership camp, Camp GLOW, for students and teachers. Upon completion of her Peace Corps service, she worked at a domestic violence shelter where she was able to support women and children as they navigated the adjustments, successes and changes of life while at the shelter and after. She is drawn to working with women and children and is looking forward to continuing to serve and support individuals and the community as a nurse.
Kelsey is passionate about meeting people where they are and supporting them on their journey to achieve their goals. In her free time, she enjoys reading, eating, being out in nature and spending time with family and friends.
BEN KOWALSKI - Graduate Program: Educational Leadership, M.Ed.
Ben Kowalski served as a Peace Corps TEFL Teacher Trainer in Canar, Ecuador from 2012-14. Originally from the Philadelphia area, he relocated to Tucson after his Peace Corps service and has worked in public education since 2015. His focus has been on refugee education and he worked with newcomer students in TUSD as an English Language Development teacher before moving to the Language Acquisition Department as an Academic Coach at the district level.
He looks forward to the knowledge and skills he will gain in the Master of Educational Leadership (M.Ed.) program and has future plans to work as a school administrator to continue to support students of refugee and immigrant backgrounds. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, cycling, mountain biking and camping.
JOY KUHLO - Graduate Program: Urban Planning, M.S.; Real Estate Development, M.S.
Joy Kuhlo, originally from St. Louis, Missouri, joins the Coverdell Fellowship after several years in the affordable housing sector. She is driven by a passion for crafting realistic and sensible solutions that truly address the needs of communities. This commitment traces back to her time as a Youth Development Specialist in Zaouiat Cheikh, Morocco, from 2019-2020. There, she taught English and life skills, organized after-school programs predominantly for girls, and served on the Gender and Development committee.
Now, Joy is thrilled to move to Tucson and further explore the intersections of housing policy, community development, and neighborhood design in relation to the health and well-being of families and youth. A few of Joy's favorite things are: the moon, spending time by natural bodies of water, solving the NYT crossword, and orchids.
TAREN McGRAY - Graduate Program: Public Health, Ph.D.
Taren is joining the Coverdell Fellows as a second year Health Behavior Health Promotion PhD student, where her interests focus on the intersection between mental health and sexual/reproductive health in underprivileged global communities. Her passion was sparked during her time in Peace Corps Namibia (2016-2018), where Taren taught high school science and led school- and community-based sexual health education and outreach. While in Namibia, Taren created culturally relevant health communication materials and collaborated with Namibian stakeholders to standardize a national HIV/AIDS curriculum. Following her service, Taren worked in prevention services in Boston, organizing comprehensive health education events, managing a food pantry, and administering rapid HIV testing and counseling to minority and low-income communities. Taren earned her MPH in Global Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health and has since worked as a Program Evaluator, partnering with numerous public health organizations. At UA, Taren’s current research examines how social support can be leveraged to improve health outcomes for survivor/victims of sexual violence and intimate partner violence among disadvantaged communities, particularly LGBTQ+ individuals. Taren is a proud Maine native and St. Lawrence University alum. In her spare time, she loves hiking, camping, gardening, live music, and playing with her pup!
NOAH RIOS - Graduate Program: Public Health, M.P.H.
Noah is originally from Saint Pual Minnesota. He has served in the Eastern Caribbean from 2011-2014 where he worked on community development and youth development projects. From 2016-2017 Noah served in the Philippines as a Response Volunteer working as a Solid
Waste Management Specialist. This led Noah to pursue an MPH in the Environmental Health Program and graduate certificate in WASH at the University of Arizona. His research interests include water quality and management, health equity, and mitigation of waterborne diseases. In his free time, Noah enjoys going on motorcycle trips to national parks, trying new foods and long-distance running.
ANIKA SVENSSON - Graduate Program: Environmental Science, M.S.
Anika served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa as a Sustainable Agriculture Extension Agent from 2018 to 2020. Her primary role directed food security initiatives by supporting improved agricultural practices. Her projects included the organization of hands on workshops at the community garden, tree nursery development and field crop extension, mangrove reforestation, and cross-sectoral collaboration events centered around nutrition.
With a love for sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship, Anika had been a regular volunteer at her local community education garden and partook in restoration projects for a couple of years before joining the Peace Corps. She has continued to engage in these activities during her free time. After her direct exposure to the severe impacts of depleted arid landscapes and their contribution to soil erosion and poor vegetal growth while in Senegal, she now pursues an M.S. in Environmental Science with a focus on soil restoration. With a gained scientific understanding, she is eager to help contribute to sustainable land management and restoration practices.
In her free time, Anika enjoys cycling, hiking, listening to podcasts and reading fiction.
CHERYL VALDEZ - Graduate Program: Public Health, M.P.H.
Cheryl is a committed volunteer with a diverse background in health. After studying dentistry, she gained experience working in various health settings across different countries. This experience fueled her passion for preventing health issues and providing comprehensive patient care, believing that prevention is often better than treatment.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the crucial role of health workers, prompting Cheryl to take more action. In 2022, she joined the Peace Corps in Togo, West Africa, where she collaborated with the Ministry of Health to prevent diseases and improve community health. She noticed that dental care was often neglected in rural areas, so she trained local health workers and promoted dental health in schools.
Cheryl also partnered with NGOs to advance gender equality and respectful maternity care and led a project to enhance water infrastructure at a local clinic. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in public health with a focus on global health to deepen her expertise and further her impact on communities worldwide.
Cheryl is passionate about blending traditional medicine with Western practices for a balanced approach. In her free time, she enjoys learning new languages, attending cultural events, hiking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.
VIRGINIA WANJIRU - Graduate Program: Entry to the Profession of Nursing, M.S.
Greetings, I am Virginia. My best representation of home is in the Republic of Kenya, but, I have experienced the majority of my upbringing here in the United States and consider it my second home. At this time, I am pursuing a Masters Entry into the Profession (MS-RN) with the College of Nursing here at the University of Arizona. I am excited to partner with the community of Tucson as a Coverdell Fellow in continued association with the Peace Corps Organization. It is a privilege to be here at this time and in this place. My country of service was with the Republic of Uganda (Matoke Republic), primarily as Health Extension Specialist. My assignments included sexual reproductive health and contraception promotion, PEPFAR, and Malaria Initiatives to reduce infection between the ages of 0-5, maternal and child health antenatal care and nutrition, literacy promotion, and second as a Peer Support and Diversity Team Member. The work in Uganda gave me my 'why' for deeper development in capacity to support community health and access to care, especially with regard to rural health care.
I have a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology, a minor in women and gender studies, and chemistry. My interests have grown to include sustainable agricultural practices, food sovereignty, individual sovereignty, public health education, early head start education encompassing the first 1000 days of life, antenatal, prenatal, and postpartum care. I have worked for early head start home visiting services for the past two years in King County, WA, first as a health assistant, and then as a home visitor completing 90-minute visits with families to support parents in promoting a strong family unit as the foundation to development. Areas of focus included dual language promotion in the home for families with a multicultural background, promotion of health literacy and access to community resources in effort to promote self-sufficiency, and, promotion of cognitive, social-emotional, physical, learning approaches, language and literacy development for children under 3 years old. I would love to continue this work with Nurse Family Partnership supporting families, lifespan care, health literacy, health promotion, access to services, and informed decision-making involving health care systems.