Outstanding Graduating Student Profile Stories, Spring 2025
We are incredibly proud of all of our graduates! We know they go on to build a healthier, happier, more equitable world. With these graduating student profile stories, we extend special recognition to a few of our Spring 2025 graduates to highlight what they have accomplished and where they are going.
While we want to recognize all of our amazing graduates, we give special recognition to a few. Please explore our graduating student profile stories below. Many of these students won awards such as the Public Health Service Award or the Student Life Award. We thank them for all they did as students for our college and our communities!
Undergraduate Students
Michaela Gonzales
BS Public Health, Health Systems Theory & Practice
Michaela Gonzales graduated Summa Cum Laude with her BS in Public Health, with a concentration in Health Systems Theory & Practice, and a minor in Classics. Even with all the effort required for her outstanding academic achievements, Michaela still found time to volunteer for many public health service roles while she was a student. She won the Spring 2025 Public Health Service Award.
Cailee Harris
BS Public Health, Health Systems Theory & Practice
Cailee Harris graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health, with an emphasis in Health Systems Theory & Practice. A mother and full-time student, Cailee earned her BS degree online. She interned at the Madera County Public Health Department in California and contributed to the Workforce Development program by creating a tool to assess staff knowledge of Public Health Core Competencies.
Brooke McKalip
BS Public Health, Environmental & Occupational Health
Brooke McKalip graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health with an emphasis in Environmental and Occupational Health, with an additional minor in Spanish and a thematic minor designed to complement her dedication to public health. In addition to her academic accomplishments, Brooke gave her time and talent to the college, the university, and the community in many ways to benefit public health!
Graduate Students
Daniel Blevins
MPH, Applied Epidemiology
Daniel Blevins graduated with a Master of Public Health in Applied Epidemiology earned through the online program. While a student in the college, Daniel served underrepresented communities as a clinical researcher at an inner-city hospital and designed a project to enhance clinical research competencies among healthcare professionals. Building on his experience as a clinical research coordinator in pediatric oncology, he now oversees clinical research operations across four hospitals in Southern California!
William Carson
PhD, Health Behavior Health Promotion
William Oyenque Carson, a member of Ohkay Owingeh, graduated with his PhD in Health Behavior Health Promotion. During his time in the college, William expanded participation in the IndigiWellbeing event series that brings Native creators from around the country to the UA campus for engagement events. He also helped revive the annual PowWow event at the university and focused his doctoral work on health and wellness for Indigenous students.
Lady Elli
MPH, Global Health
Lady Dorothy Avila Elli earned her Masters of Public Health in Global Health. She began her journey with the College of Public Health as an undergraduate, and graduated with her BS in Public Health in 2023. During her time as an MPH student Lady has shown outstanding leadership qualities in the college as Co-Chair for the Global Health Alliance group and Co-Chair for the Student Affairs Committee. At the university level, she served on the Graduate Professional Student Council to address the needs of graduate students. In addition, she pursued impactful research projects in Indonesia and the Philippines!
Alisa Lyesina
MPH, Health Behavior Health Promotion
Alisa Lyesina earned her MPH degree with a perfect 4.0 GPA while balancing her academic achievements with other pursuits. During her internship with the Kyah Rayne Foundation, Alisa created a national expansion roadmap for food allergy and anaphylaxis education. At the same time, she competed as a top cross-country runner for the University of Arizona’s Division 1 track and field team!