Johana Reyes 鈥�11 earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal in Lima, Peru, and wanted to continue her education.
She wanted to specialize in community social psychology, but no university in Peru offered a graduate degree in the subject.
Inspired by an uncle who had been a Fulbright Scholar, she also wanted the experience of studying abroad.
鈥淟earning not just what you learn in your classes, but learning about a whole new culture, it鈥檚 a life-changing experience,鈥� she says.
As an undergraduate, Reyes had done a practicum at , a nonprofit in Lima that advocates for and assists women domestic workers and combats child labor. She continued working there after graduation while applying, with assistance from the U.S. embassy, to top master鈥檚 programs in the U.S.
Reyes was accepted at UMass Lowell in 2009 and granted an Education USA Scholarship to come here. The courses, mentors, and teaching and research experiences she gained boosted her confidence and equipped her to take on even greater responsibilities when she returned to Peru and her job, she says.
But the best part about the program was the community in the community social psychology program, she says.
鈥淭he people in my class and the previous class were very encouraging and supportive of each other. We鈥檙e still friends,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was such a healthy, encouraging and nurturing environment, to the point where you feel like you鈥檙e unstoppable.鈥�
In fact, Reyes felt so unstoppable that in 2016, she and her husband, entomologist Geoffrey Gallice, co-founded a nonprofit, . Their organization aims to preserve biodiversity in nonprotected areas of the rainforest in southeastern Peru through research, reforestation and education, in partnership with local communities that depend on the rainforest for their livelihood.
鈥淭hat feeling of being unstoppable contributed to my setting higher and higher goals for my professional life,鈥� Reyes says. 鈥淓ven when you struggle, it鈥檚 good to have that feeling that you have people who care about you and people to go to.鈥�
Some of those key people were two professors for whom she served as both teaching and research assistants. She worked with Assoc. Prof. Jana Sladkova on a study of undocumented immigrants and with Prof. Ivy Ho on sleep deprivation research.聽
She volunteered on a solar panel study in Peru led by Mechanical Engineering Prof. Emeritus John Duffy, and then got a job as a research assistant at the Center for Women and Work. There, she worked with Prof. Meg Bond and other faculty on workforce diversity in community health centers in Massachusetts.聽
Bond also mentored and advised Reyes on her master鈥檚 thesis research into the relationship between community involvement and well-being among residents of a subsidized housing complex in Lowell where people spoke English, Spanish and Khmer.
鈥淚 learned so much from her,鈥� Reyes says of Bond. 鈥淢eg taught me the most important concept: Whatever work you do, you need to base your action on research, and you need to create programs based on research.
鈥淢eg used to say that you need to look at the different dimensions of a particular topic when you鈥檙e trying to analyze something. Especially when you鈥檙e younger, you鈥檙e eager to go directly into action, and sometimes you just need to step back and reflect on things in order to make something that鈥檚 comprehensive.鈥�
That鈥檚 a lesson and a legacy that Reyes now passes on as a mentor to university students who intern with the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon and through the alliance鈥檚 educational programs 鈥� thanks to her experiences at UMass Lowell.
鈥淚t was amazing,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t was inspirational in a way that will carry on forever.鈥�