BIO

Karissa Sena Fadenrecht is a senior Social Work student at the University of Mississippi. Originally from a small rural town in Nevada, she transferred to Oxford last August. Her journey from a close-knit hometown to a university setting has fueled her passion for exploring the connections between community systems and the experiences that shape people’s daily lives. Her academic interests center on mental health and addiction, with an emphasis on how systems and environments intersect to shape outcomes. She has pursued this work beyond the classroom through research presentations at the Harvard Undergraduate symposia and continued engagement as a Delta Scholar, where she has explored these themes in more applied, collaborative settings. At the center of her work is a belief that research is never separate from people but is shaped by them, and strongest when it refuses to forget them. She hopes to continue building a path in social work that blends data with lived experience, using both to create more humane systems of care. She remains committed to elevating underrepresented voices and ensuring that lived experiences are centered in both decision-making and practice.