Title: APHA Environment Section "Student Corner"
Author:
Section/SPIG: Environment
Issue Date:
Folllow-up, 2004 Annual Meeting Student Poster Awards/Travel Scholarships
Student Poster Awards for the top three among 10 finalists, as judged by specific section leadership (Nsedu Obot Witherspoon, Jill Litt, Derek Shendell, Max Weintraub) and a representative of the Association of Schools of Public Health, were distributed with money and a certificate. In addition, student scholarships to cover or defray the cost of travel and/or registration for the APHA 2004 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., were awarded to 22 individuals. One of those recipients, Andrea Wismann, then a MSPH candidate at the University of Colorado at Boulder-Health Sciences Center in environmental public health tracking, wrote a nice thank you note of appreciation to Nsedu and Derek. Andrea agreed we could share it in the next e-newsletter; her thoughts clearly justify our reasons for providing the awards and the travel scholarships!
"Reprint" of thank you note, originally submitted by e-mail 2/11/05:
“Learning, building, networking, and disseminating are crucial features of a successful conference, as was exemplified by the American Public Health Association meeting this past November. This annual five-day gathering was held in Washington, D.C., where over 13,000 public health practitioners, researchers, and policy makers came together to exchange ideas. The theme of the conference was ‘Public Health and the Environment,’ providing a great synergy between all the sections of APHA. Through the generosity of the Environment Section, as a third year MSPH student at UCHSC, I enjoyed the opportunity to attend the national conference for the first time. I deeply appreciate the Section’s support for graduate students, both financially and professionally, and their role in developing a brighter future for environmental health.
If the people are the heart and soul, myriad presentations and high caliber information are the backbone of the APHA conference; there were over 20 presentations for each two-hour time block, with 4-8 presenters per block. The most difficult part was choosing which scientific sessions to attend, because so many seemed interesting or directly relevant to my current projects. There was a great plethora and diversity of excellent scientific sessions, and my interests in environmental health and school environments were well satisfied. This APHA conference was especially important for me, as a national survey of environmental public health tracking that I am a research assistant for was presented. Being at the conference was the first opportunity I had to meet the other members of our team in person after months of conference calls.
Social networking was an equally exciting part of the atmosphere, like bees buzzing in a hive, at each presentation there were fascinating people to talk with and learn from. Meeting people working in similar areas, or with like interests, to share ideas and strategies with was so inspiring! The Environment Section graciously invited me to their extracurricular events, such as the Section walking/bus tour of the Anacostia River. Walking beside the river and learning about the severe contamination was a powerful and sad experience, which was heartened by seeing the grassroots and city sponsored clean-up efforts. Attending the Section business meetings, dinners, and the delightful awards ceremony were great forums to talk with environmental health leaders about their work and recommendations. The social caucuses and Section events were great fun, and I met amazing students and professionals within the environmental health field.
An especially exciting aspect of the APHA meeting was jumping into the heart of D.C. activity--a rally on Capitol Hill. To assist in the advocacy efforts for increased funding for public and environmental health programs, I was delegated to take informational folders to the Colorado legislators. Stopping by Representative Bob Beauprez’s office, I was elated to have a lively discussion with his health policy analyst covering the APHA talking points, and discussing Colorado immunization rates and vaccine shortages. Truly, this APHA conference has been a catalyst in my desire to contribute in the field of environmental health. I would like to thank the exceptional people and students in the Environment section for fostering this incredible learning experience and professional development opportunity.”
Solicitation for Future “Student Corner” contributions
We have initiated the “Student Corner” portion of our seasonal newsletter for use by and the benefit of our student members. We encourage student members to send text by the appropriate deadlines for upcoming issues of the APHA Environment Section e-newsletter (see above) to <dgshendell@earthlink.net> and <rebecca_head@monroemi.org>. We encourage short update reports from our Section’s Student Involvement Committee and news pertaining to the APHA Student Assembly (former Public Health Student Caucus) that is of interest to our Section membership. (Editor's Note: The current Student Involvement Committee Chair is Sacoby Wilson, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, <smwilson@email.unc.edu>.)