2023 Public Health Newsletter
Public Health Faculty News
Ying Li
Dear alumni and friends,
It is time to reconnect and reflect on what has happened since the publication of our last newsletter. The year of 2021 was a relatively slow-paced year as we primarily focused on the management of and adjustment to the pandemic. With the existence of the Covid-19 virus and the emergence of new variants, we have continued our efforts in maximizing the best education experience for students while minimizing the risks of spreading the disease. As such, PH faculty started in-person teaching for most of the HLED classes in fall of 2021, then resumed full swing of in-person teaching in winter of 2022. Students welcomed returning to traditional in-person teaching, but also experienced some hurdles with switching between virtual and in-person learning. For example, many students were used to the accommodations that faculty provided for virtual learning (open-book tests, listening to lectures at the time they preferred, etc.). When we resumed in-person teaching, most students enjoyed face-to-face interactions and in-class discussions, while some students found certain aspects associated with in-person education challenging, particularly the expectations of memorizing course materials and attending classes at the set time. I believe that both the faculty and students learned lessons and are ready for the current academic year.
Many of you may remember that we offer the Evelyn Ames Community Health Scholarship which has supported our majors since 2006 thanks to Dr. Evelyn Ames’ generosity. This year, Dr. Evelyn Ames gave us amazing news: she converted this annually funded scholarship into an endowed scholarship. It is now called the Evelyn Ames Behavioral and Community Health Scholarship. We are so grateful to Dr. Ames’ continuous passion for the profession and unwavering support for our students and program. Thank you, Dr. Ames!
Personally, the most important event that happened in 2021 is that we adopted a Siberian Husky, Liangliang, who is ten months old now. Liangliang is our first dog ever, which explains our bittersweet experience with many accidents: bathroom incidents, biting marks, public embarrassment, etc. Having Liangliang has been an eye-opening experience. For example, doggy training classes are not for dogs; instead, they are classes for owners. We have learned that having a dog walk along the owner’s side takes a lot of work, not all dogs like the fetching activity, and the list continues. Through this experience, we also witnessed the powerful contribution from the pet industry to overall economics: doggy daycare, equipment, food, treats, toys, entertainment, medicine, etc.
Professionally, my biggest achievement in the past year is working with the Frank Haskell Lions Eye Clinic in assessing Whatcom County’s needs for diabetic retinopathy screening and glaucoma treatment among people without health insurance or who are underinsured. During the process, I worked with two optometrists, four Western students and two local high school students. The results of the study will be used in a grant application and potentially two lines of eye services for local members who otherwise can’t receive service.
I hope you all had a great summer!
Ying Li
Steve Bennett
Hello to all the alumni and friends of the program!
It’s been a long two and a half years through the pandemic but as a program we have prevailed and grown stronger! I am incredibly excited that our first cohort that entered under the new curriculum will be entering their senior year exploring ideas and issues covering vast topics of interest from community health and social marketing to expanded courses on epidemiology and global health (including the courses Advanced Epidemiology and Ecology of Infectious Disease). It’s a very exciting and busy time for our program. Additionally, our new junior cohort just started this fall. During the summer, I designed their introductory course (Foundations of Public Health) and am very excited about the ability to reintroduce community-facing projects and bring in a diversity of guest speakers. I’m really hoping to help ground the new students in the curriculum and expose them to all the possibilities for a future in public health. We may even get the chance for the students to design a community-based public health event!
Personally, I have been expanding my own engagement in public health, from local to global. I worked with two other professors at Western to analyze the impacts of tourism on host populations. We explored the public health impacts tourism has on local populations, both good and bad, as well as designed a framework for supporting local communities to be empowered in the tourism process. So far, we have published one paper from our work, have presented at one conference, and will be presenting at another in New Zealand in December.
My work in Kenya with LGBTQ+ individuals continues as well. While the pandemic placed a hard pause on some work, other work has continued and flourished. I am partnering with researchers from Yale and University of Southern Florida as well as professionals in Canada and Kenya on a project. This study focuses on the cultural adaptation and implementation of HIVE3, an internet-delivered evidence-based peer-support program focused on MSM (men who have sex with men) that aims to: increase peer social support, decrease social isolation and minimize the effects of HIV and same-gender stigmas on HIV self-care and healthcare-seeking behaviors. We have completed multiple rounds of focus groups preparing the program for implementation and already had our data accepted for presentation at two conferences. It’s a very exciting project and one where the program has been particularly designed for the global migration online that COVID has caused.
My local work has also continued with the Whatcom County Health Department. I now serve as the chair of the Whatcom County Public Health Advisory Board and am enjoying that service to the community. The county has many health challenges, and we are working diligently to respond and plan for the future. I also have been working with Professor Ying Li on research into food insecurity on campus and will be working with Professor Mary Hunt to explore the health opportunities and challenges facing LGBTQ+ students on campus as well.
There is always lots to do and be done. We value your support and engagement!
Mary Hunt
Greetings all,
I have just finished my third year teaching at Western, and though the transition back to in-person classes brought its share of challenges, getting to connect with students face to face again has been a welcome change from previous years. Our junior cohort started the inaugural year of our revamped public health curriculum. I developed and taught two brand new courses in the 2021-22 school year. In the fall, I taught a small honors seminar titled Abortion in the United States. Then, in the spring, I taught the new Qualitative Research Methods course to our junior public health majors. Both of these topics are related to my research interests, so I had the unique opportunity to integrate my research into my teaching. I also teach the Society and Sex introductory course, and I incorporated relevant data from my 2021 WWU Sexual Behaviors and Experiences Survey into the lectures and activities.
Last year, I chaired three honors theses and really enjoyed working with my undergraduate research assistants. My number of research assistants grew this year, and I created an official research group called the RRAS (Research in Repro and Sexuality) Lab. It has been the highlight of my year! I mentored a group of six students (self-proclaimed as the RRASberries) and we launched a survey on college students’ sexuality, intimacy and relationships during the Covid-19 pandemic. The lead on the project was my honors student mentee and research assistant, Avia Breiter. She wrote up these data and presented them in August 2022 for her honors thesis. In the spring, I had all six RAs present preliminary qualitative data from this project at the 2022 Scholars’ Week (put on by the WWU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs). Next year, I plan to bring my RAs to their first academic conference—the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality annual conference in Vancouver, Canada.
Steve, Ying and I continue to make plans to grow and move our program forward and find ways to support our current students and alumni. It is a pleasure to be part of this department and program!
Public Health Senior Awards Luncheon and Ceremony
On May 20, 2022, we were honored to have Dr. Amy Harley, co-health officer for Whatcom County Health Department, join the senior cohort to share her words of wisdom regarding career development. Her kindness in sharing her own journey to becoming a pediatrician was particularly enlightening and meaningful to students who are just about to start their own careers.
2021-22 Student Award Recipients
Darcy Allen: Evelyn Ames CHES Award
In recognition of her outstanding performance on the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) Proxy Exam
Emma Edmisten: Outstanding Public Health Major
In recognition of her engagement in intelligent public health-related discussions in and out of the classroom, her intellectual maturity, her collaboration with public health colleagues and the community, and her commitment to the profession
Rahma Iqbal: Spirit of Public Health Award
In recognition of her positive presence and interaction with diverse populations, her heart of service to others without an expectation of recognition and her love for the profession of public health
2022 Outstanding Graduate from the CHSS Social Sciences Division
Madison Emry
Faculty members from dozens of academic departments and programs select one graduate to honor as the Outstanding Graduate of the year. Selection is a high honor based on grades, research and writing, service to the campus and community, and promise for the future.
From Madison: I am excited about the opportunity to learn how community health functions in Whatcom County to reduce health inequities and about the organizations and partnerships that are doing this incredibly important work. As a former at-risk youth, I have faced the impacts of unstable housing and lack of familial support on my own physical, emotional and mental health. Rising up from those experiences has instilled a passion in me for working in the field of community health. I am aware of the challenges of striving for health and wellness when adversity is in the way, and I have empathy and compassion for the individuals in the community around me that are currently facing these challenges. I recognize the systemic inequities that have resulted in health disparity in BIPOC and LGBQT+ communities, and I am driven to help work towards the social change that is necessary to eliminate the impacts that prejudice and discrimination have on the health of individuals and communities.
I have been a medical massage therapist since 2014, and working with chronic pain patients during the opioid epidemic has also driven me towards this work. I have spent many hours listening to patients lament about their experiences interacting with the healthcare system and the obstacles they have faced as they have tried to heal. The stories of individuals I have cared for inspired me to go back to school four years ago as I had a desire to work upstream from patient care, and this ushered me towards the Public Health Program at WWU. I look forward to listening and learning from the individuals that have been involved in this work in Whatcom County, and I so appreciate the opportunity to work with people that are motivated to improve the quality of life for all of us living in this community.
Public Health Alumni Spotlight
Allison (Lindsay) Suing (2010)
After graduation from WWU with a Bachelor of Science degree in community health, Allison Suing graduated with a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Washington State University (2013) and began work as a registered nurse in Spokane, WA. After moving to Pocatello, Idaho, with her husband in 2015, she began work as a NICU nurse and then achieved a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from Creighton University (2021) and began work as a board-certified neonatal nurse practitioner. In this role, along with direct patient care, Allison has a special focus on continual quality improvement and improving processes and patient outcomes in a level III NICU. Utilizing the principles learned at WWU in the Community Health Program, Allison hopes to improve the health outcomes for our society's smallest patients and improve the health of the Southeast Idaho community. Personally, Allison and her husband Austin welcomed their first daughter, Elsie, to their family in June of 2021.
Rachel (Cupp) Atkinson (2011)
Rachel Atkinson’s degree in community health led her into the field of maternal and child health and early childhood education. After years of working with children and families, she went back to school to study speech and language pathology. In June of 2021, Rachel graduated with a master's degree in speech and language pathology with a bilingual certificate. She has spent the past year completing a clinical fellowship in her home community of Vancouver, WA. There are so many ways that her bachelor's degree in community health prepared her to become a speech language pathologist, specifically with background health knowledge and patient counseling.
Danika Troupe (2016)
Danika Troupe earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health and started a new job as an HIV epidemiologist at the Washington State Department of Health.
Spencer Davis (2020)
Spencer Davis has been working for the Oregon Health Authority in their Public Health Division since February 2021. He works alongside the director of public health and director of operations as a strategic operations analyst. His main responsibilities are project management, program and policy analysis, and quality and system improvement. Some of the projects he has managed and coordinated consist of a multi-section/program merge, COVID-19 testing kit & PPE distribution and the reopening of state buildings to state employees and the public. He continues to work remotely for the state of Oregon from Bellingham, Washington. He is currently researching and preparing to apply to multiple master of operations management programs to fulfill his career goal to become a chief operating officer.
Ways to Give to the Public Health Program
As always, we appreciate your support of the Public Health Program, which allows us to offer more opportunities to our students. Our Public Health Foundation fund (also known as Community Health and Health Education fund) covers conference attendance, special events, guest speakers, equipment, books, teaching materials, etc.
Other ways to give
- Contact us by phone: 360-650-3027
- Write a check made payable to the WWU Foundation: Please indicate which fund you are donating to on the memo line of your check. Mail to: WWU Foundation, 516 High St., Mailstop 9034, Bellingham, WA 98225-9034
Thank you for your generosity. We appreciate your support!
Questions? Need help? Visit How to Give
Or contact us:
Health and Human Development website
HHD Main Office, Carver 102
HHD.Department@wwu.edu
Facebook: Western Washington University Public Health Program