Hometown
Pulaski, WI
Undergraduate education
Bachelor’s degree in health promotion and health equity, Certificate in Global Health, UW–Madison
Professional/research interests
Public health policy, substance use prevention, the intersection of criminal justice and public health
Expected graduation date
December 2023
Why an MPA-MPH?
As someone with an interest in public health policy, I knew the MPA was the route for me. As I advanced throughout my undergraduate coursework, I knew I wanted to make a difference in this policy arena, and the MPA program allows me to supplement my public health knowledge with analytical tools. I wanted to develop my skills in public management and policy analysis to become a more competitive candidate and widen the range of my potential career opportunities.
Career goals
I hope to work at the intersection of criminal justice and public health in the arena of public health policy. I am interested in working in a variety of settings including nonprofits, governmental organizations, think tanks, and more. I hope to contribute to criminal justice reform by analyzing and advocating for policy changes surrounding the health of currently and formerly incarcerated individuals.
Assistantship
I am currently a project assistant working on the evaluation team of the State Opioid Response grant at the UW–Madison Population Health Institute. I was drawn to this position because I wanted to improve my skills in qualitative analysis, as well as gain experience working with both the Department of Health Services and treatment and prevention facilities.
Previously, I was a teaching assistant in the Sociology Department. This was an incredible opportunity to improve my communication skills. I often struggle with efficiently translating thoughts to dialogue and this position really pushed me to grow in that area; I have so much to be thankful for in that regard. I was responsible for creating lesson plans, leading discussion sections, grading, and other administrative responsibilities.
Work with clients
Through my MPH program, I had the opportunity to do work for several real clients. In Evidence-based Decision Making (Publ Hlth 780), I had the opportunity to create a tool that would help in evaluating the effectiveness of the Marathon County OWI Treatment Court program.
Through Planning and Management to Promote Health (Publ Hlth 786), I worked with a team to apply for a grant for Vivent Health that would seek to achieve the goals of: increasing HIV self-test kit mail ordering from the Vivent Health store among rural communities in Wisconsin; increasing the number of public health education programs about HIV risk factors, prevention, and treatment; and increasing the number of HIV self-test kits follow-up consultations and appointments.