Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) recently welcomed new student ambassadors who will be working with the Milken Institute SPH Office of Admissions. The student ambassadors are available to answer prospective student questions, and offer their first-hand perspectives on the Milken Institute SPH student experience.
The student ambassadors have a variety of backgrounds. Read more about their interests and experiences below. If you are interested in speaking with one of the student ambassadors please email [email protected].
Rachel Gunsalus, MPH - Health Policy
Rachel Gunsalus is originally from the Bay Area of California, but considers Minnesota her “forever home” after spending her undergraduate college years in the Twin Cities. Rachel’s public health experience spans from her work in a women’s family planning clinic in India to the Minnesota Department of Health to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in different California locations and now to her work in DC. When she’s not working or in class, Rachel enjoys the great outdoors of the DC area, particularly Rock Creek Park which is home to a 2,000 acre urban park administered by the National Park Service. It’s the perfect spot for her to run and was where she did the majority of her training for the 40th Marine Corps Marathon in October 2015.
Zannah Heridge-Meyer, MPH - Community Oriented Primary Care
Zannah Heridge-Meyer’s passion for public health began while teaching sexual education classes to middle school and high school students when she herself was a high school student in Washington State. After high school she worked in clinics in the Dominican Republic and West Africa before going on to earn her bachelor’s in international studies and pre-medicine from the University of San Francisco. Since then, she has continued to pursue her interest in health and medicine, working in the U.S. and overseas. She is currently actively involved with the school’s Public Health Student Association, Student Wellness Center, GW Hospital, Partners in Health Engage and Legacies of War. One of Zannah’s favorite things to do in DC is visiting the many amazing museums around the city and attending free performances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts!
Mackenezie Kacmarcik, MPH - Global Health Program Design, Monitoring & Evaluation
Mackenezie Kacmarcik’s interest in public health was sparked during her undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned an undergraduate certificate in public health. While there, she traveled to Morocco to work on issues of maternal and child health in a rural village in the Atlas Mountains. By graduation, she wanted more in-depth studies and decided to pursue a graduate degree at Milken Institute SPH. She is currently a member of ISCOPES Adult Health Literacy Learning Community where she volunteers with a team of students at The Emery House and The Women’s Collective, two DC-based community organizations. She is also active in the school’s Public Health Student Association. On the weekends, you can find her trying out new coffee shops and exploring Eastern Market.
Jocelyn Resnick, MPH - Public Health Nutrition
Jocelyn Resnick is pursuing her MPH in public health nutrition to follow her passion for creating healthier college campuses for students through health education, program implementation and community outreach. She first noticed this issue as an undergraduate at Binghamton University in New York where she saw students practicing unhealthy behaviors while working to accomplish their academic and professional goals. Jocelyn wants to bridge that divide. She is currently working with Milken Institute SPH Prevention and Community Health Associate Professor Melissa Napolitano on her Healthy Body Healthy U program, which uses digital messaging to help undergraduate students maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.
Brenda Trejo, MPH - Environmental Health Science & Policy
Environmental and Occupational Health student Brenda Trejo hails from the Pacific Northwest. After learning about marginalized communities that were being disproportionately affected by environmental injustices she decided to focus her studies on the topic, and pursue an advanced degree to learn how to mitigate or prevent these adverse health impacts. She loves nature and believes taking care of the environment is critical to public health.
Abbey Woolverton, MS - Public Health Microbiology & Emerging Infectious Diseases
Abbey Wollverton is completing her final semester in the MS PHMEID program. Originally from Ohio, Abbey decided to pursue a graduate degree in public health because she loves science and people, and public health is the perfect field to merge the two. She’s currently working as a graduate research assistant for Environmental and Occupational Health Professor Lance Price, who also directs the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at the school. They are currently investigating a particular strain of drug resistant E. coli that lives in the gut. She appreciates being able to apply what she is learning in the classroom and lab in the context of populations, rather than solely in regard to lab specimens. In her free time she loves exploring neighborhoods in and around DC and trying different food from around the world!