One Health InstituteVolume 1 | March 2018
New Hires Bring Spark to OHI
The One Health Institute launched the One Health Faculty Fellows program in January 2018. This program engages CSU faculty members from all eight colleges in a transdisciplinary action model to develop partnerships that will implement OHI’s principles to continuously improve the health of animals, peoples and places. Fellows will be working in three thematic teams: Environmental Change and Health, Foodscapes and Health, and Urbanization and Health.
Three experienced Program Leaders have joined the One Health Institute’s Core Team, each supporting one programmatic area. As One Health lProgram Leaders, they are charged with the long-term strategic vision for their program area as well as the day-to-day organization and coordination of community-based research and partnership development activities.
Stop by the OHI offices to meet our new team members and hear about their work!
Magdalena Serpa, M.D., M.P.H.
Bringing decades of public health experience in maternal and child health and nutrition as well as international program development, Magdalena leads our Foodscapes and Health team.
Betsy Wier, Ph.D.
A long-term team leader at Catholic Relief Services in Latin America and recent recipient of a Ph.D. in Sustainability Education, Betsy leads our Environmental Change and Health team.
Melissa McHale, Ph.D.
Splitting her time with a position as Associate Professor in the department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability in the Warner College of Natural Resources, Melissa leads our Urbanization and Health team.
Partner Spotlight: The Family Center / La Familia
The Family Center/La Familia has provided child and adult bilingual services to working families in Fort Collins for over 20 years. La Familia’s programs focus on early childhood education and family strengthening services, delivered within a collaborative, strengths-based and culturally competent framework. Services provided include childcare, parent enrichment programs and after-school tutoring.
We would like to highlight two specific programs in which we are partnering with this wonderful local organization: La Cocina, or The Kitchen, and Tu Pausa, or Your Time.
La Cocina offers a safe space for families to come together for key therapeutic services in Spanish. These include: individual and/or family therapy, parent coaching, structured therapy groups for parents and adolescents, and play therapy to promote safe and healthy childhood development.
Tu Pausa allows mothers and fathers to meet at a safe space weekly as a support group. With the guidance of a psychologist and OHI Fellow, the participants discuss daily concerns and find different pathways to well-being. The techniques utilized include simple meditation and relaxation techniques and sharing experiences that enhance group solidarity. While the parents are in Tu Pausa, their children are playing with supervision and enjoying the visit of a companion dog.. At the end of the conversation, families come together for a dinner. OHI has promoted the introduction of healthy snacks as part of the Tu Pausa weekly meetings and all the participants are loving the healthier snacks! ¡ Viva La Familia ! Learn more about La Familia.
A One Health “Elevator Pitch”
One Health is a complex topic. How do describe it to people in 30 seconds or less? Our Assistant Director of Strategy, Claire Tucker, recently wrote a blog post about how she describes One Health to newcomers. Read the blog post here.
What do you say when you have to define One Health on the fly? What would you add to pitch?
One Health + Students
Serving students is a vital part of the One Health Institute’s mission. Several exciting new developments are deepening our commitment to this mission.The One Health Club reaches a wider array of students, including undergraduate and graduate students, across all eight colleges.
The club regularly hosts events that help students be “More than their Major,” delivering content around facilitation, storytelling, outbreak investigation, and honeybee medicine, among many other topics.
How do I get involved?
Want to be a member? An officer? Got a great idea for the future of transdisciplinary education? Check out our web page or email [email protected].
Where in the World is One Health?
Director Bruno Sobral has traveled to Amazonia twice this year to build local university capacity in bioinformatics and genomics. He is also exploring and strengthening partnerships between the One Health Institute and various sectors in Amazonia. These partnerships focus on manifesting OHI’s work and purpose in Amazonia as a potential new place for OHI to work on behalf of cultivating health.
Meet Our Fellows
Dr. Andy Jones, Senior Research Scientist, Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere
