Intro to Public Health Careers Seminar

September 16th, 2025: This week, we hosted a webinar on public health careers for UConn Waterbury and Stamford students participating in the AHNR 1001: Career Exploration for CAHNR Fellows course. 

Urban League of Greater Hartford Trunk or Treat

October 24th, 2025: We had an amazing time at our Trunk or Treat event with the Urban League of Greater Hartford! Families stopped by our booth to learn about healthy eating, play fun games like Public Health Mythbusters and Nutrition Jeopardy, and take home fresh fruits and vegetables. We also raffled off kid-friendly toys and health tools like weight scales, pedometers, and food scales. It was a fun, festive way to mix Halloween spirit with hands-on public health education for the whole family.  

Tap-In Tuesday: Public Health Careers

November 4th, 2025: This week, we visited the UConn Hartford campus for their Tap-In Tuesday event. Here, we engaged students through interactive Public Health and Public Health Careers Jeopardy games. Students also shared their thoughts and feelings on pressing public health issues such as mental health issues, health equity, access to care, food insecurity, and environmental health.

Healthcare Involvement Fair

November 12th, 2025: We had a great time connecting with students at the Healthcare Involvement Fair through interactive public health games. The activities opened up engaging discussions about different pathways into public health and the many ways students can get involved. Students shared their perspectives on key public health challenges and considered how public health shows up in both careers and everyday life.

Hands-On Health Collaboration

November 14th, 2025: We had an incredible experience at the Hands-On Health Collaboration working with 7th-grade students through interactive, real-world health activities. Students dissected sheep brains, learned CPR, practiced taking blood pressure and heart rates, and explored how EKGs work. They also became disease detectives by conducting their own outbreak investigation using Glo Germ and UV lights.

Disease Outbreak Simulation

February 2nd: At East Hartford High School, we facilitated an interactive disease outbreak simulation that introduced students to the basics of infectious disease transmission. Through a hands-on activity, EHHS students learned how diseases spread through a population and different ways to slow exposure. 

UConn Waterbury Involvement and Resource Fair

February 12th: We visited the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury campus to participate in their schoolwide involvement fair! At our station, students participated in an interactive public health outreach event for students. UConn Waterbury students played games such as Public Health Jeopardy and a “Myth Busters” activity, where they learned about core public health concepts, diverse career pathways, and educational opportunities in public health.

Nightmare Buffet

February 19th: At Crosby High School, we led a hands-on disease outbreak investigation activity with a class of 21 forensic science students. Crosby students learned how epidemiologists and forensic investigators use evidence collection, pattern recognition, and data interpretation to solve real-world health crises. Students also participated in a simulated “Nightmare Buffet” outbreak scenario, where they analyzed clues and traced the source of contaminated food. 

Family Germ-Busting Night

March 2nd: Charter Oak International Academy hosted a Family Germ-Busting Night to engage students and families in learning about healthy habits related to nutrition, dental hygiene, and germ prevention. We partnered with public health professionals to present interactive demonstrations and activities designed to promote practical health practices at home and school.

Political Determinants of Health Lecture at UConn Waterbury

March 5th: We visited an Allied Health Sciences course on the U.S. Healthcare System to deliver a presentation on the political determinants of health. Together, UConn Waterbury students learned how policies, government, and political decision-making shape population health outcomes. The presentation emphasized the way that laws, resource allocation, and power influence access to the social and commercial determinants of health.

Omo Naija Ni Mi: Global Health Lecture at UConn Waterbury

March 25th: I visited an International Health course at the UConn Waterbury campus to lecture on the state of the medical and public health infrastructure in Nigeria. Students had the opportunity to brainstorm growth areas for Nigeria's systems, as well as connect their course's teachings to the new materials.

Disease Outbreak Investigation

April 1st: This week, we visited Norwich Technical High School to teach a freshman biotechnology class about biostatistics, epidemiology, and public health careers in disease outbreak investigations. Students had the opportunity to create physical models for their own viruses, bacteria, and parasites, either existing diseases such as COVID-19, Ebola, or the Bubonic plague, or design entirely new diseases such as the "Brain Dance" virus and the Wolverine parasite.

Environmental Health Emergency

April 2nd: Today, we partnered with the Urban League of Greater Hartford's afterschool program at Weaver High School to teach a team of high school students about environmental health and public health careers related to water quality and sanitation. Students had the opportunity to create their own water filters using materials such as sand, cheesecloth, paper towels, and cotton balls, while using oil, glitter, food coloring, and other locally sourced items to represent common contaminants.

Bridge to Public Health Careers April Workshop Series: All month long, students from Waterbury, Hartford, and Norwich public schools will have the opportunity to learn about different sectors of public health, as well as the education and career pathways available to them!

WISHFest at UConn Waterbury: Students at the Waterbury campus will have the opportunity to participate in a rotation of public health activities at our Public Health in Action game station! This station will help students see how public health shapes everyday life through prevention and community health efforts.

Intro to Public Health Careers lecture: UConn Waterbury students will learn about the career opportunities available to them as Allied Health Sciences students.

Bridge to Public Health Careers May Workshop Series: All month long, elementary school students from Hartford, CT, will have the opportunity to learn about public health nutrition, as well as career pathways available to them!