Achievements
小蓝视频 2019 Global Health Competition Winners Announced Winning team develops innovative approaches to address climate change
What would you do if you ran a public health nonprofit organization and just received a $2.5 million grant to address climate change at the local level?
This was the question confronting teams of 小蓝视频 students on February 27 in 小蓝视频鈥檚 2019 Intramural Global Health Case Competition, sponsored by the and the . Each team was given the 鈥渃ase鈥 details two weeks before the competition. They had to research the issues, develop strategies, and prepare an action plan.
The teams then presented their plans to four judges: Carlos Williams, MD, MPH, MBA, 2018-19 National Academy of Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow; Kara Kokernak, MS, senior green building consultant, DNV GL; and, Trina Ulrich, MD, professorial lecturer, Department of Health Studies, 小蓝视频.
鈥淭he event was a great success,鈥 said Jolynn Gardner, director of 小蓝视频鈥檚 Public Health Program. 鈥淎ll of the interdisciplinary teams presented very innovative, well-researched strategies to address the case.听The judges commented on how impressed they were with all of the presentations.鈥
The Winning Team
The winners, whose solution was titled 鈥淎ddressing Malnutrition in Mekong Delta in Vietnam,鈥 won a $1,000 prize. Members included:
Jenny Park (BA public health 鈥19)
Luc Marzano (BA public health 鈥19)
Ben Davis- (BA political science 鈥20)
Tim McPhillips- (BA film 鈥19)
Rachel Swartz (BA public health 鈥19)
Hannah Rapoport- (BA journalism 鈥19)
The team created a rice fortification and subsidized greenhouse initiative, which was targeted toward the mission of mitigating 鈥渟hort-term and long-term climate damage by investing in the development and implementation of nutritional, climate change adapted crops by increasing funding towards diverse agricultural production and biodiversity in Vietnam.鈥
The innovative approach would 鈥渃reate a sustainable program that could be duplicated locally worldwide that mitigates climate-caused agricultural damage that threatens the world's vulnerable populations鈥 nutritional well-being.鈥
Gardner said that the winning team's solution stood out. 鈥淭hey presented a sustainability plan and evaluated strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. They prepared a logic model and thoroughly researched a feasible and practical strategy to address the issues of the case,鈥 she said.听鈥淎dditionally, they based their approach on solid theory.听They created a very thorough evaluation plan, which directly reflected the desired outcomes.听The winning strategy also reflected the reality of the need to engage the local community in assessment of needs and development and delivery of interventions.鈥
The Runner-Ups
Gardner praised the work done by all the teams. 鈥淭he second- and third-place teams also based their strategies on sound theory and feasible goals,鈥 she said.听鈥淭hey presented very creative ideas and expertly utilized evidence to support their approaches. All of the presentations were impressive: the judges actually had a hard time making their final decisions!鈥
Second Place Team: Sustainable Justice ($500 prize)
Hannah Francis, (BS public health and BA international affairs 鈥19)听听
Mita Huq (BS public health 鈥19)
Sofia Hinojosa (BA public health 鈥19)
Sophie Hathaway (undeclared 鈥22)
Third Place Team: Connecting Corners of the World ($300 prize)
Kendell Lincoln (BS public health 鈥19)
Giselle Rodriguez (BS public health 鈥19)
Roger 鈥淎lex鈥 Ahlstrom (BA economics 鈥19)
David Kalwicz (BA psychology and statistics 鈥20)
Mary Kate Fogerty (BA public health 鈥20)