School of Public Health

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1633

The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.

Note: Prior to July 1, 2007, the School of Public Health was named the College of Health & Human Performance.

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Author: search.filters.author.Murray, Rianna Teresa

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    Experiential Graduate Course Prepares Transdisciplinary Future Leaders to Innovate at the Food-Energy-Water Nexus
    (MDPI, 2021-01-29) Murray, Rianna Teresa; Marbach-Ad, Gili; McKee, Kelsey; Sapkota, Amy Rebecca
    Food, energy and water (FEW) systems are critically stressed worldwide. These challenges require transformative science, engineering and policy solutions. However, cross-cutting solutions can only arise through transdisciplinary training of our future science and policy leaders. The University of Maryland Global STEWARDS National Science Foundation Research Traineeship seeks to meet these needs. This study assessed a foundational component of the program: a novel, experiential course focused on transdisciplinary training and communication skills. We drew on data from the first two offerings of the course and utilized a mixed-method, multi-informant evaluation that included validated pre–post surveys, individual interviews and focus groups. Paired Mann–Whitney–Wilcoxon tests were used to compare pre- and post-means. After the course, students reported improvements in their ability to identify strengths and weaknesses of multiple FEW nexus disciplines; articulate interplays between FEW systems at multiple scales; explain to peers the most important aspects of their research; and collaborate with scientists outside their field. Students also reported improvements in their oral and written communication skills, along with their ability to critically review others’ work. Our findings demonstrate that this graduate course can serve as an effective model to develop transdisciplinary researchers and communicators through cutting edge, experiential curricular approaches.
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    An Assessment of Exposure to Pollution by Recreational Users of The Anacostia Watershed: Project Recreate
    (2013) Murray, Rianna Teresa; Wilson, Sacoby; Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The Anacostia River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, is highly contaminated with raw sewage, heavy metals, oil and grease, trash, pathogens, excessive sediments and organic chemicals. Many people use this river on a regular basis for recreational purposes, including kayaking, canoeing, rowing and sport fishing. The contaminants in the river potentially pose threats to human health for recreational users. While there has been some study of the exposure to subsistence fishers in this region there is currently little information available on the risks faced by recreational users. This work gathered pilot data on recreational users with the purpose of assessing any associated exposure risks to contaminants. The high levels of contamination in the Anacostia River and the popularity of recreation makes this an important public health issue. This study is the first to combine an evaluation of risk and risk perception for the recreational population of the Anacostia River.