September 15, 2015

Student Assistants at IWRI during the 2014-2015 academic year

Several students provided critical assistance to project staff during the 2014-2015 academic year. One, Nick Romero, was highlighted in the April 2015 IWRI Newsletter. Three other students provided mini auto-biographies, which are presented as submitted.

My name is Beth Conklin and I just finished my first year of the Master in Social Work program. I am interested in community health where I can support positive behavior change within populations, work for health equity, and have a positive impact on the social determinants of health. I am originally from Alaska, but spent the last several years in San Diego. I am grateful for my time at IWRI where I learned about community-based participatory research practices and received continued mentorship from the team. This summer, I will take a road trip up and down the Pacific Coast before returning to work at IWRI. After graduation, I hope to continue to work with communities to improve health and wellness

Chelsie Porter is a Master of Public Health student in the Epidemiology and Global Health programs. Before going back to school, Chelsie worked at a local nonprofit as a medical case manager for people living with chronic hepatitis. She is passionate about social justice and health equity, and loves chocolate, stories, and road trips. Her time at IWRI has been a unique opportunity to gain research experience with a passionate, intelligent and fun team.

Jackie Johnson was born and raised in Port Angeles, Washington. She received her Bachelor of Arts in American Indian studies from the University of Washington. Upon graduation she worked for her tribe, the Makah Nation, for almost a year. Here she spent much of her time driving her younger cousins around and buying them candy. Despite the tears of her cousins, she chose to go back to the University of Washington, where she was accepted into the Native Voices Master’s in Communication program.
Jackie’s main field of research is Contemporary Urban Indian Identity. She plans to make a documentary on this for her thesis. While not in school, Jackie takes her dog Lexie on runs and hikes. Most recently, Lexie got her own hiking backpack. Also, besides being a Pokemon professional, Jackie also loves reading science-fiction/fantasy books. Ms. Johnson is in the process of finishing her theory about the creation story of narwhals.