April 17, 2020 – The School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine faculty, staff, students, and alumni are working on the front lines of the COVID-19 outbreak. We have asked any affiliates with our school to share their experiences and stories. This story comes from Katherine Feemster:
I am in my final year as an MPH graduate student at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Louisiana State University and post-baccalaureate certification in Homeland Security studies from Tulane University.
I recently began working with the AgriSafe network soon after COVID-19 shut down traditional university life. The AgriSafe Network was formed in 2003 by rural nurses who believed that together they could improve the health and safety of farmers and ranchers. Today, AgriSafe builds the competency of health and safety professionals to deliver exceptional occupational agricultural health care.
My internship with this organization is tied to the work they are doing trying to provide resources and information to American farmers, growers, and producers as well as rural health workers as they face both the health effects of COVID-19 and the attendant economic effects of the changes in the domestic and global economies. My main job involves compiling the information and resources regularly being distributed by multiple organizations around the country- all of the CDC-NIOSH agriculture centers, multiple extension services, and health centers- into a shared stream-lined resource in an effort to organize the flow of information for end users, program coordinators, and researchers.
I currently also work in a research support position at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, focused on assisting the work involved in finding treatments and vaccines for a multitude of infectious diseases including, most recently, COVID-19.
