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As a teenager growing up in rural Iowa, John Meeker spent countless hours in the corn and soybean fields doing farm work to make money. “We would often be out ‘walking beans,’ where you go row by row through soy fields to kill weeds,” he says. He and his friends would receive an unmarked bottle of liquid and would either walk or ride a tractor as they sprayed.
Dana Dolinoy’s work has been instrumental to putting the field of environmental epigenetics on the map. “It was a combination of timing and luck—that I started grad school at the time [the agouti] mice were becoming famous, and I got to start on this path,” she says.
Shannon Hamilton has always loved the outdoors. That’s part of what drew her to pursue a master’s degree in environmental health sciences from Michigan Public Health. “I’m very interested in how environmental exposures during our lifetime influence our health,” she said.
After the Navy, I went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Armstrong State University in Savannah, Georgia. Then I came to the University of Michigan to work as a research staff member for Rick Nietzel, associate professor of environmental health sciences. After a year and a half, I began the master’s program in industrial hygiene and earned my Master of Science degree in 2016.
Rick Neitzel didn't always want to be an industrial hygienist or a professor. In college he explored programs in aerospace engineering and aviation safety before finally settling on a safety program. But it wasn't until he took a class on industrial hygiene that he knew he'd found his calling.
Michigan Public Health alum Pamela Pugh was appointed chief health advisor to the city of Flint earlier this year. An outside observer might assume a clear path from an advanced degree in public health to this role. But Pugh’s story of what brought her to her current position is filled with challenge, perseverance, and unending dedication.