Rose Tran’s Summer 2022 Experience
This summer, I had the opportunity to join the Lamm Lab in their Healthier Together Project. I initially joined in hopes of learning more about what research could look like in the field of public health. What I was able to gain from it was even more enriching. Through my time as a field data collection research assistant, I was able to examine the true impact that public health interventions can have, when we keep community members and stakeholders at the forefront of the conversation.
Through our focus groups and field surveying, we were able to directly assess the project’s progress and its perception in the county. Through this, we were also able to open a direct line of communication between UGA Extension and the community members in the counties. This opportunity allowed me to expand my knowledge of rural health and how food access and physical activity availability can be impacted through it.
Working closely with our Doctoral and Post-Doc mentors, Katie, Kristin, and Dr. Oyugi, I was able to improve my health communication and public speaking skills. Having to collect data in the field for us meant that we would need to be willing to go up to residents in the towns at various restaurants and grocery stores to ask them to fill out surveys. Seeing research efforts like these from the other side was eye-opening as many people either refused, were indifferent to it, or often were not aware of what we were doing. When this happened, we employed some public health communication strategies such as explaining our work, offering incentives, and helping them work through the surveys. This became very enriching as it helped us learn more about our project’s mission as well as connect better with the people in the community that these initiatives actually sought to impact. The surveys we were able to collect in these counties were then counted and analyzed in order to help us further improve the effectiveness of our project.
Working with other students on our trips, I was able to connect with other undergraduate researchers who share common research and career interests as me and who I often found in my classes after meeting them through this research. I was able to learn a lot about qualitative research and how to implement effective strategies that will benefit the community. I am very thankful for the opportunity to join this research team and get deeper insight into topics like food insecurity, rural barriers, and health communication. I hope to keep the connections that I have made this summer and continue to get involved in research that is just as enriching.
