On Friday, the Colorado School of Public Health at Colorado State University showcased the capstone projects of its Masters of Public Health (MPH) students. Ten MPH students, nine from the Colorado State University campus and one from the University of Northern Colorado campus, presented their capstone work to an audience of fellow students, faculty, staff, and community members.

The capstone is the culminating academic experience in the Masters of Public Health program, combining curriculum knowledge with practice-based learning. Students select a project based on their academic interests and career goals, then utilize the skill set learned in their MPH coursework to carry it out.

Projects often reflect the concentration of the student, and can take place in the local community or around the world. For example, Courtney Bell, in the Physical Activity and Healthy Lifestyles concentration, worked with childcare centers to help design a tool to track the activity and nutrition of children within the centers. Adrienne Pincetl, in the Animals, People, and the Environment concentration, surveyed those who have backyard chickens in the Fort Collins area about safe handling of eggs and chickens. Christina Taylor, a student in Epidemiology, examined how exposure levels to occupational beryllium leads to beryllium sensitization and/or chronic beryllium disease.

For more information about practice-based learning, click here.

For more information on the presentations, click here to access the event program.