Lindsay Keeling, a graduate student at New Mexico State University, has been awarded the 2021 Student Fellowship in Injury Prevention from the Society for Public Health Education.
Keeling will research the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and substance use and suicidal behaviors during the yearlong fellowship, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Keeling, who is pursuing two master’s degrees in public health and social work, will collect data from a national sample of American adults this fall and present her findings at the annual Society for Public Health Education Conference next spring.
“I am grateful for this honor, which has offered me the privilege to combine my values with my intellectual and educational pursuits,” Keeling said.
The fellowship is one of the top honors for public health graduate students in the nation, said Jagdish Khubchandani, NMSU professor of public health sciences, who nominated Keeling for the fellowship.
“I am privileged to be a part of Lindsay’s academic journey and serve as a fellowship mentor,” Khubchandani said. “NMSU excels in graduate studies, and our students are on par with the best in the nation. Lindsay’s fellowship award is a testimony to the quality of graduate teaching and research experiences provided by NMSU.”
Keeling currently works as a graduate assistant for Elizabeth England-Kennedy, NMSU assistant professor of public health sciences, and assists with multiple ongoing projects, including an oral history project on Mesilla Valley Community of Hope’s transitional housing program, a Con Alma-funded project to reduce vaccine hesitancy in homeless individuals, and another project examining the impact of adverse childhood experiences on health in adulthood.
“In a short span of time, Lindsay has become a key team player in my projects,” England-Kennedy said. “Her work spans from complex literature reviews to ethnographic observations in the community emphasizing on the most vulnerable and marginalized individuals.”
At the end of the fellowship project, Keeling will receive a stipend, a free one-year SOPHE membership, complimentary registration at the SOPHE annual conference, and recognition from SOPHE and CDC.
“The opportunities afforded to me at NMSU through the Public Health Sciences Department, the Social Work Department, and the invaluable mentorship and supervision of faculty are shaping my career goals and interests in significant and critical ways,” Keeling said. “Research opportunities provided by NMSU allow me to learn how to conduct studies that add to the literature and contribute to public health and well-being and health equity.”
Read more about the fellowship at https://www.sophe.org/about/awards-fellowships-scholarships/sophecdc-student-fellowship-injury-prevention/.