CORVALLIS, Ore. — In both her personal life and career, Olivia Davis has seen areas where public health communication can improve outcomes for adults and children.
But she’s also seen where it can be improved.
Those insights motivated Davis, a nutrition educator with the Oregon State University Extension Service, to apply to both the Master of Public Health program at Johns Hopkins University and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative, which funds public health fellows working on major national health challenges.
This spring, Davis learned she had been accepted to the program and awarded a Bloomberg Fellowship that covers full tuition and fees. Of the 50 students awarded fellowships this year, Davis is the only Oregon recipient.
“I’ve gone through public health services, and in my professional role I see that communication needs some work and understanding needs some work,” said Davis, the Family and Community Health and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) outreach coordinator in Jefferson County and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs community.
Commitment to community health systems
Davis hopes to contribute to improved systems and policy that support individuals who rely on public health services.
Jefferson County is Oregon’s most racially and ethnically diverse county, with an American Indian/Alaska Native population of 13% and a Hispanic/Latino population above 20%, according to 2023 Oregon by the Numbers. Warm Springs is the largest reservation in the state.
“I grew up in both Jefferson County and Warm Springs,” Davis said. “I come from a multicultural family. Personally and professionally, I’ve seen the differences in the on-the-ground needs and what state and national programs offer. Culturally diverse, small communities might not have a lot of resources or access to resources. There’s a lot of room for improvement in programs and policy.”
Fellowship focus: food systems for health
As a Bloomberg Fellow, Davis will focus on food systems as a pathway to community health. Fellows continue working with a collaborating organization during the program and for at least one year after graduation to apply what they learn. Davis’s collaborating organization is Oregon State University, through the College of Health and OSU Extension.
Her work currently centers on equity in food systems and education for rural Oregonians, multiethnic families and Tribal Nations. She also co-founded a cultural workgroup for OSU Extension employees working with Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, helping strengthen respectful and collaborative relationships across the state.
“We are pleased to support Olivia, and proud to become a part of the national network of collaborating organizations that support Bloomberg Fellows and engage with faculty and staff at the Bloomberg School of Public Health,” said Allison Myers, associate dean for Extension and engagement in the College of Health and leader of the Extension Family and Community Health Program. “We are ready to learn and grow with others, and to share OSU’s strengths in food systems for health and engaged community health research and practice.”
