Morgan Roberts recently graduated with a Master’s in Public Health from New York University School of Global Public Health. She currently works as an Occupational Health and Safety Consultant for Dr. Gershon on the NYU Transit Worker Study in creating resources for the NYC Transit Workers Union to respond to the next infectious disease pandemic.
At NYU, Morgan was a teaching assistant for two NYU courses: Global Health Foundations and Urban Health & Equity. She has been involved with the NYU Applied Global Public Health Initiative (AGPHI), working in multiple roles such as a French Translator, Emergency Context Policy Researcher, and currently as a Project Manager. She is also in the midst of a Climate Change Advocacy Specialist fellowship with the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), where she is exploring the public health implications of climate change.
To learn more about Morgan, we spoke with the master’s student about her passion for public health, her work through the AGPHI Lab with the Lebanon Ministry of Health, and her plans following graduation. Read our Q&A with Morgan below!
Interviewed by Meryl Phair.
Q: What sparked your interest in pursuing a career in public health?
A: My interest in public health started when I was teaching English in China, and I was noticing a lot of systemic issues within health care. That led into my decision to study Public Health and International Development during my undergrad at Brigham Young University. I did a study during my undergrad on different policies for COVID-19 in the workplace. We did a cross-sectional study that surveyed thirty-six countries’ policies compared to the World Health Organization (WHO), looking at things like which policies were most effective. This experience also led to pursuing the global health concentration here at NYU.
In my first year at NYU, I was focused on maternal and child along with reproductive health and did several program experiences through that. Now I’m back in the occupational human rights space and am working with Dr. Gershon on developing a pandemic plan for transit workers in New York City.
I’ve also done some more policy work through the AGPHI Lab in partnership with the Lebanon Ministry of Health as well as surveillance and prevention work for a neglected tropical disease called Mycetoma. So, there’s been a lot of places I’ve been pulled into that I didn’t expect.
Q: What has your experience in emergency preparedness and response been like?
A: I’m just diving into that space. With the AGPHI Lab partnership with the Lebanon Ministry of Health, I’ve been working to create different toolkits for primary care physicians along with geographic mapping so people in the region know where their health facilities are. On Google Maps there’s limited information on where health facilities within this region are located. Also, working on the pandemic plan for transit workers has tied into my developing understanding of global emergency preparedness.
Q: Has there been anything in class you’ve been working on that has changed your perspective on how you think about global health and preparedness?
A: I’m currently a teaching assistant for Dr. Boufford, who teaches a class on Urban Health and Equity. That’s been interesting for me to dive deeper into because public health even on a global level, relies heavily on how cities function and there’s so much that goes holistically into making countries run. I was able to go to a conference this past week, Driving Positive Social Impact for Women Workers in Global Supply Chains hosted by United Nations Foundation and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and they talked about supply chains, guidelines for workers, and promoting health within urban areas. It’s one of those things where the more you learn, the less you feel like you know because there’s so much involved.
Q: Are there any major issues you think are critical for the public health field right now?
A: I think climate change is probably the most pressing issue along with infectious diseases, but they go in tandem. Rising temperatures due to climate change can affect mosquito prevalence for example, that can change the range of mosquitos and increase the spread of diseases such as malaria. I’m doing a climate fellowship right now with the Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), and it’s been great to meet and hear different perspectives from people with more of a clinical background versus my own public health focused experiences. During the program you decide on a project and do three advocacy activities throughout your term, so I’ve been learning a lot.
Q: What projects are you working on through the fellowship?
A: The advocacy ones are smaller so it can be writing your local representatives, and with the bigger ones I’ve been learning more about the dangers of fossil fuels in the home. I haven’t developed the project yet, but I’m thinking about creating a toolkit for advocating for the removal of gas stoves with landlords. I have a friend who works in housing law, and I would love to collaborate and think through what we would need to bring to a landlord to facilitate replacing gas stoves for electric stoves from a public health perspective.
Q: With all your work in public health, what are some ways you handle stress and pressure?
A: I feel like because most of my public health experience has been applied research, I’m in a way a step back from the stressors that come up with more people interfacing public health work. I think it’s a little easier for me to go into a systematic mode where I’m looking at these frameworks of how things should be done and trying to have a whole system’s approach which we then bring to partners who have more in-depth understandings of community needs. Something I do try to keep in mind, and it can be a hand balance, is when you do get invested in a project or community, you have to stay passionate about the work, but also not let it disable your ability to deliver quality products.
Additionally, while working as an intern at the International Rescue Committee, connecting with clients and making sure I asked for support when needed from my wonderful supervisor Jonessa White, were both essential to handling the pressures of the job.
Q: What is next for you after you complete your MPH degree?
A: Most of the public health work I’m doing is resource development, program planning, monitoring, and evaluation. I think having a team-built environment, like through the AGPHI lab I’ve been managing, has been a great experience in project management. I would love to eventually be in a space where I could do more of that kind of work. I’m interested in health access, refugee and migrant health, women’s health, and occupational health so I think those can be intertwined in a lot of ways.
I’m open and letting my experiences take me where they take me because I’m passionate about a lot of areas. Even if you end up in a certain area, those technical skills can shift over to other areas. I think that ability to be flexible is one of the reasons I got into this field!