Emily Cooksey
Graduate Student – Environmental Health Sciences
Emily Cooksey is a PhD student in Environmental Health Science. Her research interests involve the fate, transport, and risk associated with pathogens in food and water. Her current research is focused on prevalence, persistence, and human health risks from exposure to pathogenic Vibrio spp. in oysters. Her past projects have included work with oysters, nearshore water quality, bacteria, viruses and fecal indicators. She completed her BS in biology from Central Michigan University in 2015 and her MSPH in Environmental Health Science from Tulane University in 2018.
Payton De La Cruz
Graduate Student – Public Health & Molecular & Cellular Biology
Fernanda Garavito
Laboratory Coordinator & Graduate Student – Public Health
PhD student at The University of Arizona, MEZCOPH studying Environmental Health Sciences with a minor Epidemiology.
I was born in Kapsabet, a rural farming village in Nandi County, Kenya. I graduated with Bachelors of Science in Medical Laboratory Science from Eastern Kentucky University in 2010. While as an undergraduate at EKU, I ran cross country and track for the University, obtaining All-Conference Athlete accolades every year. Immediately following graduation, I began working for the local hospital as a Medical Laboratory Scientist.
In 2015, I graduated from Eastern Kentucky University, with a Master’s in Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences and Certificate in Industrial Hygiene. As an MPH student, I was awarded the Graduate Research Expo’s Outstanding Poster award poster entitled: Can We Get E. coli Results Faster from Fluorescence Fluorometry? Additionally, during my time as an MPH student, I was a Graduate Assistant for the undergraduate Environmental Science, Clinical microbiology, and Water Supplies and Waste Disposal.
After graduation from The University of Arizona, I plan to utilize my work in educational and research experiences to improve the health of people in rural Kenya. In my spare time, I enjoy long distance training, racing and spending time with my two daughters, ages 10 and 5.
Research Projects: A Novel Approach to Quantifying Climate Changes Effects on Drinking Water Quality Santa Clarita Valley – Risk Communication Strategies of the Santa Clarita Valley Softeners Ban
Siyi Lei, MS
Thesis: A Novel Approach to Quantify Climate Changes Effects on Drinking Water Quality
Valerie Madera García, BS, MPH
PhD Student in Environmental Health Sciences
Valerie Madera García is a PhD student of the Mel & Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. She is a chemist and earned her BS from the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico in San Germán, Puerto Rico. She also earned her Masters of Public Health in Environmental Health from Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico. Her capstone project was Pharmacoepidemiological Profile of Dispensed and Prescribed Drug Use and Prevalence of Diagnosed Diseases in the Study Communities of Juana Díaz. In addition, she is the former Vice-President of the Junior Chamber International Local Chapter of San Germán. In April, she became the 2016 Public Speaking Champion of the Américas of the JCI Conference of the Américas in Punta del Este, Uruguay.
Research Interests: Water pollution and water-related diseases.
Languages Spoken: Spanish and English
Kimberley Munoz is an MPH student in the Environmental and Occupational Health concentration at the University of Arizona’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Her interests are industrial hygiene, worker safety, microbial exposures within healthcare settings and emergency preparedness. Her current research projects entail the possible risk areas when health care professionals inappropriately discard their gloves after assessing a patient and the risk of self-contamination for emergency medical services personnel after interacting with highly infectious disease patients when removing their personal protective equipment. When not in the laboratory, Kimberley loves enjoying time with family and friends out at the movies or comedy clubs, traveling, meeting new people and learning anything new.
Thesis: Environmental Contamination from Inappropriate Glove Disposal.
Mary Spitzer graduated with her MPH in Environmental and Occupational Health in May of 2023 and she received her BS in Public Health from the University of Arizona in December of 2021. Mary worked with ESRAC from January of 2022 to May of 2023 on multiple projects under both Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Verhougstraete.
My name is Daniel Troup, I graduated from UA in 2013 with a BS in Physiology and Molecular & Cellular Biology. I am a second-year MS student in Environmental Health Sciences at the Mel and Enid College of Public Health at the University of Arizona. My field of interest is environmental microbiology. My research interests include microbial water quality issues, environmental factors of hospital acquired infections, and microbial risk assessment. Past projects I have worked on include isolating and quantifying bacteria indicator organisms in agricultural irrigation canals and investigating hand hygiene intervention and its effect on microbial transmission in health care facilities. The current project I am working involves assessing the efficacy of a no-touch disinfection unit in the reduction of bioaerosols in healthcare facilities. I plan on continuing to a PhD to further study hospital acquired infections.
Melissa K Valdez
Graduate Student – Environmental Health Sciences, Epidemiology
Amanda Wilson is a PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences, and her research involves using simulation exposure modeling to estimate the influence of human behaviors and surface cleaning interventions on health risks. She completed her BS in Environmental Sciences and her MS in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Arizona. She was awarded Outstanding Senior of the Year from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 2013, was a National Science Foundation Bridge to Doctorate Fellow from Fall 2016 to Spring 2018, and was recently awarded the University of Arizona’s University Fellowship.