SUNY Potsdam Department of Public Health & Human Performance Welcomes Campus & Community Members for Public Health Day
SUNY Potsdam alumna and adjunct faculty member Missi Wooldridge ’08 was the keynote speaker for Public Health Day 2024 (Photo credit: Ayisha Khalid ’24).
SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Public Health and Human Performance hosted its second annual Public Health Day on Friday, April 26, as the College welcomed 130 guests from local high schools and partners at non-profit organizations to celebrate public health and energize the next generation of practitioners in St. Lawrence County.
Public Health Day is designed to promote the discipline of public health and celebrate champions in our communities. Fifty-five students from four area school districts took part in the event, along with current SUNY Potsdam students, faculty and staff members, as well as representatives from local non-profit and governmental organizations focused on public health.
“It was an amazing celebration of the power of public health in the North Country. Ms. Wooldridge's keynote prepped us for real and honest conversations about the challenges of harm reduction work in this high risk, rural area. My hope is that we inspired some future public health leaders,” said Professor Dr. Kelly Bonnar, the public health program director.
Participants were able to choose from breakout sessions focused on sugar’s effect on the brain, living with domestic violence, tobacco’s toll on the body, early childhood intervention in rural areas and the role of community-based organizations in public health. Current students in the public health program gave poster presentations on their culminating internship experiences as part of the day, helping to introduce the potential career paths in the field.
The conference opened with a keynote address from Missi Wooldridge ’08, founder of Healthy Nightlife, a consulting firm focused on education, promoting healthy lifestyles and embracing harm reduction initiatives. After graduating from SUNY Potsdam with her degree in community health (now renamed public health), she earned a Master of Public Health degree with a concentration in social behavioral sciences and community health from the University at Albany. Prior to founding Healthy Nightlife, she served as executive director of DanceSafe, a non-profit promoting health and safety in the electronic dance music community. She has been featured in national media outlets ranging from the New York Times, Boston Globe and the Los Angeles Times, to Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine and Cosmopolitan. A published researcher in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, she regularly speaks at conferences in the U.S. and Canada.
During an awards presentation, one current SUNY Potsdam student and one local high school student were honored for going above and beyond in their work to improve the health of the local community. The award recipients included Shelbie Alguire ’24 of Gouverneur, N.Y., and Anant Bansal, a student at Potsdam High School and chair of the St. Lawrence County Youth Committee.
The second session of Public Health Day was designed for campus community members and local partners. Titled “’The After Party’ Safe Vibes Only: Party Drugs and Harm Reduction,” the session included a documentary film screening of “What’s in My Baggie?” as well as a Q&A session with Wooldridge and a workshop on administering Narcan, drug testing information and more practical skills.
Public Health Day was sponsored by SUNY Potsdam’s School of Education and Professional Studies, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program and the Northern Area Health Education Center.
Additional organizations provided presentations during the event, including Healthy Nightlife, Planned Parenthood and the Seaway Valley Prevention Council.
SUNY Potsdam’s Department of Public Health and Human Performance offers career-ready bachelor’s degrees in public health and exercise science, plus its 100 percent online master’s degree in public health. The department also has popular minors in wilderness education, therapeutic recreation and more. For more information, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/department-public-health-and-human-performance.
About SUNY Potsdam:
Founded in 1816, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America’s first 50 colleges—and the oldest institution within SUNY. Now in its third century, SUNY Potsdam is distinguished by a legacy of pioneering programs and educational excellence. The College currently enrolls approximately 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its challenging liberal arts and sciences core, distinction in teacher training and culture of creativity. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu.