New Beginnings

I’ve always been drawn to the promise of spring. Aside from the annoyance of pollen—and the topsy-turvy weather patterns we have in Georgia—nature reaches its pinnacle of beauty this time of year. What I like the most about the season is what it represents: new beginnings, rebirth, and hope.  

As an academic institution, spring marks the finish line for many of our students when they receive their degrees at commencement (a word defined as “a beginning or start”). With graduate school behind them, our students find themselves at a new precipice: the job search. In this issue of Rollins Magazine, we take a close look at trends we are seeing right now in the public health job market, ways to stand out from the crowd, and tips for achieving workplace well-being.  

We keep a close pulse on the job market at Rollins as we continuously improve our academic offerings. I am eager to introduce our inaugural Master of Health Administration cohorts and students beginning our new DrPH concentrations and online MPH options.  

I’m also looking forward to welcoming students in our traditional programs, many of whom will participate in our first Summer Start program, as well as our new faculty and endowed scholars.  

During seasons of change, I always try to find some space to rest, reset, and reflect. It’s in these quiet moments when I can meditate on my personal goals and convictions.  

In this issue of our magazine, a few of our faculty and staff give us some insights into what keeps them motivated in our story, “Why I Do This.”  

For many, spring represents a season for decluttering and deep cleaning. In our feature “Home is Where the Health Is,” writer Shelby Crosier conducts a deep dive into the many facets of public health at work within the four walls of our living spaces. Outside of the home, this issue highlights two local community engagement projects right now: one related to PFAS exposure in Hall County, Georgia, the other related to water quality along the South Fork of Peachtree Creek.  

At a national level, our researchers recently launched the VaxImpact Map to forecast the ways children could be impacted if vaccination rates drop, which Rob Spahr writes about for our data visualization story.  

Our researchers are also digging into some transformative research through our newly funded accelerator projects which are looking specifically at mental health, environmental exposures and breast cancer, digital wearables and health, using AI to detect pre-eclampsia and create age-tailored messaging to improve cancer treatment, an intervention to reduce levels of forever chemicals, and tools to measure ultra-processed foods and their impacts.

The great Bill Foege (profiled in this issue) once said, “if you want to do important things, work on important problems.”  

That’s what we strive to do every day here at Rollins. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the ways we are doing that in our magazine.