At Colgate’s annual Awards Convocation, held earlier this week, The Upstate Institute recognized two students in the Class of 2016, Jennifer (Jenn) Dias and Kayleigh Bhangdia, for their outstanding work as fellows in the Summer Field School program.
Jennifer Dias ’16 (left) and Kayleigh Bhangdia ’16, winners of the 2016 Upstate Institute Awards
In Summer 2014 Jenn worked with the Madison County Department of Health, conducting a series of interviews to help that office learn more about emergency preparedness in our region. She then followed up on this work again in Summer 2015 while partnered with the Innovative Readiness Training program in Norwich, NY, which brought nearly 200 members of the armed forces to Norwich High School, providing free medical, dental, and veterinary care to area residents over a 10 day period. Jenn helped organize volunteer staff for the event and developed a survey tool to help assess the impact of IRT. Upon graduation, Jenn will begin an internship this summer at Women and Brigham’s Hospital in Boston. She will work as a clinical research assistant in the Division of Endocrinology, Hypertension, and Diabetes on a study seeking to reduce the risk for type II diabetes among women with gestational diabetes.
Kayleigh also worked with the Madison County Department of Health in Summer 2015. A Geography major, Kayleigh used her skills in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map sources of well water use by private homes in the county. Kayleigh’s work supported the Department of Health in a successful grant proposal to the Centers for Disease Control, which will bring more than $500,000 in grant money to the department over the next 5 years, to learn more about well water quality in our county. This summer Kayleigh has an internship with Partners in Health, an organization recognized for its impacts on global public health. She hopes to pursue a Master’s Degree in Public Health after working in the field for a year or two.
Congratulations, Jenn and Kayleigh, and thanks for your great work through Upstate’s Field School and for your contributions to our community!