(L to R) Brenda Pecotte de Gonzalez and Kerton Victory

Four graduate students from the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona were honored for their research in 2012.

Brenda Pecotte de Gonzalez, MPH, and Kerton Victory, M.S., received first and second place for their research in the Public Health category at the Annual Student Showcase, an academic research competition that takes place during Homecoming week in November.

First place in the Public Health category went to Brenda for her study, Assessment of the Unemployment Season in the Yuma Farmworker Community. Her research looked at unemployment in the San Luis, Arizona farm worker population. Brenda completed her MPH in the Policy and Management program in May 2012.

Laura M. Suppes

Second place went to Kerton, a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Health Sciences program for his study, Comparison of Fluoride Levels in Tap and Bottled Water in a U.S.-Mexico Border Community.

There are 12 categories of research in the Student Showcase. The judges examine and evaluate research based on quality of presentation, academic merit, value to the community, and overall impression. Prizes are given for both graduate and undergraduate research. Each first place project is awarded $250 and second place is awarded $125.

Laura M. Suppes, MPH, a doctoral candidate in the Environmental Health Sciences program received a $6,000 grant from the Arizona Board of Regents to support doctoral student research through a grant proposal process. 

Melissa Valdez

Laura will use the funds for her research to improve survey tools for estimating environmental exposures in public and private swimming pools (Validation of Exposure Techniques to Assess Swimmer Activities). Ingestion is a common source of exposure associated with gastrointestinal illness in swimmers. The information from her research will more accurately define what should and should not be considered an ingestion exposure during recreational swimming.

Melissa Valdez, a graduate student in the Master of Science in Environmental Health Sciences program, won top honors at the Environmental Research Grad Blitz on November 8, 2012 in Tucson. The annual competition which is hosted by the Institute of the Environment at the University of Arizona, is designed to bring together graduate students working on environment-related research to present their research findings.

Melissa received the Judges Choice Award for best linkage of scientific research to issues of concern within the community for her project titled, “Transfer and control of infectious microbes in emergency vehicles.”