Spotlight: Kathryn Dixon, ScM ’22

Kathryn is a PhD student at the Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. The concentration of her doctorate program is environmental health sciences, with a research focus on water quality and water risk communication. She is part of the Water Quality, Outreach, and Wellness Lab working under Dr. Rachel Goldstein. Day-to-day includes being a teaching assistant for an undergraduate environmental health course, working in the lab doing activities such as processing water samples and microbial analysis, attending classes, and doing coursework for her degree program.

I love the amazing variety of activities to do! Baltimore really feels like home and EHE at Johns Hopkins gave me the opportunity to find that feeling in a new city!

How did your degree from EHE prepare you for your current position or course of study?

The ScM program allowed me to learn from and do research with leading experts in diverse specialty areas of environmental health and develop a strong knowledge base and skills crucial to my doctoral program. EHE’s rigorous coursework and diverse class options allowed me to take many unique electives that I would not have had the opportunity to do elsewhere. I still reference them. The program also gave me the opportunity to complete three certificate programs: Climate and Health, Risk Sciences and Public Policy, and Environmental and Occupational Health. These certificate programs, especially Risk Sciences and Public Policy, equipped me with a distinct skill set in risk assessment and risk communication that will be essential to my PhD research and future career in public health. Finally, the mentorship I had from my adviser, Paul Locke, the program director, Megan Weil-Latshaw, and many other great professors contributed significantly to being prepared for my doctoral program.

What was your favorite thing about living in Baltimore or going to Johns Hopkins?

I love the amazing variety of activities to do in Baltimore! There are always new restaurants to explore, festivals to attend, museums, and coffee shops within walking distance from popular neighborhoods that are accessible with the Hopkins shuttle. Baltimore really feels like home and EHE at Johns Hopkins gave me the opportunity to find that feeling in a new city!