Opportunities to get experience being part of a One Health task force are few and far between for a university student. However, as the concept of One Health gains more traction and more focus, chances to get involved with working on a multidisciplinary team to tackle challenges become more available. This past summer I was fortunate enough to be accepted to attend the Rx One Health hosted by University of California, Davis. The program is normally hosted in Africa, but due to COVID was held in California and included a journey from the Sierra Mountains to the Pacific Coast exploring the various human, animal, and environmental interfaces. My cohort included people from all over who represented various fields including veterinary medicine, human medicine, public health, and research. I did not fully grasp what kind of journey I was about to go on when I packed my bags for Davis, or how the people I met would inspire and impact me. To any students or professionals with a passion for One Health looking to further their knowledge and experience, I cannot recommend this course enough.
The course was broken down into different sections based on where we were in California and covered a multitude of topics, each with the intention of preparing us for whatever activity we did next. The Davis portion of the trip laid the foundation for the rest of the journey, putting us all on somewhat equal footing. We covered the general One Health principles of spillover, epidemiology, wildlife conservation and ecology, climate change, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. California is known for many things including the beautiful scenery, fertile land, and wildfires; however, the Native Americans who steward this land and continue to live in California are not often included in this picture. Going into the next steps of our journey, we wanted to take into consideration how the Native Americans who came before us helped shape the landscape, and how without their stewardship the terrain changed. During those days at Davis we began to build relationships within our cohort and with the staff, but those friendships truly solidified in the following days spent camping at Malakoff Diggins State Park with our campsite bear, Goldie.
Malakoff Diggins used to be a hydraulic mine back in the California Gold Rush that has made a lasting impression on the environment. The mine area has been slowly reclaimed by nature, but has been found to release high levels of mercury during large rainfall events.[1] The mercury dates back to when this area was an active mine, as people would use mercury to bind and extract gold. During our stay at Malakoff Diggins, we got to work with one of the local scientists as she explained the history of the mine and how the mercury travelled downstream into connecting bodies of water, where it was bioaccumulating, or concentrating in the bodies of living things, particularly fish. Since the fish were contaminated, it became a public health concern as people were fishing affected bodies of water.[1] Getting to see how the state parks, researchers, non governmental organizations, and public health offices collaborated to try and develop solutions to prevent the mercury from getting downstream and put out a public health message was exciting. I never fully appreciated how many stakeholders were involved in these “wicked problems” and how they influenced the outcomes.
To fully comprehend this process, we hosted “townhalls” back at camp which entailed identifying a problem and the stakeholders involved or affected. We were then split into groups to represent the different stakeholders and had to work within our group to identify our goals, concerns, and potential allies and resistance. We would then reconvene for the town hall where all of the stakeholders got to bring forth their concerns and work towards an outcome with the aid of a moderator. The purpose of this exercise was to show how challenging meeting the needs of everyone is, and how only through compromise and being able to see from another perspective allows good solutions to come forward.
Beyond the “classroom” we had an amazing experience bonding as a class. Family-style meals, game nights, road trips, the PPE Olympics, nature hikes and daily bear sightings really helped our cohort bond. My tentmate and I, who had been strangers prior to coming on this trip, became good friends, especially after waking up to Goldie the bear sniffing our tent. Luckily Goldie was a friendly bear, maybe too friendly, and the staff all knew how to get rid of the bears. Speaking of the staff, they were all such inspiring people to get to learn from. Having the opportunity to get to know and learn from some of the brightest minds in the field in such a relaxed environment really allowed mentorships to develop. Overall, Malakoff Diggins was an eye opening experience and integral stop on this trip, and a great precursor to our next stop: the Hastings Natural History Reservation.
Hastings Natural History Reservation is a beautiful research outpost that is nestled within the Carmel Valley near the pacific coast that had been ravaged by wildfires the previous year. For Californians, wildfires are becoming the norm as climate change worsens, but the answer to minimizing the risk of wildfires could be in plain sight. This area was originally cared for by Californian Indians, who utilized prescribed burns to reduce chances of wildfires and to protect food and other resources essential to the indigenous communities.[2] By creating an initiative where indigenous tribe leaders, policy makers, and experts could work together and share knowledge and resources, the risk of wildfires could decrease.[2] While on property, we had the amazing opportunity to witness a land acknowledgement ceremony performed by a member of the tribe that used to live on the land. Hearing her speak about how her tribe shaped the land, it made me realize the importance of reconciling native knowledge with modern agricultural practices, and how this could further the One Health concept.
On the other side, we got the opportunity to drive into Monterey county and visit ALBA, which stands for Agriculture and Land-Based Training. This organization works to provide migrant farm workers with the necessary technical, financial, and life skills to operate their own agri-business through the Organic Farm Incubator.[3] We did a farm visit and got to chat with some of the local farmers and witness how ALBA had empowered them to pursue business ownership. Personally, I was very impacted by this because I have a passion for agriculture and got to work closely with ALBA on my capstone project.
Capstone projects are built into the course to provide students with a way to employ the knowledge and skills that have been cultivated on program and work in a multi-disciplinary team. This year, the capstone project was to write a policy brief for our assigned organization and to present them to the class at the end of our trip. Why were policy briefs selected as the capstone? Because these types of proposals are how One Health initiatives are funded and put into legislation. As someone who has zero experience with writing anything of this magnitude, I relied on members within my group who had experience doing this type of writing.
Being able to work on a multidisciplinary team made me fully appreciate the importance and value it offers. Where my information and experience ended, someone else was able to step in and supply the necessary knowledge, or using our combined knowledge and experience we could figure it out. Collaboration is what One Health is all about, and working together on this capstone project we were able to do real good for this community. Our proposal was forwarded to ALBA, who may decide to implement our changes and use this policy brief to get funding.
Reflecting back on Rx One Health, I realize how much the course inspired me and shaped me. It's hard to believe a two week course could have such an impact, but the experience is immersive and forces you to step outside your silo and grow. To anyone who is searching for internships or EMS in One Health I cannot recommend this program enough. If you are interested in applying or learning more, click this link.
References
(2011). Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park A project to remediate a hydraulic mine site and beloved State Park. Nevada City, California: The Sierra Fund.
Marks-Block, T. & Tripp, W., 2021. Facilitating Prescribed Fire in Northern California through Indigenous Governance and Interagency Partnerships. Fire, 4(3), p.37. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/fire4030037.
albafarmers.org. 2021. Alba | Our Work. [online] Available at: <https://albafarmers.org/our-work/> [Accessed 30 October 2021].
Comments