Conestoga's Bachelor of Environmental Public Health (BEPH) and Bachelor of Applied Health Information Science (BAHIS) programs hosted the virtual Public Health & Informatics Symposium on April 23. The event showcased student work, provided guided conversations on emerging public health and informatics issues, and offered opportunities for professional networking.
“I’m very honoured to be with great faculty, very talented students and the dedicated community partners who really support this program,” said Dr. Veronique Boscart, executive dean, School of Health & Life Sciences, as she welcomed guests to the event. “Together we are transforming this community.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, opened the symposium with an engaging discussion on separating the sense and nonsense in science. Schwarcz has authored 18 books and has received numerous awards for teaching chemistry and interpreting science for the public, including the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Grady-Stack Award for demystifying chemistry.
Following the keynote, student work was highlighted through BEPH Ignite Talks that focused on emerging environmental public health issues, and through a virtual display of hand hygiene posters created by students in Infection Prevention and Control.
Research poster presentations from this year’s graduating BEPH class were also available for viewing, with topics that included textile waste, online food delivery provider: gaps & trends, seafood fraud in Canada, and how COVID-19 has affected air quality in three Ontario cities.
The symposium also highlighted the dashboards created by BAHIS students in Decision Support Systems. This spring, they learned advanced Business Intelligence practices and applied them to a healthcare organization scenario to derive analytics regarding the impact of COVID-19.
BAHIS students in the Solving Problems in Health Informatics course also shared videos demonstrating their understanding of theoretical concepts and how to apply them to practical healthcare situations.
To view student work as well as Dr. Schwarcz’s keynote, visit the Public Health & Informatics Symposium website.
Awards celebrating the adversity, adaptability and dedication of students and community partners were presented in the following categories to close the symposium:
Bachelor of Environmental Public Health awards
- Abell Top Research Project Award
- First: Jennifer Skuce
- Second: Andrea Hoeper
- Third: Olivia Van Osch
- Abell Awards of Excellence - Best Project Year 1 or Year 2 - ePortfolio: Hilary Croft
- Abell Awards of Excellence - Year 3 or 4 - Hand Hygiene Poster: Breanna Badea
- Abell Awards of Excellence - Year 1 - Emerging Issues Ignite Talk: Alexandra Vanriel
- Abell Awards of Excellence - 2nd Year - Putting the E in BEPH: Diana Jarnevic
- Ashley Zell Perseverance Award: Aaron Homuth
- BEPH Community Partner Award: NSF International
- BEPH TD Financial Award: Daniel Ajirobaz
- Emerging Professional Award: Olivia Van Osch
- Evolving Communicator Award: Alexandra Vanriel
- Student Engagement Award: Brandon Gries
- Student Leadership Award: Breanna Badea
Bachelor of Applied Health and Information Science awards
- BAHIS Community Partner Award: Inner City Health Alliance
- BAHIS TD Financial Award: Melanie Vu
- CHIMA Pinnacle Award: Jonathan Bougram
- Dashboard Award: Marianne Downs, Navjot Dhami, Ricky Richards, Tese Ogbe and Tifini Kardol
- Leadership Award: Gabrielle Edwards
- Solving Problems in Healthcare Award
- First place: Tese Ogbe, Tifini Kardol, Ricky Richards
- Second place: Brandi-Jean Hughes, Rachelle Rechtoris-Stafford, Kishany Subramaniam
- Teamwork Award: Jessica Lukasik, Tifini Kardo, Ricky Richards
Visit the School of Health & Life Sciences for more information about Conestoga's Bachelor of Environmental Public Health and Bachelor of Applied Health Information Science degree programs.