The BEACH lab after a session at APHA 2014
Several members of the BEACH Lab visited the Big Easy for the 2014 American Public Health Association 142nd Annual Meeting held from Nov 16-19 in New Orleans, LA. Some of the highlights from the conference included:
- Stephanie Child presented a poster based on data from the Kansas City Neighborhood and Park Study entitled “Social cohesion as a mediator of the association between walkable neighborhoods and self-rated health in a Midwest city”.
- Two other students swept the Physical Activity Section student awards: Morgan Hughey won the best poster award for her abstract entitled “Differences in active transportation versus recreational users on a prominent community trail” and Gina Besenyi won the best oral presentation award for her abstract entitled “Park proximity and multiple health outcomes: Findings from the United States and Australia”.
- Gina also presented with community partner Trimease Carter from Eat Smart Move More South Carolina about “The Healthy Young People Empowerment (HYPE) Project: Facilitator’s Guide”. The guide won the Public Health Education and Health Promotion Section’s public health training materials contest, a prestigious national recognition.
- Finally, Gina also presented a spatial analysis entitled “Associations of neighborhood greenness with objectivity measured physical activity in urban and rural middle school youth”.
Morgan holding an alligator from the swamp
Celebrating Stephanie’s birthday in New Orleans
While in New Orleans, various members of the team – including undergraduate BEACH Lab research assistant Mara Steedley – also took some time to enjoy all that this exciting city has to offer. Some of the festivities included a walking tour of the French Quarter, a swamp tour, beignets at Café Du Monde, and some fun evenings with colleagues and friends on Bourbon Street.
See you in Chicago for the 2015 APHA meeting!
APHA Physical Activity section before the New Orleans walking tour