PHLP students plan, present public health exhibits at the UNC Science Expo

April 18, 2016

Where can you find healthy vegetable and beverage recipes, learn how to lift a box without injuring your back and figure out how vaccinations work?

Why, at the annual North Carolina Science Festival’s UNC Science Expo, of course!

For four years, Lori Evarts, MPH, clinical assistant professor in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health’s Public Health Leadership Program (PHLP), has led her project management classes to develop and present annual exhibits at the Science Expo, which is part of North Carolina’s statewide celebration of science for young people.

This year’s event, held on April 9, was attended by about 8,500 Triangle-area children and their families. Many visitors stopped by the four booths staffed by Evarts’ students to enjoy interactive exhibits on public health topics.

PHLP student Jackie Queen (left) describes to Science Expo visitors the amount of sugar in some of their favorite soft drinks.

Robby Palm (left) demonstrates how to lift heavy weights in ways that protect one’s back and knees. Jan Smith (second from left), also a PHLP student, looks on.

The “Knobby Knees” team (comprised of Bobby Palm, Malika Rakhmankulova, Jan Smith and Manasi Tannu), taught visitors how to exercise in ways that prevent osteoarthritis of the knee – including how to lift and carry heavy items.

The “Beat Disease” group (Avani Desai, Javier Galan, Rinchen Lama and Barbara Muffoletto)
taught guests how vaccines work and why human papillomavirus vaccinations are important for both boys and girls.

The “Healthy Fats” team (Maya Carr, Dorey Glenn, Mara Howard-Williams and Kristen Said) guided visitors through a fat cell structure to learn how nutrients work, served vegetables with healthy dips and sent participants home with recipe cards for making their own healthy snacks.

Visitors to the “Healthy Beverages” team (Jackie Queen, Amy Sanchez, Mary Kate Shapley-Quinn and Tyler Warmack) could try a fruit-and-vegetable smoothie, take home the recipe, and discover an unsettling fact – exactly how many spoonsful of sugar are in their favorite juice or soda.

Expo visitors walk through the ‘Fat Cell,’ an exhibit that showed how foods have an impact on the human body.

People visiting the ‘Beat Disease’ exhibit could record on a giant chalkboard the reasons they believe it is important to be vaccinated.

“Each team applied project management principles to the planning, execution, monitoring, controlling and close-out of their booths in ways that were inspiring,” Evarts said. “Our students also were excellent at educating and sharing public health messages. The topics they chose really grabbed the attention of visitors young and old – and in-between.”

“We all started with the same assignment and budget,” said PHLP student Rinchen Lama, “but all the projects turned out very differently. It’s great to see how one’s team members influence the process – even with similar starts.”

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Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: David Pesci, director of communications, (919) 962-2600 or dpesci@unc.edu