Join UsBCRRHRN member Jack Teng is a PhD candidate at UBC studying the environmental and social determinants of tick-borne diseases in the South Okanagan. He has examined how land use practices influence the distribution and density of ticks, and also how the risk perception of ticks and tick-borne diseases influence the adoption of protective ehaviors. He hopes to be finished his thesis in the spring of 2010. Jack was the recipient of a BCRRHRN Research Training Support Award, which he used to attend a unique training workshop in Montana. He describes his experiences below:
In August 2009, I attended the Ecohealth Student Workshop in Bozeman, Montana, with the support of the British Columbia Rural and Remote ealth Research Network. The workshop was a unique opportunity to interact with researchers pursuing disease ecology studies in rural areas, but in a relaxed environment. Indeed, the greatest successes of the orkshop were the many occasions when the students had an opportunity to interact with the mentors and guest speakers (i.e., Gary Tabor, Vanessa Ezenwa, Paul Cross, Scott Carver, Raina Plowright). These interactions occurred in relaxed, casual and intimate settings, such as over dinner or after a hike, which allowed for in-depth and candid conversations. In particular, the students had the full attention of the mentors and speakers, since they were not distracted by other goals or events that would have been common at a larger conference.
The workshop impacted my research in the area of rural and remote health in that the interaction with the mentors had given me insights on how to analyze my research results. Speaking with the mentors also made me discover literature that I hadn't known of before, but that would be critical to my completing my thesis. As well, the workshop helped me network with people with whom I intend to collaborate with in the future for research in rural and remote health. As well, from these interactions, not only did the students get extremely valuable feedback on their research projects and ideas on how to proceed on analyses, but also useful career advice on where to apply for research funding and where best to proceed after graduating, such as postdoctoral opportunities or other research positions.
