Interview with Professor Katherine Hunting

Katherine Hunting, Ph.D., M.P.H. has been at GW since 1988. She has served as Associate Dean for Student and Faculty Development and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. Now, she's Professor and Vice Chair of Educational Activities in the School's Department of Environmental and Occupational Health.

What are your areas of focus?

When I came to GW, I worked on a major new research initiative on construction worker injuries, looking at how they happen and how we can prevent them. My colleagues and I spent a lot of time on construction sites talking to workers, and I realized how important it is to understand the jobs you're trying to fix. Once we learned how workers worked and the jargon they used, we were able to better understand what injured workers were telling us about their injuries, and visualize the ways they could become injured. And then we could do a better job figuring out prevention strategies.

Although I started out doing research, I soon discovered that I really like teaching as well, especially about research methods. I love helping graduate students think through all the shades of grey in study design, and to evaluate study quality. Epi studies provide much of the evidence upon which we base decisions about environmental health policy and practice – so our graduates must be very knowledgeable consumers of published research.

Last year, I also started teaching environmental health to undergraduates as well, and I love it. I feel that what they learn in this course is going to help them be better citizens and better professionals – no matter what kind of career they go into, they’ll appreciate the importance of environmental health. We try to introduce topics in a way that students can relate to personally and apply to their own lives: the safety of the food they eat, how their own lifestyle choices impact on sustainability, or what it means to them as well as the most vulnerable populations when there’s a code orange air quality alert.

Why GW?

We're unique because of our location. The opportunities that are available to our faculty, our staff, and our students in the Washington, DC region are amazing. And it helps us bring in a fascinating mix of people. We have interesting speakers come into our departmental seminar series, and most of our faculty members (both regular and adjunct) have had real-world practice experience on cutting-edge public health issues. Our location also means we have a great mix of students. They come from across the country and around the world. Many of them are already doing interesting public health work while pursuing their degrees.

Take, for instance, a recent class discussion on surveillance data, which is information about who's exposed to something potentially hazardous, like pesticides – or who’s gotten sick from that exposure. A student in the class works at the National Capital Poison Center, so she was able to talk about what it's like to see surveillance data from its very beginning – the phone call from a consumer who's concerned about a possible exposure, or from an ER doctor whose patient has been exposed. When we look at published surveillance data, we have to understand all of the things that influence which cases get reported and what information gets recorded about them. Since we use surveillance data to target our research activities and prevention resources, it's important to know what the data's strength and limitations might be. This student was able to give her classmates a real-world look at that.

You’ve gotten to know a lot of students over the years – tell me what that’s like.

For several years I taught the Introduction to Epidemiology class that new MPH students usually take in their first semester, and then as associate dean for students I was the one who got to call every graduating student's name at Commencement. Being able to meet students their first week in public health grad school and then say their names as they walked across the stage at graduation – that was wonderful.

I started teaching in 1990, so I’ve taught a generation of public health students. I feel a strong connection to our department’s alumni, because I’ve known all of them. I still remain connected to many alumni and love getting updates from them – some of them still email me with questions about something they’re doing, even to ask advice about a challenge they’re trying to work out in their jobs. I love hearing from former students about what they’re doing and the difference they’re making in environmental or occupational health. I know I’m helping to change the world when I send graduates out into the world to do good work!

Related podcast: “Environmental Sustainability: Musings from my garden”: While working in her garden at home, Professor Hunting reflects on how sustainability plays out in our individual lives.