Happy New Year, Blazers! The past year has been quite eventful, to say the least. Last semester, we honed in on the manifestations of racism in America, ranging from mass incarceration in Alabama to the lives of the formerly incarcerated after prison. A key takeaway…
Fall 2020 Schedule
2020 sure has been a whirlwind! It feels like just yesterday we were discussing science communication at the Alumni House, but it also feels like that took place years ago. In deciding what our semester spotlight should be for this fall, it became clear over…
Black & Blue: What’s Causing America’s Bruise?
June 19, 2020 by Stacy Moak, UAB Professor of Social Work Discussions of police in everyday life have triggered strong reactions from citizens as long as we have had the concept of police. Arguments over whether they should wear…
Holes in the safety net of healthcare
June 8, 2020, by Katherine Hymel Downs, RN, MPH Many of us were forced to delay routine healthcare in one way or another due to COVID-19, whether a dental cleaning or counseling session. In fact, according to researchers at Harvard University, visits at ambulatory…
The State of Menstruation
May 20, 2020, by Sara Harper, LHC Student Assistant Humor me, if you will, and think back to the first time you learned about periods. As I was entering the dreaded “tween” years, my mother pulled me aside for yet another “big girl talk,”…
Unintended Consequences: COVID-19 Policy
May 8, 2020, by Sean McMahon and Sara Harper, LHC Staff The COVID-19 pandemic seems to have launched us into the great unknown. It’s hard to predict what will change in the world outside the safety of our homes. While news outlets are operating…
The role of private sector in public health
April 23, 2020, by Aarin Palomares, Deputy Director, Global Handwashing Partnership (FHI 360) There is often a misconception that the private sector has no role in public health. However, the private sector can be a valuable partner in addressing poverty, injustice, and inequality around the…
Checking the Facts (or Fiction)
April 9, 2020, by Sean McMahon, LHC Program Manager We’ve all had our experiences with fake news. I mean real, legitimately fake news. The catchy headlines that beg you to click them because they’re so outrageous and you’re already biased towards believing anything so…
Census 2020: How and Why
March 26, 2020, by Ariann Nassel, LHC Director of Geospatial Data Visualization The first wave of letters containing Census forms were mailed out to approximately 140 million households two weeks ago and last week those letters were followed up with reminder letters for households that…
Birmingham Policy Surveillance Initiative
February 28, 2020, by Tessa Graham (Program Coordinator II, Office of Public Health Practice) and Sean McMahon (LHC Outreach Coordinator) Two Ambitious Projects… Policy Surveillance Project While much public health policy is enacted at the state or federal level, US cities play a crucial…
A Big Week for the LHC
Last week was a big one for the Lister Hill Center (hence, the delayed blog post). We sent one member of the team to Washington, DC while the rest stayed in Birmingham for the long-awaited seminar/workshop from the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. On…
Why Are You Yelling? – The Significance of Protests
January 31, 2020 by Sara Harper, LHC Student Intern Intro Last Saturday, January 25th, I participated in an anti-war protest, organized by the Birmingham chapter of the Party for Socialism & Liberation, in response to political strife over the assassination of Iranian General Qasem…
LHC Agenda – Spring 2020
After a restful holiday season, the Lister Hill Center is excited to announce its lineup of spring events! Our semester spotlight is Science Communication. How we talk about science and research matters, and we wanted to explore some best practices related to that. We’ll start…
AL Public Service Commission Hearing for Solar Reform
December 2, 2019 by Sara Harper, LHC Student Intern Thursday, November 21, I attended the Alabama Public Service Commission’s public rate hearing on Alabama Power’s fee on solar producers. Alabama Power charges solar users who are plugged into the “grid” $5 per kW…
Built Environment Symposium Re-Cap: Four Perspectives
November 21, 2019 by the LHC Team Each Fall and Spring semester we focus in on a public health topic to encourage policy action among our stakeholders. We call this our Semester Spotlight program. This Fall was our first semester rolling out this program;…