Career & Tools
Maximilian Stiefel, a second-year Ph.D. student in Geography, attended the 2016 Annual CUGH Global Health Conference as the graduate student ambassador. Read on to find out more about his experience!
UCSB recently sent two students to âbe ambassadors for UCSB âto the 2016 Annual CUGH Global Health Conference. âFor those who don't know, the goal of âthe Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) is to build interdisciplinary collaborations and facilitate the sharing of knowledge to address global health challenges. It assists members in sharing their expertise across education, research, and service. Maximilian Stiefel, a second-year âPh.D. student in Geography attended as âour graduate student ambassador. The GradPost sat down with Maximillian to find out what his experience was like.
How and why did you become a grad ambassador to the health conference? I'm studying evolutionary demography (which is the study of how evolution influences demographic processes and patterns, and vice versa). âI thought the global health conference would be a great way to connect with global health researchers and professionals, especially since there are no health programs here on our campus. It was also a way to explore âabout what it means to do global health research.
What did you learn from the experience of being an ambassador?
First, I âlearned about global health. âIt's a newer field. âThere was a big emphasis at the conference âon maintaining a holistic approach and not âsiloing off sub-disciplines, âworking in a more integrative fashion and keeping things at a larger level of thought. For example, there was a session on how corruption influences health program efficacy in terms of resource allocation and misalignment with programmatic efforts.
What was the result of the health conference?
âIt's bringing life to a new field (or really a synthesis of previously unlinked fields) and maintaining that synthesis and holistic approach moving forward in human and planetary health issues.
Anything else you like to add about the experience or the conference?
It was a âsuper great conference for networking. âThey had deans of medical schools, presidents of universities, directors and CEOs of non-profits and businesses. It was a good way to âmeet people who had achieved a high level of influence. An excellent opportunity for any grad student.