Students Engaged in Public Health

President: Maria Cabrera Martin 

Hello! I joined SEIPH because I really liked the environment and the other members were very welcoming when I first joined. My favorite parts of SEIPH are that I am able to be around like-minded people and it feels easy to get along with everyone. My goals for this semester are to increase volunteer opportunities and membership engagement. Some of my other commitments include being an undergraduate research assistant in the Restoring H.O.P.E. Lab, working as a BSOS Peer Mentor, and other extracurriculars. 

Vice President: Sofia Plastino

Hi, I’m Sofia! I’m passionate about public health outreach and volunteering and I joined SEIPH for the amazing community that shares my passion. My goals for the club are to collaborate with other organizations and build a larger SEIPH community on campus! Besides SEIPH, I am also a supporter for Lean On Me and a part of the DSCN Psyc Lab on campus.

Secretary: Caitlin Moroney

I joined SEIPH due to my interest in public health and to meet new people. I love being able to help plan and run events for the club on campus, such as coffee and chats and fundraisers. I hope this semester we can recruit more members and do more service events on and off campus. Outside of SEIPH, I’m also a research assistant for the Big Emotions Across Development (BEAD) Lab on campus. In my free time, I like reading, baking, traveling, hanging out with family and friends (+my cat), and listening to music.

Treasurer: Emma Ghozati

Hi, my name is Emma! Even though I’m not majoring in public health, I’ve always been curious about it so being a part of SEIPH has been a great exposure to public health for me. Some of my favorite parts of SEIPH are tabling, fundraising, and getting to know everyone in the club. Other than SEIPH, I am a part of the crochet club and pre-dental clubs.

Event Coordinator: Nate Koshy

I joined SEIPH to explore my interest in public health, gain a deeper understanding of current global health issues, and positively engage with the community through public health advocacy. I really enjoy the opportunities to connect with like-minded people in SEIPH and to behind-the-scenes work to help facilitate events for the rest of the club. My main goal for this club this semester is to help plan the official SEIPH conference and all the other super fun events we have planned! Aside from SEIPH, I am a part of the Beekeeping Club.

Marketing & Recruitment: Annika Means

Hi, I’m Annika! I joined SEIPH because I was interested in learning more about public health, and I wanted to get more involvement with public health-related community service. My favorite parts of SEIPH are participating in events where we get to interact with the UMD community, and getting to know other SEIPH members. This semester my goals are to continue building experiences to prepare me for PA school, as well as becoming more involved in community service. I am also an undergraduate research assistant with the PHAB Lab at UMD, where we conduct clinical research to study the effect of ventilation on human-to-human transmissions of respiratory illnesses.

Eligibility and Membership Requirements

SEIPH is open to all students with an interest in public health science and putting the theories and ideas they learn in class into action while serving the greater College Park community.

For more information contact Jessica Moore-Solorzano, SEIPH's Faculty Advisor, at jms15@umd.edu.

Annual SEIPH Conference 

The SEIPH Signature Conference is held to highlight our committee's achievements and spotlight our dedicated members. The conference takes place annually and we invite the School of Public Health department chairs and professors to speak at our conference while showcasing all of the hard work our committees have done through the presentation of posters. We also highlight our members for all of their contributions to SEIPH.

SEIPH Committees 

SEIPH is proud to include three subcommittees which focus on Environmental Health, Minority Health and Mental Health. 

Environmental Health Committee

Our mission as the Environmental Health Committee is to take into account the social determinants of health, which may be influenced by the state of the environment in which we live. We are working towards remediating environmental concerns and injustices on campus in order to better the natural and built environment of College Park, in which we reside. In order to do this, we provide environmentally informed programs and activities for both active members and members of the College Park community including raising awareness of environmental hazards on campus and hazards to the College Park ecosystem, as well as what we as students can do to help the environment as a whole. 

Some of these activities include campus clean ups, sustainable candle making events (by reusing everyday jars and containers into candle tins), and having engaging and important current events discussions about current environmental health issues in order to educate ourselves about current environmental crises, as well as what we can do to help. We work to provide further education on environmental health topics to add to the knowledge of how to advocate for a greener community, as well as to aspire to inspire a greater community through civic participation and strive to develop a passion for environmental health in others. 

Our members included committee chair Shachar Gazit-Rosenthal (Spring 2023), Meghan Hobbs (Spring 2024), Miranda Mathews (Spring 2023), Beata Assadi (Spring 2023), Kousalya Gaddam (Spring 2026), Sindhu Paritala (Spring 2023), Maria Ahmed (Spring 2024), Cecelia Follman (Spring 2026), and Katie Ringer (Fall 2025). Click the flyer below to learn more! 

Minority Health Committee

We are a public health group focused on improving living and health standards for people of color and emphasizing connecting with the local Prince George’s County / DC community. We prioritize giving back to the community by hosting drives, such as our clothing and menstrual product drives. We aim to engage college students with their surrounding community in efforts to improve health access. Our goal is to work towards raising awareness about health disparities for underrepresented communities of color through events and fundraisers while actively contributing to the fight against marginalization.

Some of the events we planned and hosted include the 28-Day Period Product Drive where the SEIPH Minority Health Committee partnered with the Greater DC Diaper Bank to accept period product donations in order to make them available to women in need in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Additionally, we reached out to a local high school in the Hyattsville area to host a Public Health Workshop on college options and careers in SPH. We also participated in an inter-committee thrifting fundraiser where we partnered with the local organization “From the Roots 240” to donate warm clothing to homeless and housing-insecure neighbors in the Hyattsville, Adelphi, and Riverdale areas.

Our members include the committee chair Riya Patel (Spring 2023), and members Alejandra Mata (Spring 2026), Aliza Zulfiqar (Spring 2026), Aneesh Singh (Spring 2026), Angie Nguyen (Fall 2023), Anjali Panickar (Spring 2024), Bethelhem Bahiru (Spring 2025), Camille Clarke (Summer 2023), Emma Sharpe (Spring 2023), Gloria Asante (Spring 2024), Haider Hussain (Spring 2025), Kaisha Snowden (Spring 2026), Lydia Walter (Spring 2025), Nneamaka Egwuatu (Fall 2024), and Rainer Ian Espiritu (Fall 2024). Click the flyer below to learn more! 

Mental Health Committee

Our mission as the mental health committee is to raise awareness about the best practices to maintain optimal mental health, not just for our members but for other students in the UMD community. As an institution responsible for cultivating minds and educating students, it is important for the University of Maryland to prioritize the mental health of its students. Mental health affects an individual's physical and social well-being, so dealing with mental health is essential to achieving public health goals. We hope to continue educating UMD students about mental health resources and working with outside organizations on events to improve mental health. We will also work to highlight mental health disparities of the community.

Some of our past events include hosting trivia at the self-care fair to inform students on campus resources and educating students on the relationship between public health and mental health. We organized our own self-care event called “You Matter Monday” which was an event with stations for UMD students and passerbyers to participate in to de-stress before midterm exams. Stations included arts and crafts, games, healthy snacks and an affirmation station for students to target different aspects of their mental health and well-being. Our members were encouraged to attend the Counseling Center’s Wellness Workshops which are designed to build students’ knowledge and skills on ways to improve their mental health and well-being. We also helped organize a second-hand clothing fundraiser that doubled as a clothing drive. Our profit would be used for future public health events and clothes that were not sold, were donated to Roots 240, an organization that focuses on helping people in poverty.

Our members include our committee chair Claudia Quach (Spring 2023), Emily Nguyen (2026), Gathoni Kinyatti (2025), Luarys Atanacio (2025), Shiloh Christian (2026), Xiao-Lian Warren (2025), Carl Wachowski (2023), Enny Onafuwa (2023), Patrice Nwomonoh (2023), Camila Garcia (2025), Bettina Shaju (2023), Modupe Sanyaolu (2025), Asmita Brahme (2026), Ayana Heijkoop (2023), and Owen Imuza (2023). Click the flyer below to learn more! 

SEIPH Involvement 

Individual Posters from SEIPH members. 

College Park

• Email us at seiph.umcp@gmail.com
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For more information contact Jessica Moore-Solorzano, SEIPH's Faculty Advisor, at jms15@umd.edu.