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Joanne Pérodin: From Haiti to the White House and beyond

Alumna returns to help launch new SPH Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health department

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Graduate Joanne Perodin speaking at the podium
Joanne Pérodin, one of two inaugural graduate students of the newly transformed Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, speaks to a full house yesterday at the launch event.

As a kid, Joanne Pérodin ('05 BS, ’09 MPH) loved to take things apart and put them back together again, like her bicycle or keyboard, and thought she might become an engineer. By the time she began her studies in kinesiology in 2001 at UMD’s School of Public Health, she had already lived through the tumult of political violence in her home city of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, along with the increasingly disastrous effects of extreme weather events on Haiti’s environment and population. 

“It didn't take even heavy rain to see a lot of devastation such as flooding and landslides,” says Pérodin. “Growing up in that environment, I knew I was attracted to work related to issues around disasters, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do.” 

So after graduating from UMD, Pérodin paused her education to figure out what was next. She quickly put her kinesiology degree into practice as a part-time professional trainer and took a second part-time job in SPH’s Dean’s Office. There she learned of the then-new Maryland Institute for Applied Environmental Health or MIAEH.

“I remember thinking that MIAEH really aligned with what I was interested in – with its focus on environmental justice and global health and the diversity of faculty research interests.” 

Three SPH students wearing graduation clothes smile to camera
L to R: Fellow inaugural MIAEH graduate Erinna Kinney, EPIB student Sonja Williams and Joanne Pérodin at their 2006 graduation.

Pérodin became one of two inaugural full-time students in MIAEH’s graduate program, where she studied everything from air quality monitoring to the hazards of volatile organic compounds to designing longitudinal studies and meta-analyses. True to mission, Pérodin’s experience at MIAEH was deeply hands-on. 

“I was so lucky to have Dr. Amir Sapkota as my advisor – he really exposed me to collaborative spaces with experts from other academic institutions,” Pérodin says. “For my master’s thesis, I helped with research looking at air quality around schools in the U.S., working with Dr. Sapkota and faculty at Johns Hopkins.” 

As a graduate research assistant, Pérodin got the chance to study air quality in Nepal and conducted a meta-analysis assessing the impact of poor air quality on pregnant women and asthma rates. Pérodin graduated in 2009, with a Masters in Environmental Health Sciences, one of the first-ever graduates of MIAEH. 

On Sept. 26, UMD celebrated the transformation of MIAEH into the Department of Global, Environmental, and Occupational Health, or GEOH, with guests and speakers from across the field, including Pérodin, Dr. Cliff Mitchell - director of the Environmental Health Bureau at the Maryland Department of Health, UMD Provost Jennifer King Rice and SPH leadership. 

We're so proud of Joanne's work, and eager to continue our efforts at the forefront of tackling the most critical public health challenges of our time. 

Dr. Amy R. Sapkota

For Dr. Amy R. Sapkota, MPower professor and chair of the newly launched department, GEOH is here to meet some of the most complex health issues of our time. 

“GEOH serves such an important role in training our students in critical areas of global, environmental, and occupational health,” Sapkota said. “As we emerge from a global pandemic, we are asking, how do we better understand global health issues that can impact all of humanity, how do we better prepare for them, and how do we develop equitable solutions?” 

For Pérodin, finding equitable solutions to complex health problems is a call to action, whether at home in Haiti or the U.S. She is the senior director of climate equity at the CLEO Institute, a woman-led nonprofit dedicated to climate education, advocacy, and engagement. She also stays involved with communities at home including leading workshops on public health, environmental health and disaster preparedness with high school and college students in Haiti. 

Group of UMD leaders and graduates cut ribbon to celebrate new department
Joanne Pérodin with Dr. Cliff Mitchell, director of the Environmental Health Bureau at the Maryland Department of Health, current GEOH chair Dr. Amy R. Sapkota, Director of Administrative Services Maurice Rocque, UMD Provost Jennifer King Rice, SPH Dean Boris Lushniak, and former MIAEH Director Dr. Steve Roth.

“Joanne Pérodin really embodies the multidisciplinary collaborative research undertaken by GEOH faculty and students to address some of the most pressing environmental health challenges of our time. As a school, we are here to prepare students for exactly this kind of career, so they are able to make meaningful changes in the lives of our most vulnerable communities,” says Dr. Amir Sapkota, professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, of Pérodin’s drive and commitment to a leadership role that puts care and wellbeing of all people at its heart. 

In May 2024, Pérodin was one of 12 appointees to the White House’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council and she is about to wrap up a doctorate in public affairs at Florida International University. 

Speaking to a full house at GEOH’s launch event on Thursday, Pérodin’s voice evoked both the values of MIAEH’s impactful past and GEOH’s potential for growing future leaders. 

“Like Joanne, the GEOH team works to create transformative change in Maryland, the nation and the globe,” Amy Sapkota said. “We are so proud of her work, and eager to continue our efforts at the forefront of tackling the most critical public health challenges of our time.”

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