October Student of the Month

Scholarship: PNM Pueblo Education Endowment Scholarship
School: University of Arizona
Degree: Public Health; Health Behavior Health Promotion
GPA: 4.0

My name is William Carson, a third-year doctoral student at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health at the University of Arizona, studying Health Behavior Health Promotion Sciences. I am a member of Ohkay Owingeh. My research is focused on translational science and incorporating successful public health programs into Indigenous frameworks to create programs and policies that can not only be successful amongst Indigenous people, but also be maintained and improved without outside intervention. I am working to understand how historical and colonial forces have influenced a century of health promotion and heath policy in Indigenous communities through the application of community based participatory research. I have been working to round out my skills at the University of Arizona and working to make the college a better place for Indigenous students than when I entered. Over my first 2+ years at the University of Arizona, I have conducted research and advocacy with the university population and Indigenous communities here and in New Mexico.

My long-range career goals are to aid in the development of nation building for Tribal nations. I love policy work and am actively ensuring that my education and initial research includes political advocacy. As part of my commitment to working with Tribes, I teach introductory public health classes at Tohono O’odham Community College. I have fond memories of this school as I helped develop the curriculum as part of my degree requirements for my Master of Public Health. I am also committed to working with my Tribe to solve our pressing issues and have used class projects to create relationships with our department of health that can continue to grow once I graduate. I wish to provide evidence grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing, which assist Tribes decision making for public health issues. 

Since attending Arizona, I have become far more effective as an advocate for student and community issues. The University of Arizona does not have a powwow or any equivalent event for students and community. As a result, I have been working with Tucson Indian Center over the past 6 months to restore our powwow. This has involved continuous communications with TIC, reaching out to every Indigenous student organization on campus for support, and now working with university administration to restart this needed event. We are on track to have the first powwow on campus in the past 10 years this April.

Part of my work as program coordinator for IndigiWellbeing, a series of culturally grounded events that would build connection and a sense-of-belonging from an Indigenous perspective. We started this initiative in 2020 and reach over a thousand people each year through our events. Our highest attended events are the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day Symposium and Run. We bring in leaders in MMIP work from Tucson, the state of Arizona, federal agencies, and international organizations. Last year we had almost 400 attendees at both events.

I also worked to restart American Indian and Indigenous Health Alliance. The public health group for Indigenous students has been defunct since COVID-19. Through a collaborative process with other interested students and our faculty advisor, the group is back and already making a positive impact for Indigenous public health students. I am proud to teach at Tohono O’odham Community College, where I can share my experience and give a quality education to Indigenous students interested in public health. Finally, I am working with Ohkay Owingeh’s health department to provide policy analysis for health issues and once I graduate, I plan to use my skills to help with grant writing and program implementation. 

Want to be our next Student of the Month? Apply here!,