Photo Courtesy of Sarah Kukich
Mitigating Hazards and Making Communities Safer
For Coast Guard Officer Sarah Kukich MPH ‘23, steering ships through the Panama Canal, protecting marine resources in the Caribbean Sea, and improving suburban D.C. residents’ trust in safe drinking water is all connected in her experience as an active-duty military officer and online graduate student. Upon earning her Master of Public Health from USC, she became the US Coast Guard’s Safety and Environmental Health Officer in District Northeast, mitigating risks of all types for thousands of members, their families and communities. Passionate about safety and warfighter brain health, she looks to new technology to protect and reduce occupational hazards. For her MPH concentration Kukich chose global health, stemming from her personal love of travel and her interest in the role that culture plays in health. “This year I was able to visit my 46th country and am thankful that USC’s MPH program empowered me to adventure across the world in both professional and personal capacities,” she shares.
In this interview, Kukich discusses her experiences as a student, the details of her practicum, and how obtaining her MPH unlocked career opportunities.
Why did you choose USC’s online MPH?
I chose to pursue a master’s in public health firstly to gain practical skills in biostatistics and epidemiology, and secondly to integrate health outcomes into my field of work. Serving over a decade in the military and working in the mechanical engineering discipline have taught me to solve problems, however, I found that earning an MPH gave me the language to justify decision making.
[The online MPH] enabled me to practice as a professional throughout the 260-hour practicum experience. As an experiential learner I knew the perfect match for me was a program with hands-on learning. USC’s program and incredible faculty also supported my full-time commitments at home, including serving as an active-duty military officer with unexpected deployments.
What are some favorite memories from your classes?
My favorite memories were from Dr. Rima Habre’s Environmental Health course because of the breadth of topics covered. [Her] course piqued my interest in the intersectionality of emergency response and environmental health. Lessons such as monitoring technology and safety measures for responders equipped me with a baseline of knowledge to apply in my practicum experience. Dr. Habre continues to be an incredible mentor and leader in the field of air pollution and exposure science.
As an online student, how did you connect with your USC peers?
During my second year I was selected as USC’s Graduate Student Government Director of Grants, which largely shaped my positive graduate student experience. I strongly recommend any graduate student, including those online, to participate in Graduate Student Government because it provides connection beyond the Health Science Campus and across disciplines. In my specific role, I trained and led a team of 35+ peer graduate students — who form the Graduate Student Government’s Grants Review Committee — in the review of over 700 emergency fund, caretaker subsidy, and neuropsychological evaluation grant applications per year. My experience was incredibly gratifying. Together with the University’s Offices of Financial Aid, Provost, and Campus Affairs we awarded over $270K of grant disbursements to our peers in need.
Can you tell us more about your practicum experience? Where were you placed and what have you learned or enjoyed?
I worked closely with Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission Water — the water utility serving nearly 1.8 million people in Maryland. I had the opportunity to practice a range of skills from the creation of surveys to biostatistical analysis, while experiencing the working environment of a quasi-governmental utility organization.
My work contributed to addressing the gaps in environmental justice and promoting [risk mitigation] rather than crisis communication in response to water contamination. [We] identified potential barriers to consuming drinking water from the tap, including customers primarily speaking languages other than English and Spanish. … We have seen [how] systematic mistrust or misunderstanding about the safety of drinking water can lead to customers relying solely on bottled water instead.
For example, part of the emergency response to a waterline break included delivering bottled water and educating customers about the risks of contaminated potable drinking water. One of my recommendations was to incorporate written health education and promotion materials in other commonly spoken languages to boost customer engagement and understanding. Early intervention may prevent the development of a very expensive and unnecessary future dependency.
Are there any emerging trends in public health that excite you the most?
As a ship driver and military officer, I am dedicated to engaging in conversations about warfighter brain health. As public health professionals, we have a critical role in understanding how populations like our military boat and ship drivers are exposed to seemingly mundane whole-body vibrations over a career and how ultimately, without intervention, there are lifelong negative health implications. In the recent year I have focused my research on leveraging ergonomic solutions with mitigation methods to the frequency and severity of vibration on the human body. I am hopeful that future technology will continue to protect our uniformed members from occupational hazards.
Since graduation, how has your career evolved?
I began my newest chapter as the US Coast Guard’s Safety and Environmental Health Officer in District Northeast. I lead a team that serves over 6,000 active duty and reserve Coast Guard members and their families across 209 units afloat and ashore from the Canadian border to northern New Jersey. We identify, assess, and mitigate occupational and operational risks that range from routine chemical workplace hazards to vector-borne or communicable disease during natural disasters and other public emergency disasters. This job has without a doubt been my favorite and the opportunity to apply would not have been possible without earning my MPH.
What is one piece of advice you want to share with prospective students?
Incoming and future students should be prepared to push themselves as far as they can. You will get out of this program what you put in.
Learn more about Keck School of Medicine of USC’s Online Master of Public Health.