Clinton School grad Emily English (’09) will have the chance to enhance the lives of middle school students in the Delta and around the state after joining the staff of a USDA-funded project at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI).
English, the first to complete the joint MPS/Master of Public Health (MPH) with the Clinton School and UAMS, will serve as program manager on the Delta Garden Study, a project that will demonstrate how building new gardens — complete with greenhouses, budding crops and composting areas — can help adolescents cultivate green thumbs, log more physical activity, eat healthier and connect with their schools.
The project, which is funded with a $1.8 million grant from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, will set up one-acre gardens at seven middle schools statewide. English will be part of a large research team developing and implementing the intervention. She also will be involved in evaluating how the project addresses childhood obesity and social risk factors.
English will supervise and coordinate the day-to-day activities of the school-based garden program, draw up the manual used by participants, procure garden equipment and supplies for schools, and maintain the study’s annual schedule. In addition, English will assist with other health interventions in communities, worksites and schools under the Arkansas Childhood Obesity Research and Policy Program (ACORPP) directed by Dr. Judith Weber, Associate Professor, ACHRI.
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