After veterinary school, Heather Fowler came to the UW School of Public Health to study the occupational health of animal workers.
“Emerging environmental health issues are often multi-factorial and really complex and there is no one easy solution,” says Fowler, a PhD student in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences.
She also serves as associate director of Animal Health for the department’s Center for One Health Research, led by Peter Rabinowitz, her mentor. The center’s mission is to investigate health as it relates to humans, animals and the environment.
Fowler received a $100,000 Environmental Fellowship Award from the Bullitt Foundation to further her research at the nexus of food, animals and humans. She is assessing conventional and organic dairy practices in Washington State.
A One Health approach can help in an industry like dairy agriculture, Fowler says. It brings stakeholders from human, animal, and environmental health to the table.
In her spare time, Fowler volunteers at the Doney Memorial Pet Clinic, which offers free veterinary care at the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle to people who otherwise couldn’t afford such service.
“I love caring for animals and protecting their health and reinforcing the human-animal bond between pet owner and pet, and the Doney Clinic provides me with an outlet to do just that,” Fowler says.
Watch a video of Fowler and her volunteer work with animals. Read about her work under the Bullitt Foundation Award.