Maria Blancas, PhD, MPH

Dr. Blancas recently earned a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences and completed her MPH degree in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program. She received the prestigious Bullitt Environmental Prize for her dissertation work that focuses on empowering farmworkers to tell their own stories. Her background and experience primarily consist of community-engaged public health research and practice. She has served as a graduate research assistant and project manager on several community-engaged participatory research projects. Dr. Blancas has helped develop research instruments, trained community surveyors, provided qualitative data analysis support, and supported research translation and dissemination efforts. Through her position with the PNASH center, Dr. Blancas has supported various Outreach Core center efforts and activities, including serving on the needs assessment committee, research translation, stakeholder engagement, and community partnership development. In addition, she has experience working alongside Promotoras de Salud across Washington state to build capacity and Promotora development in assessing and addressing health disparities in rural agricultural communities. As the daughter of hard-working farmworker parents, Dr. Blancas is committed to ensuring farmworkers and their families are safe and healthy.