The IHLA Multitask Force
Is it a job when you love what you do? Yes, we work hard and we love it!
A little magic must run throughout the IHLA team because each one of us is passionate about improving the health of people, animals and the environment—and we get to do it every day.
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Central Service Team
Jessica Smith Schwind
PhD MPH CPH
Director
Jessica is an infectious disease epidemiologist whose work is focused at the human-animal-environment interface. Her research and service is rooted in disease surveillance, health capacity building, and risk communication for the prevention and/or early recognition of emerging health threats.
Phone: 912-478-0919 • Jessica’s Email • Research Profile
EDUCATION
- BS in Applied Biology, Georgia Tech
- MPH in Epidemiology, New York Medical College
- PhD in Infectious Disease Epidemiology, UC Davis
HOME SWEET HOME
She grew up on a cotton and peanut farm in south Georgia, where she is currently raising her twins.
BOOK ADVENTURE
She goes on Hemingway treks to experience the adventures written about in his books, including to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro!
FAVORITE THINGS
Books, bucket list adventures, big ideas, and Bon Jovi, in no particular order.
Jill Johns
MS CHES®
Project Manager
Jill is a dynamic creative force, excels in diverse industries focusing on wellness, performance, and strategic initiatives. Jill focuses on Total Worker Health: implementing evidence-based interventions to develop a healthy workforce. As the IHLA Project Manager, Jill manages federal OSHA grants, ensuring Georgia businesses are prepared for future disease outbreaks.
Phone: 912-478-0918 • Jill’s Email
EDUCATION
- BA in French, University of Notre Dame
- Masters in Industrial Management and Safety, Georgia Southern University
- DrPH (in progress) in Community Health Behavior & Education, JPHCOPH, Georgia Southern University
HOME
Jill and her family reside at “Space To Thrive,” their 15-acre retreat where she practices self-care daily and helps others shift from a life by default to a life by design.
ADVENTURE
Jill takes monthly “Hell Yes” adventures. Her favorites include Burning Man, Asheville, and Paris. Upcoming in 2025: Bora Bora!
BOOK
She loves to read self-help books. Her favorite is ‘Emotional Intensity and Sensitivity’ by Imi Lo.
Kathryn Stewart
Business & Finance Coordinator
Kathryn provides budgetary and administrative support to the Institute while enhancing business operations. She led both rounds of the COVID-19 Mitigation project for Georgia’s Confinement Facilities, discovering a passion for serving correctional institutions throughout the state.
Phone: 912-478-0917 • Kat’s Email
EDUCATION
- BA, Georgia Southern University
HOME SWEET HOME
She grew up in Marietta, Georgia, and now resides in Statesboro with her husband and dogs.
CRITTERS
All the dogs!
COFFEE
Kathryn is a coffee lover! “I can’t stop drinking the coffee. I stop drinking the coffee, I stop doing the standing and the walking and the words putting into sentence doing.”
Michelle Tremblay
Learning Experience Designer
As the Learning Experience Designer (LXD), Michelle merges design and learning principles to create engaging and impactful tools for learners. Her work allows IHLA to provide unparalleled immersive learning experiences to the audiences we work with.
Phone: 912-478-0961 • Michelle’s Email
LEVEL
- MPM, Simon Fraser University
MAGICAL ITEMS
Camera, scanner, tablet, vintage books and papers, paint, fountain pens, legos, and tarot cards.
FAMILIARS AND ALLIES
Spiders, cats, bats, and medicinal plants.
COLOR AURA
#000000
Deborah Harvey
MA
Marketing & Outreach Coordinator
Deborah is passionate about using marketing to enhance community health and wellbeing. Her work on COVID-19 vaccine clinic campaigns ignited her dedication to health behavior change through social marketing. She enjoys being able to leverage her skills at the IHLA.
Phone: 912-478-0927 • Deborah’s Email
EDUCATION
- BS in Biology, Chapman University
- MA in Museum Studies, San Francisco State University
- Graduate Certificate in Social Marketing, University of South Florida
HOME SWEET HOME
Although always a Californian at heart, Deborah and her husband have happily made Georgia their home for the past 25+ years.
MUD
As a novice ceramic artist she is always looking forward to time spent playing in the “mud.”
OUTDOORS
When not working or creating art, she can be found exploring Georgia’s State Parks with her husband.
Zach A. Pantin
Operations Manager
Zach is the glue that holds the IHLA together. He manages our office in downtown Statesboro and provides project and administrative support. As the IHLA’s Operations Manager, Zach follows his passions for community health & development, animal welfare, and environmentalism.
Phone: 912-478-0983 • Zach’s Email
EDUCATION
- BA in Philosophy, Kennesaw State University
- Grant Writing Certificate, University of Georigia
PHILOSOPHY
Zach is a metaphysical agnostic who loves thought-provoking conversations about the unknowable nature of the Universe and pushing the boundaries of human imagination.
CRITTERS
Zach is fortunate to call two rescue cats his children: a sweet orange boy named Moki and his little goblin sister, Freyja.
OUTDOORS
His heart set on the Blue Ridge Mountains, Zach enjoys hiking and spending time close to Nature. He also enjoys gardening and playing pickleball and soccer.
Project Service Team
Tanya Jules
MPH
Community Outreach Coordinator
Tanya has expertise in technical assistance, capacity building, program development, and non-profit consulting. Her public health interests encompass community violence prevention, youth development, and community-based engagement and qualitative research strategies. Tanya’s passion for community-driven health solutions led her to the IHLA’s mission.
Phone: 912-478-0951 • Tanya’s Email
EDUCATION
- BS, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- MPH, Mercer University
- DrPH (in progress), JPHCOPH
HOME SWEET HOME
From the Bay State to the Peach State, Tanya is originally from Massachusetts. She finds a bit of home at Franklin Square in Savannah, as it honors her rich Haitian-American heritage.
ADVENTURE
Tanya loves to travel, but when that isn’t an option for a mental health reset, her zen moments center around yoga and mindfulness practices.
FOOD
Where should you go to get the best type of food? Ask Tanya. She’s a foodie who loves experiencing different cultures through cuisine.
Hailey Hunnicutt
Community Outreach Coordinator
As a Georgia farmer, Hailey has expertise in farming practices and business procedures. Her initial work on IHLA’s K-12 COVID-19 Mitigation Project fueled her enthusiasm to improve lives. Now, as a Community Outreach Coordinator, Hailey collaborates with other team members to build stronger, healthier communities.
Phone: 912-478-0966 • Hailey’s Email
EDUCATION
- BA in Spanish, Appalachian State University
HOME SWEET HOME
Hailey now lives in Savannah, Georgia, but is at home when she’s with her family on their pecan orchard in Metter, Georgia. As we all know, everything’s better in Metter!
ADVENTURE
Though her roots are strong, Hailey has wings capable of taking her anywhere. She loves to befriend strangers and explore new spaces. Her favorites include the Blue Ridge and Rocky Mountains, and being near any body of water.
HOBBIES
Wherever she is, Hailey challenges herself physically with different sports. She loves to run, swim, dance, kickbox, hike, climb, and board. After some exercise, she reads, plays video games, and loves to cook a hearty meal for recovery.
Jennifer Drey
MPH
Community Outreach Coordinator
Jennifer has expertise creating and implementing community-based programs to improve health and quality of life in underserved communities. With a background in communications and past work on IHLA’s K-12 COVID-19 Mitigation Team, Jennifer is skilled at evaluating evidence-based literature and translating it into points of action. She is passionate about innovative strategies that focus on prevention.
Phone: 912-478-0924 • Jennifer’s Email
EDUCATION
- BS in Journalism, University of Maryland
- MPH in Prevention Science, Emory University
HOME SWEET HOME
Jennifer has called Savannah home for more than a decade but still holds a special place in her heart for her past homes in Oregon, Maryland, and New York. She takes pride in having lived in such diverse regions of the country and tries to revisit each of them as often as possible.
OUTDOORS
On warm weekends, Jennifer can often be found on the water, exploring the rivers and tiny islands that make up coastal Georgia. If it’s remotely cold out there, you can bet that she’s conjuring up her next ski trip.
ADVENTURES
There have been many, but the ones she’s most proud of are climbing to the crater rim of Mount Saint Helens, skiing in the Andes Mountains, and simultaneously raising two teenagers and a ‘tween.’
Research Team
Ed Mondor, PhD, associate professor, Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University.
Mondor holds a PhD in entomology from Simon Fraser University, an MS in Zoology from the University of Alberta, and a BS in Psychology from Brandon University. He has almost 40 peer-reviewed publications in journals such as Ethology, Functional Ecology, Global Change Biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, Journal of Insect Behavior, and PLoS One. He has had his research featured in the Editor’s Choice section of Science Magazine.
In addition to his studies on insect behavior, ecology, and evolution, he is the only practicing Forensic Entomologist in Georgia. Over the past 12 years, he has assisted various law enforcement agencies with determining the “time of death” of human decedents, contributing to approximately 30 death investigations.
As an IHLA Faculty Fellow, Mondor is eagerly looking forward to using his knowledge of biological processes and the justice system to improve the health and safety of our local communities.
Steven Tolman, EdD, associate professor of Educational Leadership, College of Education, Georgia Southern University.
Tolman holds an EdD from Rutgers University, an MS from Texas Tech University, and a Bachelor’s from Central Michigan University. Prior to Georgia Southern, he held previous roles, including serving as a graduate program director and 12 years as a college administrator.
Tolman’s research is theoretically informed and guided by the tenets of student development theory. In particular, he explores the application of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Kolb’s Experiential Learning, Sanford’s Model of Challenge and Support, and Astin’s Theory of Involvement. This theoretical framework is intertwined with the two streams of his scholarly agenda: 1) The profession of student affairs and 2) The residential and co-curricular experience of college students.
He is excited to be an IHLA fellow to offer his perspective as an educator to the IHLA team as they collaborate to improve the health of our communities.
Wei Tu, PhD, professor of Geography and Geographic Information Science, School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability, Georgia Southern University.
Tu holds a PhD from Texas A&M University and both MS and BS degrees from East China Normal University. He has authored and co-authored close to 50 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is an associate editor for Papers in Applied Geography and a reviewer for multiple academic journals and academic publishers. Tu was selected as a Governor’s Teaching Fellow of the University System of Georgia in 2019 and received the Education Excellence Award from the International Association of Chinese Professionals in Geographic Information Science (CPGIS) in 2021.
Tu’s research focuses on how and to what extent place and space effects influence health outcomes, particularly the impacts of neighborhood-level social determinants on maternal and child health.
As an IHLA Fellow, Tu uses statistical models and Geographic Information Systems to analyze and visualize health data, with an overarching goal of reducing health disparity, promoting community health, and improving population health.
Hayden Wimmer, PhD, associate professor, Department of Information Technology, Georgia Southern University.
Wimmer holds a PhD and MS from the University of Maryland Baltimore County, an MBA from Penn State, and a BS from York College of Pennsylvania. In addition, he has over 10 years of experience working in the IT industry. He directs the GS DAC-Lab, focusing on data science, AI, and cybersecurity (http://www.daclab.net). He has nearly $3 million in external funding from federal sources and publications in well-respected journals and conferences.
Wimmer has worked in the community with students on projects and service-learning ranging from IT support, e-commerce, web development, training, and custom programming.
He brings his academic and industry experience to IHLA to contribute to improving community outcomes by applying technology solutions to benefit the local community. He aims to apply data science and AI to improve health outcomes and patient education.
Joana Tome, MPH, is an epidemiology doctoral student in the Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health at Georgia Southern University. Her area of expertise is epidemiological study design and statistical analysis skills.
Tome’s research interests encompass survival analysis, pharmacoepidemiology, global health, health economics, and predictive analysis. Joana has authored articles published in high-impact journals and acted as a peer-reviewer. She is past-president of the One Health Organization at Georgia Southern University.
As an IHLA Research Assistant, Tome is training Georgia Southern students how to prepare and respond to natural disasters. Simultaneously, she is researching natural disaster emergency preparedness practices.
Last updated: 4/29/2024
Institute for Health Logistics & Analytics • P.O. Box 8110 Statesboro, GA 30460 • 912-478-0302 • ihla@georgiasouthern.edu
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