Research Day

HICAHS hosts a biannual research symposium to highlight recent research and programs in the field of agricultural health and safety funded by our small grant programs.

2025 Research Day

Agricultural Health and Safety Research Day
Friday, April 11, 2025
8:45am – 1:30pm

Colorado State University
Lory Student Center, Never No Summer (387, formerly North Ballroom)

Agenda

(agenda subject to change)

8:45am — Coffee Networking

9:00am — Welcome and Keynote Address

Application of statistical methods for mixtures in agriculture & health research
Sheryl Magzamen, Professor, Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences

Sheryl Magzamen is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University. As a respiratory epidemiologist with training in social determinants of health and environmental exposure assessment, Sheryl’s research addresses the complex nature of multiple determinants of adverse health outcomes, particularly given the role of climate change. She has active research studies to understand agricultural pesticide exposure and ambient air pollution mixtures on health of agricultural communities, impacts of landscape fires on cognitive decline, health effects of and strategies for mitigation of wildfire smoke exposure, and multiple pollutant exposure in environmental justice neighborhoods. Sheryl holds a PhD in epidemiology from Berkeley and was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar at the University of Wisconsin.

10:00am — Programs and Practices to Support Agricultural Health and Safety

  • Fieldworker training kit – a tool to help reduce pesticide exposure among agricultural workers
    Lisa Blecker, Pesticide Safety Educator, Department of Agricultural Biology, CSU
  • Livestock handling best practices
    Brittany Dennison, Membership and Programs Coordinator & Jane Lundwall, Director of Administration, Colorado Livestock Association
  • The power of partnership: Investing together in first aid education
    Tim McEntire, NW Region Representative, Montana Logging Association

11:00am — Identifying Workforce Needs and Priorities

  • Assessing the agricultural health and safety needs of future veterinarians
    Jenna Gibbs, Project Coordinator, Ag Health and Safety Alliance(TM)
  • Tribal Agricultural Health and Safety
    Tim Porter, Undergraduate Outreach Assistant, HICAHS, CSU
  • Implementation of agricultural worker overtime pay in Colorado
    Hunter Knapp, Development Director, Project Protect Food Systems Workers & Kasey Neiss, Data and Evaluation Analyst, The Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger

12:00pm — Lunch (provided)

12:40 — Latest Research on Exposures

  • The role of omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid in promoting resilience against bacterial pneumonia following repetitive agricultural dust exposure
    Julia Hilliard, Graduate Research Assistant, Gries Lab, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Pathology, CSU
  • SmAg-nitude of Exposure: Exploring the Effects of Smoke and Agricultural Dust in C. Elegans
    Jacob Smoot, Graduate Student, Montrose Lab, Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences, CSU

1:30pm — Close and Adjourn*

*HICAHS Advisory Board Meeting (closed session) to follow

Registration

Registration has closed. All are still invited; however, we cannot guarantee lunch for those who did not register in advance.

Parking

Hourly paid parking available in Lory Student Center and Morgan Library lots. Visitor parking information.

Past Events

  • Watch the presentations from our October 2020 virtual symposium here.
  • Read a recap of the August 2018 symposium here.