Hello! My name is Gabriella Moose and I am a sophomore at Pitt. I am a Microbiology major with a minor in Anthropology. An interesting fact about me is that I am a small business owner—this past summer my sister and I opened up a food truck that sells acai bowls!
I am very excited to take part in the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative’s Pitt cohort this semester to gain experience on community engagement that makes a lasting impact. Through this project I have been assigned to work with a small business owner looking to create a speech therapy startup. This business has the uniquely interesting strength of being a part of the newer generation of telehealth in which underserved populations physically situated away from health providers are able to be served via digital access. This task is deeply important to the larger area as Fayette county ranks amongst the lowest Pennsylvanian counties in healthcare and as my special interest is in public health I believe I bring a unique perspective to the project. Going into this project, I did not even realize the scope of how lasting our cohort’s impact could be for Fayette county. I have spent much time dealing in community service and small-scale ways to give back and I am really optimistic about this project and the lasting influence we can have for residents.
Beyond the healthcare sector, this project aims to uplift and serve small businesses and their owners to promote economic growth. As discussed amongst our team, small businesses make up the majority of businesses in rural areas, especially seen in Fayette County. By using resources from the University of Pittsburgh, we can aid in economic advancement of Fayette County while staying rooted in tradition and community engagement. From this unique experiential opportunity, I hope to gain insights in engaging in ethical, team-based and service-based research. This project is a real-world application for skills that will be vital in future research settings that I plan to pursue.
As an undergraduate interested in public health, there are a plethora of research specializations that I find difficult to choose from. This project is a direct contrast to the traditional class structure of lecture-lab that I am used to, rather it challenges me to build skills in other facets that will help to find my niche in public health. By being a part of this team I aim to become a holistically educated student gaining skills in not just research methods but the real world application of being a contributor to a larger scale project—personal responsibility, communication, etc.
Further, as a student from rural Pennsylvania myself this project is really insightful and inspiring as to how I can serve my rural community, particularly in the case of lowered access to healthcare. As we have already begun to see in the example of Fayette county, outward migration has caused young people to favor urban hubs for jobs and education opportunities. Likewise myself and many of my peers have carried this same perception, perpetuating the disregard of rural economies and careers. Perhaps by participating in the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative strides can be made to amend this rural-urban divide across Western Pennsylvania.