Public Health: A career for those who are good with numbers and love people
Robin Pickering, chair of Gonzaga’s newly launched public health program, was delighted to see Maddie Ediger (’25, math) enroll in PUBH 101.
“Years ago, I met a young Maddie Ediger. Her dad was my department chair and later dean where I previously worked, and to this day, I consider him one of my most important personal and professional mentors,” says Pickering. “Maddie would occasionally come to the office. I remember being immediately struck by her confidence and ability to articulate, rare traits in someone so young.”
Thus, it was no surprise years later, when Pickering joined the faculty at Gonzaga, to see that the little girl from the office had gone on to become Gonzaga’s student body president, thriving in that role with the same passion and poise demonstrated long ago.
Those who’ve witnessed Ediger emceeing campus events and her level of engagement with the community can easily imagine that strong young girl Pickering describes. But amid all the leadership responsibilities, it might be hard to imagine her as the consummate scholar, too. Ediger majored in applied mathematics with a biochemistry concentration, had minors in sociology and leadership studies, and added public health and research to her academic experience.
Ediger selected math because she knew she was good with numbers, but questioned what she might do with that to serve people and to make the world a better place, she told attendees at a recent event honoring UW President Ana Mari Cauce and GU President Thayne McCulloh as the founders of the UW-GU Health Partnership. Ediger said her dad suggested public health, and at the time, the national figure for such a discipline was Anthony Fauci, the public health adviser for every president from Ronald Reagan through Joe Biden, who became a more public figure during the COVID-19 epidemic. “He seemed pretty cool,” Ediger quipped, “so it seemed worth investigating.”
About that time, Gonzaga’s newly named School of Health Sciences was growing its public health program with Pickering.
“Dr. Pickering became my mentor for my project on vaccine hesitancy and the community impacts of distrust in science, helping me understand systemic forms of oppression in marginalized communities through health care, making sense of vaccine compliance data and helping me question what it looks like to build relationships of trust through public health,” says Ediger. “I then got to take “Public Health 101” where I was exposed to the vastness of this field, the different kinds of data that it looks at, and what a future career in it might entail.”
Pickering says Ediger’s passion for the field was obvious. “She was thoughtful, curious and deeply committed to the work. She beautifully blended research, empathy and engaging visual storytelling.”
“Working with and learning from Dr. Pickering was such a gift,” says Ediger. “Not only did she grow and encourage my passion for public health, but she brought a sense of home to what we were doing. Gonzaga’s greatness is rooted in its community and your ability to be known here. Dr. Pickering brought that into my exploration of public health, making the classroom a safe place to learn something new.”
Ediger also landed a hands-on public health internship at the Spokane Regional Health District, where she worked on a community gun violence research campaign, creating a research poster that she will present at Excelsior Wellness’ Firearm Violence Prevention event later this month.
She explains: “I looked at Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) and how they could be a tool for community gun violence prevention, since the majority of deaths due to suicide in Spokane County are caused by firearms.”
This fall, Ediger will move to Seattle and begin her master’s in public health with an emphasis in epidemiology at the University of Washington.
“The sky is truly the limit for Maddie Ediger,” says Pickering. “I can’t wait to see where her journey leads next.”
“Years ago, I met a young Maddie Ediger. Her dad was my department chair and later dean where I previously worked, and to this day, I consider him one of my most important personal and professional mentors,” says Pickering. “Maddie would occasionally come to the office. I remember being immediately struck by her confidence and ability to articulate, rare traits in someone so young.”
Thus, it was no surprise years later, when Pickering joined the faculty at Gonzaga, to see that the little girl from the office had gone on to become Gonzaga’s student body president, thriving in that role with the same passion and poise demonstrated long ago.
Those who’ve witnessed Ediger emceeing campus events and her level of engagement with the community can easily imagine that strong young girl Pickering describes. But amid all the leadership responsibilities, it might be hard to imagine her as the consummate scholar, too. Ediger majored in applied mathematics with a biochemistry concentration, had minors in sociology and leadership studies, and added public health and research to her academic experience.
Ediger selected math because she knew she was good with numbers, but questioned what she might do with that to serve people and to make the world a better place, she told attendees at a recent event honoring UW President Ana Mari Cauce and GU President Thayne McCulloh as the founders of the UW-GU Health Partnership. Ediger said her dad suggested public health, and at the time, the national figure for such a discipline was Anthony Fauci, the public health adviser for every president from Ronald Reagan through Joe Biden, who became a more public figure during the COVID-19 epidemic. “He seemed pretty cool,” Ediger quipped, “so it seemed worth investigating.”
About that time, Gonzaga’s newly named School of Health Sciences was growing its public health program with Pickering.
“Dr. Pickering became my mentor for my project on vaccine hesitancy and the community impacts of distrust in science, helping me understand systemic forms of oppression in marginalized communities through health care, making sense of vaccine compliance data and helping me question what it looks like to build relationships of trust through public health,” says Ediger. “I then got to take “Public Health 101” where I was exposed to the vastness of this field, the different kinds of data that it looks at, and what a future career in it might entail.”
Pickering says Ediger’s passion for the field was obvious. “She was thoughtful, curious and deeply committed to the work. She beautifully blended research, empathy and engaging visual storytelling.”
“Working with and learning from Dr. Pickering was such a gift,” says Ediger. “Not only did she grow and encourage my passion for public health, but she brought a sense of home to what we were doing. Gonzaga’s greatness is rooted in its community and your ability to be known here. Dr. Pickering brought that into my exploration of public health, making the classroom a safe place to learn something new.”
Ediger also landed a hands-on public health internship at the Spokane Regional Health District, where she worked on a community gun violence research campaign, creating a research poster that she will present at Excelsior Wellness’ Firearm Violence Prevention event later this month.
She explains: “I looked at Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPOs) and how they could be a tool for community gun violence prevention, since the majority of deaths due to suicide in Spokane County are caused by firearms.”
This fall, Ediger will move to Seattle and begin her master’s in public health with an emphasis in epidemiology at the University of Washington.
“The sky is truly the limit for Maddie Ediger,” says Pickering. “I can’t wait to see where her journey leads next.”
What is public health?