September 3, 2008
UW doctoral student in environmental health to receive 2008 Bullitt Foundation prize
Clarita Lefthand, a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences in the School of Public Health and Community Medicine at the University of Washington, will receive the second annual Bullitt Environmental Prize at an awards dinner to be held Sept. 9, 2008 at Seattle’s Stimson-Green Mansion, 1202 Minor Avenue.
Established in honor of Priscilla Bullitt Collins, a former chair of the Bullitt Foundation, the prize carries a cash award of $100,000, distributed over two years. It is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student at a Pacific Northwest university who has overcome a disadvantaged background, compiled a sterling academic record, been endorsed by key professors, and demonstrated promise as an emerging environmental leader.
The private philanthropic Bullitt Foundation provides funding to nonprofits working to safeguard the environment through responsible activities and sustainable communities throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Lefthand, who is fluent in Navajo and a member of the Navajo Nation, has pursued research that combines her passions for science and Indigenous American communities. Raised in a culture in which pursuit of a doctorate in a scientific discipline is highly unusual, Lefthand hopes to serve as a role model for younger Native Americans by applying environmental health science to the challenges communities face on reservations.
For her master’s thesis, Lefthand used the tools of environmental microbiology to track microbial sources of fecal contamination for the Tulalip Tribes in the estuarine waters of Tulalip Bay, conducting the research in ways that directly addressed tribal concerns. Her work was selected for presentation at national meetings of the American Society for Microbiology and the National Environmental Health Association.
Lefthand’s doctoral research will attempt to advance techniques to distinguish viable pathogens from nonviable detritus in the environment—increasing the accuracy of predictions of risks to human health from aquatic ecosystems.
“Clarita is an inspiring example of a young scientist with a sense of mission to address public health needs at a community level,” said Rory Murphy, manager of graduate student services in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. “Her goal of using scientific investigation to improve the quality of people’s lives is what the UW is all about.”
At the University of Washington, Lefthand is a member of the Planning Committee for the Environmental Health Research Experience Program. She has represented the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences at the last two annual meetings of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science. She is a key member of the local chapter of Native American Students in Advanced Academia, and she spearheaded that organization’s national meeting on the UW campus in 2007.
“As someone who is deeply committed to serving her community and passionate about our environment, Clarita is a very deserving recipient of this award,” Murphy said. “She is clearly destined for an important role in solving the environmental health challenges confronting us.”
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