Student Profiles
Department of Community & Behavioral Health
DrPH students
Chelsea Wesner MPH, MSW
Research Instructor, DrPH Student
- Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health
Email Address:chelsea.wesner@cuanschutz.edu
Chelsea Wesner, MPH, MSW, (she/her) is a Research Instructor in the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health (CAIANH) and DrPH student in the Department of Community & Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. She has worked with Indigenous communities for nearly 15 years across public health practice and research leading and supporting projects related to diabetes prevention, food sovereignty, opioid overdose prevention, and maternal and child health. Prior to coming to the Colorado School of Public Health, she worked as a program planner at the University of Oklahoma's American Indian Institute, public health faculty at the University of South Dakota, and on assignment with the CDC’s Tribal, Regional, and Territorial Support Team in the Division of Diabetes Translation. Her current research interests include understanding and measuring early relational health and family economic well-being within Indigenous communities and families with young children. Chelsea is originally from Oklahoma and a member of the Choctaw Nation. She is most proud of being a mother to Lily and Isla.
Areas of Expertise
- Early relational health
- Family economic well-being
- Indigenous public health
- Behavioral health
- Food sovereignty and traditional foodways
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- Public Health Training Certificate in American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2020
- MPH, Health Promotion Sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 2010
- MSW, Administrative and Community Practice, University of Oklahoma, 2010
- BA, Sociology and American Indian Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006
Resumes/CV:
Awards
- Native Research Ambassadors Program, Center for American Indian Community Health, University of Kansas Medical Center, 2019
- Early Career Teaching Excellence Award, University of South Dakota School of Health Sciences, 2019