Our Team
Directors
Courtney Welton-Mitchell PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Director (Certificate in Climate & Disaster Resilience)
- Center for Health, Work & Environment
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Courtney Welton-Mitchell, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, where she directs the Certificate in Climate and Disaster Resilience. She is also a research associate with the Natural Hazards Center, IBS, UCB. She is trained as a social psychologist and a mental health clinician specializing in traumatic stress. She has worked for several years in complex humanitarian crisis, first as a humanitarian aid worker, and later as an intervention researcher. Her research focuses on health/public health interventions in disasters and complex humanitarian crises using mixed methods. In recent years she implemented and evaluated interventions in Nepal, Haiti, Malaysia, and Lebanon. She has also conducted studies on public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to behavioral change. Her current research and consultancy projects include mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness initiatives—in public schools in Colorado, among agricultural communities in N. India, wildfire affected communities in Colorado and Australia, and working with humanitarian aid workers in Ukraine and Turkey. In collaboration with colleagues at the DU, she leads annual disaster simulation exercises focused on complex humanitarian crises.
Areas of Expertise
- Mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness intervention research in disaster prone and fragile ecological settings
- Mental health integrated interpersonal violence intervention research in complex humanitarian crises (involving refugee populations and other forced migrants)
- Staff wellbeing initiatives with workers in high risk settings: focus on public school teachers and humanitarian aid workers
- Public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to attitude and behavioral change in disasters and complex humanitarian crises
- Psychological and other factors influencing risk communication, perception, and behaviors during disasters and complex humanitarian crises.
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2012 (Tool: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
- MA, Affect/Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2009
- MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of New Mexico, 1997
Awards
- U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador—U.S. Fulbright Commission (2020-2022)
- U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar—Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange (2017–2018)
- Outstanding Dissertation in Psychology, American Psychological Association—Div. 56 Trauma Psychology (2013)
Affiliations
- Co-Chair, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Learning from Earthquakes Public Health Subcommittee
Core directors and advisors
Courtney Welton-Mitchell PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Director (Certificate in Climate & Disaster Resilience)
- Center for Health, Work & Environment
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Courtney Welton-Mitchell, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, where she directs the Certificate in Climate and Disaster Resilience. She is also a research associate with the Natural Hazards Center, IBS, UCB. She is trained as a social psychologist and a mental health clinician specializing in traumatic stress. She has worked for several years in complex humanitarian crisis, first as a humanitarian aid worker, and later as an intervention researcher. Her research focuses on health/public health interventions in disasters and complex humanitarian crises using mixed methods. In recent years she implemented and evaluated interventions in Nepal, Haiti, Malaysia, and Lebanon. She has also conducted studies on public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to behavioral change. Her current research and consultancy projects include mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness initiatives—in public schools in Colorado, among agricultural communities in N. India, wildfire affected communities in Colorado and Australia, and working with humanitarian aid workers in Ukraine and Turkey. In collaboration with colleagues at the DU, she leads annual disaster simulation exercises focused on complex humanitarian crises.
Areas of Expertise
- Mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness intervention research in disaster prone and fragile ecological settings
- Mental health integrated interpersonal violence intervention research in complex humanitarian crises (involving refugee populations and other forced migrants)
- Staff wellbeing initiatives with workers in high risk settings: focus on public school teachers and humanitarian aid workers
- Public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to attitude and behavioral change in disasters and complex humanitarian crises
- Psychological and other factors influencing risk communication, perception, and behaviors during disasters and complex humanitarian crises.
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2012 (Tool: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
- MA, Affect/Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2009
- MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of New Mexico, 1997
Awards
- U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador—U.S. Fulbright Commission (2020-2022)
- U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar—Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange (2017–2018)
- Outstanding Dissertation in Psychology, American Psychological Association—Div. 56 Trauma Psychology (2013)
Affiliations
- Co-Chair, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Learning from Earthquakes Public Health Subcommittee
Affiliated faculty
Courtney Welton-Mitchell PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Director (Certificate in Climate & Disaster Resilience)
- Center for Health, Work & Environment
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Courtney Welton-Mitchell, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, where she directs the Certificate in Climate and Disaster Resilience. She is also a research associate with the Natural Hazards Center, IBS, UCB. She is trained as a social psychologist and a mental health clinician specializing in traumatic stress. She has worked for several years in complex humanitarian crisis, first as a humanitarian aid worker, and later as an intervention researcher. Her research focuses on health/public health interventions in disasters and complex humanitarian crises using mixed methods. In recent years she implemented and evaluated interventions in Nepal, Haiti, Malaysia, and Lebanon. She has also conducted studies on public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to behavioral change. Her current research and consultancy projects include mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness initiatives—in public schools in Colorado, among agricultural communities in N. India, wildfire affected communities in Colorado and Australia, and working with humanitarian aid workers in Ukraine and Turkey. In collaboration with colleagues at the DU, she leads annual disaster simulation exercises focused on complex humanitarian crises.
Areas of Expertise
- Mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness intervention research in disaster prone and fragile ecological settings
- Mental health integrated interpersonal violence intervention research in complex humanitarian crises (involving refugee populations and other forced migrants)
- Staff wellbeing initiatives with workers in high risk settings: focus on public school teachers and humanitarian aid workers
- Public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to attitude and behavioral change in disasters and complex humanitarian crises
- Psychological and other factors influencing risk communication, perception, and behaviors during disasters and complex humanitarian crises.
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2012 (Tool: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
- MA, Affect/Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2009
- MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of New Mexico, 1997
Awards
- U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador—U.S. Fulbright Commission (2020-2022)
- U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar—Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange (2017–2018)
- Outstanding Dissertation in Psychology, American Psychological Association—Div. 56 Trauma Psychology (2013)
Affiliations
- Co-Chair, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Learning from Earthquakes Public Health Subcommittee
Center administration and project staff
Courtney Welton-Mitchell PhD, MA
Assistant Professor, Director (Certificate in Climate & Disaster Resilience)
- Center for Health, Work & Environment
- Department of Environmental & Occupational Health
Courtney Welton-Mitchell, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health at the Colorado School of Public Health, where she directs the Certificate in Climate and Disaster Resilience. She is also a research associate with the Natural Hazards Center, IBS, UCB. She is trained as a social psychologist and a mental health clinician specializing in traumatic stress. She has worked for several years in complex humanitarian crisis, first as a humanitarian aid worker, and later as an intervention researcher. Her research focuses on health/public health interventions in disasters and complex humanitarian crises using mixed methods. In recent years she implemented and evaluated interventions in Nepal, Haiti, Malaysia, and Lebanon. She has also conducted studies on public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to behavioral change. Her current research and consultancy projects include mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness initiatives—in public schools in Colorado, among agricultural communities in N. India, wildfire affected communities in Colorado and Australia, and working with humanitarian aid workers in Ukraine and Turkey. In collaboration with colleagues at the DU, she leads annual disaster simulation exercises focused on complex humanitarian crises.
Areas of Expertise
- Mental health integrated climate adaptation and disaster preparedness intervention research in disaster prone and fragile ecological settings
- Mental health integrated interpersonal violence intervention research in complex humanitarian crises (involving refugee populations and other forced migrants)
- Staff wellbeing initiatives with workers in high risk settings: focus on public school teachers and humanitarian aid workers
- Public health messaging campaigns and social norms approaches to attitude and behavioral change in disasters and complex humanitarian crises
- Psychological and other factors influencing risk communication, perception, and behaviors during disasters and complex humanitarian crises.
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2012 (Tool: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience)
- MA, Affect/Social Psychology, University of Denver, 2009
- MA, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of New Mexico, 1997
Awards
- U.S. Fulbright Scholar Ambassador—U.S. Fulbright Commission (2020-2022)
- U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar—Malaysian-American Commission on Education Exchange (2017–2018)
- Outstanding Dissertation in Psychology, American Psychological Association—Div. 56 Trauma Psychology (2013)
Affiliations
- Co-Chair, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute's Learning from Earthquakes Public Health Subcommittee
Visit the directory for all members of our team, including affiliated staff. To find out more about our local and academic partnerships, check out our partners page.
Denver Team Member Highlight
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Charlotte Farewell, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor - Research, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Tell me a little about your background and previous experience.
I am an Assistant Professor with the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center and Director of the Population Mental Health and Well-being concentration at the Colorado School of Public Health. After receiving my MPH from the Tulane School of Global Health and Tropical Medicine with a focus on maternal and child health.
Why did you decide to work at CU and with the RMPRC?
I started working with the RMPRC as a Professional Research Assistant because of their focus on community-based participatory research and well-being promotion.
What are you currently working on?
I am now a Principal Investigator/Co-Principal Investigator on intervention projects which seek to promote the well-being of low-resourced populations (e.g., pregnant and postpartum individuals, early care and education caregivers). I am currently PI of a training grant funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (Mothers Optimizing Resources Everyday (MORE)) where the primary research objective is to integrate advanced analytical modeling with qualitative data to inform the timing, duration, content and delivery modalities of a multi-level psychological capital intervention rooted in mindfulness-based best practices to promote perinatal well-being among specific low-resourced sub-groups. Her research experience, to date, is centered around three overarching goals: (1) to build expertise related to the analysis of developmental research questions using quantitative and qualitative methods, with specific focus on mental health (depression, stress, and anxiety) during sensitive periods (prenatal, postpartum, early childhood), (2) to investigate non-pharmacological methods (e.g. mindfulness and positive psychology interventions) that can be targeted and/or mobilized to optimize population mental health and resilience, and (3) to advance research in the field of dissemination science to identify core constructs that are most critical to enhance the uptake of evidence-based behavioral interventions into community and clinical settings. She enjoys collaborating with, and learning from, the excellent interdisciplinary researchers at the RMPRC, using mixed methods to investigate novel research questions, and partnering with local, national, and international communities.
San Luis Valley (SLV) Team Member Highlight
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Mara Hsu, SLV Professional Research Assistant, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, SLV Satellite Office
How long have you been in the San Luis Valley (SLV)? Are you a native? If not, what brought you there?
I am a native of the San Luis Valley. Both of my parents grew up here as well. An interesting little fact is that both of my boys graduated from the same high school that my father and I did.
Tell me a little about your background and previous experience.
My background is in Early Childhood, and initially, I joined the STANCE project as an Early Childhood coach and trainer. I have been in many roles in the Early Childhood field, from parent volunteer to director of a large center and everything in between. Working for the San Luis Valley Early Childhood Council, I learned the importance of data and how it relates to various decisions and outcomes, regardless of the field.
Why did you decide to work at CU and with the RMPRC?
When the STANCE project was introduced to the SLVECC staff, I was so excited to be a part of something that added research to the work we did every day. When the opportunity arose to join the STANCE project as a coach, I jumped at the chance to be a part of something that, in my opinion, can change the early childhood landscape.
What do you enjoy most in your role?
I moved into the office manager of the SLV RMPRC office and a professional research assistant as the STANCE project nears the end. Throughout my career, I strived to learn more about how data impacts my work and those around me. I also enjoy bringing people together. This new role is an excellent blend of both. I get to advocate for the early childhood field, participate in different ways, and grow as a professional in the research field. I enjoy our team and the fantastic people I work with and learn from. I enjoy at the end of the day; the hard work and the data will tell a story that will be shared long after I am gone.