Hello, SPSSI members!

I am excited to introduce myself as a new communications focus member-at-large for the GSC 2019 academic year. Currently, I am a fourth year Ph.D. student in ecological community psychology at Michigan State University. My training is focused on social action research and community-based scholarship. My research is broadly focused on health service disparities, implementation science, and program evaluation. I am primarily interested in applying practice-based strategies to promote health service access in underserved communities with emphasis placed on community-based efforts. I have been an SPSSI member since 2015 when I discovered how this organization valued and generously supported research for social justice.

Now that I’ve been given the opportunity to get more involved with the GSC committee, I am working with our members to continue supporting existing initiatives and collaborate to develop new ones. As a GSC officer, my goals are to:

1. Foster a student community with information that is accessible and communicable to all audiences (including those outside of academia), and
2. Engage in ongoing reflections on dissemination strategies

For my first goal, I would like to share techniques and strategies I’ve developed from trainings specific to communication in science, such as the use of infographics, data visualization, and alternate forms of dissemination strategies (e.g., postcards, sense-making sessions, twitter, etc.) that promote communication across disciplines and communities. For my second goal, I would love to have our student community reflect more on how we disseminate our own work within our fields and beyond. That is, which dissemination strategies have been successful in reaching your prioritized audiences? What are some challenges we share in trying to disseminate our work to the general community? These are the types of conversations I would like to start reeling us into with the goal of improving community impact around our own research.

Additionally, I will be the GSC editor for the Social Issues from Student Perspectives. This is a great opportunity to share your work with the SPSSI community, enhance your online profile, and disseminate your work more broadly by linking written pieces to videos or presentation materials. If you are interested in submitting a column for the newsletter or have any questions regarding the submission guidelines, please feel free to contact me at Bustosta@msu.edu. I look forward to reading all your work and learning more about your successes in social justice research!

Tatiana Elisa Bustos, M.S., M.A.
She/her/hers
Michigan State University

back to menu