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Public Health Associate Professor Tamara Leech has been named to the  and will be awarded a $200,000 stipend to devote up to two years for research and writing in the humanities and social sciences.

Leech’s work centers on the well-being of youths who live in marginalized and underserved urban environments. In 2019,  about common recruitment and retention obstacles that scholars interested in racial disparities research face: potential mistrust from the black community; a stigmatized research topic; and high participation burden.

The goal of her fellowship project, “Community Conversations and Reimagining Public Safety,” is to help cities center impacted communities in their public safety redesign process.“Specifically, I aim to conduct community conversations in three geographically distinct jurisdictions and then produce research tool kits openly available to scholars, municipalities and community members attempting to reimagine first response in their cities,” Leech says. “Ensuring that communities have a meaningful voice in the reform process is critical to developing effective and equitable public safety systems.”

The fellowship is backed by the , a philanthropic foundation that supports scholarship and research into the social sciences and humanities, and addresses important societal issues. Leech is one of 28 distinguished scholars and writers selected for this year’s class.

“I am delighted and honored to receive an award that allows me to continue to engage with diverse groups of community members in different regions throughout the U.S.,” Leech says. “Given the current cultural climate and readiness for reform, I’m ecstatic that this support will help me continue this work and bring it to fruition.”

“I can think of no scholar more deserving of this type of recognition than Professor Leech,” says College of Education and Human Services Acting Dean Katrina Bulkley. “Her research in an area in urgent need of reform will continue to serve as a catalyst for positive change. Her scholarship will continue to serve the public good, making her the ideal recipient of this prestigious honor.”

For more information on the College of Education and Human Services at ��Ʒ���˸������� University, visit .