Announcing the 2026-27 Global One Health Fellows

Yi Chen Yi Chen is a fourth year PhD student in Electrical Engineering developing miniaturized, noninvasive, and scalable wearable sensor platforms for humans, plants, and animals that enable continuous monitoring…

Yi Chen

Yi Chen is a fourth year PhD student in Electrical Engineering developing miniaturized, noninvasive, and scalable wearable sensor platforms for humans, plants, and animals that enable continuous monitoring in natural environments. Yi believes that human health is deeply interconnected with the surrounding ecological systems, and his work pushes the boundaries of sensing technologies to develop tools to study these systems. His current projects include an underwater wearable monitor for freshwater mussels to aid water pollution detection and conservation efforts; a patch-like wireless sensor that mounts on plant leaves to rapidly detect pathogens and reduce crop loss; and a smart backpack designed for neural recording and stimulation in freely behaving locusts. 

Rae Cohn

Rae Cohn is a first year PhD student in Science Education, working under the mentorship of Dr. K C Busch to study the ways experiential environmental education and place-based pedagogy impact climate resilience and community food system literacy. They are passionate about connecting people with place through the living world and sharing the wisdom to nurture ourselves and nature with the next generation.

Isabel Courtney

Isabel Courtney is a second year PhD student in the Toxicology Program advised by Dr. Kurt Marsden. Her work focuses on understanding the adverse effects of exposures to cyanobacteria – the aquatic organisms responsible for harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs). She uses zebrafish as a model to understand the cellular and molecular mechanisms by which cyanobacteria induce neurotoxicity and how cyanoHAB treatments impact non-target organisms. She hopes this work will inform policy and management surrounding the public health impacts of cyanoHABs.

Harry Ervin

Harry Ervin is a fourth year PhD student in the Plant Biology Program at NC State. His research sits at the intersection of plant biology, mycology, and biogeochemistry, with a focus on sustainable agricultural systems. He studies how plant-associated root endophytic fungi influence nutrient dynamics and how these interactions vary across plant phylogeny and nutrient contexts. Ultimately, his goal is to develop strategies to integrate and potentially stack beneficial fungi with other sustainable farming tools to reduce reliance on synthetic fertilizers.

Madison Haley

Madison is a second year PhD student in the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Department, where she studies the sources, transport, and mitigation of plastic pollution in urban freshwater systems. Before starting her PhD, Madison earned her bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from George Washington University and a Master of Science in Public Health in Environmental Science and Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has worked across various roles in water resources engineering, federal science policy, and community-based environmental programs, including managing a citizen science initiative focused on litter and debris in waterways. As a Global One Health Fellow, Madison hopes to advance our understanding of plastic as an emerging contaminant and its impacts on human, animal, and ecosystem health.