suzanne gaolocher

Suzanne Gaulocher

Associate Professor
Phone: (603) 535-3112
Office: Health & Human Enrichment, Human Performance Center, MSC 22, Plymouth, NH 03264

Suzanne Gaulocher is an Associate Professor in Public Health and is the Associate Director the Center for Healthy Communities. Before joining PSU, she directed the Community Engaged Learning Program focused on Health at Stanford University. She holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin at Madison where she was a part of the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment focusing on the intersection of human and environmental health. She also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and a Master of Arts from Oregon State University in Applied Medical Anthropology and a Bachelor of Science also from OSU in Cultural Anthropology. Her research and teaching centers around the intersection between human health and the environment with focus on community engagement, social justice and health equity. 

“When I teach and mentor students, I establish reciprocal benefits for students, community and campus partners. I do this by creating value-based, shared learning foundations in which students are empowered to contribute opinions and ideas and community partners are co-educators. I encourage differing perspectives to come together and highlight the importance of diverse thinking and honoring each perspective. I bring an asset-based approach to teaching and learning in which each person has something of value to contribute. I have utilized different frameworks in my teaching emphasizing equity, diversity and social justice frameworks. Learning stretches students to think deeper and more critically. My courses are a place where students can express new ideas and opinions. Opportunities to critical examine public issues and explore one’s civic identity helps solidify the crucial issues facing public health in the domestically and globally. I believe in bringing in global health issues and approaches, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, helps students learn how to do public health effectively wherever they are.”

  • Assistant Director, Center for Healthy Communities
  • Co-Coordinator of The Health and Human Enrichment Cluster

Courses Taught in Public Health

  • PBH3000 ­– Ethics, Social Justice and Policy in Public Health
  • PBH4000- Public Health Practicum
  • Faculty lead for Student Led Courses (SLCs)
  • Social and Behavioral Health Psychology 
  • Internship in Public Health
  • Applied Nutrition and Physical Activity

Selected Publications & Presentations

John, DH; McCahan, B; Gaulocher, SM. Partnering to Enable Active Rural Living: PEARL Project. The Journal of Rural Social Science, 2012.

Gaulocher, SM; Reeb, G; James, D. Book Review: Living Through the End of Nature: The Future of American Environmentalism. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 2010. 

Dennis, Jr. SF; Gaulocher SM, Carpiano R, Brown D. Using Participatory Photo-Mapping (PPM) with Young People in Health Promotion Research. Health and Place, 2008. 

Gaulocher, SM. Silent Voices: Maids in Singapore. Oregon State University, 2001. 

Memberships & Associations

  • American Public Health Association
  • New Hampshire Public Health Association 
  • Active Living by Design

Degrees

PhD, Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2013  
Dissertation Title: Increased Scholarship in Community-Based Participatory Research: New Directions for Effective Place-Based Decision Making  
Master of Public Health, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2006 
Master of Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies, Applied Anthropology, Oregon State University – Corvallis, Oregon, 2001  
Bachelor of Science, Cultural Anthropology, Oregon State University – Corvallis, Oregon, 1998