08/23/2023: Integrating Empirical Critical Race Theory (CRT) into EHS: What to Measure and How

Tyra Parrish (she/her) is a first-generation college student born and raised in Bellflower, California. Tyra graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2020 with a B.S. in Biology. She then earned her MPH with a concentration on Global Health and Environment and a specialty in Multicultural Health from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health in 2023. Throughout her journey as a graduate student, Tyra was heavily involved in advocating and centering the voices of students, specifically the voices of minoritized students. Tyra’s work as a co-facilitator of the Environmental Health Sciences Antiracist Action team and graduate student assistant at COEH led her to analyze over five years of student feedback and propose a new curriculum requirement. This proposal recentered the voices of those in the margin in a manner that honored and respected their stories and experiences. The impacts of her student activism led to her receiving both the Leadership in Graduate Diversity Award and the Henrik L. Blum Award for Distinguished Social Action award at UC Berkeley. Her passion for mitigating health disparities in communities of color and reimagining the delivery of healthcare in a manner that does not replicate the historical and present harm being done to marginalized communities is shaped by the mantra she lives by “Lift as you climb.” This mantra highlights how it is important to reach back and stay connected to your community to help current and future generations.