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Agenda

2026 Conference

Day 1: May 5, 2026
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM	Registration Check-in Lunch on your own Exhibit Hall Open
12:30 PM	Welcome, Opening Session
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM	Opening Plenary: Public Health Updates in North Dakota Sherry Adams, Ann Fritz and Dr. Carlos Miranda
2:00 PM – 2:45 PM	Break & Exhibit Hall Open
2:15 PM – 2:45 PM	Poster Session A
2:45 PM – 3:45 PM	Breakout A ATOD: Motivational Interviewing: Implementation Considerations for Managers - Jason Anderson, Jason Anderson Consulting, LLC Community Health: Suicide Prevention in North Dakota - Melissa Markegard, ND Health and Human Services General Environmental Health: Communicating Radon Risk: Strategies to Engage North Dakotans on an Invisible Environmental Hazard - Soojung Kim, University of North Dakota Food Safety: Minnesota Nice Doesn’t Apply - Jeff Almer, STOP Infectious Disease: Polio: Do you Remember It? Storytelling by the Ones Who Do - Tess Wall, Grand Forks Public Health Smorgasbord: - Healing and Sovereignty: Strength-Based Programming for Native Communites - Ashley Littlewolf, American Indian Public Health Resource Center Syndemic: Are you ready? - Lindsey VanderBusch , Laura Cronquist and Brenton Nesemeier, ND HHS
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM	Breakout B ATOD: Leveraging the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Strategies to Impact Community Change - Nicole Hackley, Prevention Support Services Community Health: From Community to Care Teams: The Growing Role of Community Health Workers in North Dakota – Tiffany Knauf, ND HHS General Environmental Health: Innovations in Radon Education and Testing in North Dakota (Virtual) – Dr. Gary Schwartz, UND School of Medicine Food Safety: The Dose Makes the Poison: The Challenges of Food Additives – Laura Khadang, Fargo Cass Public Health Infectious Disease: Demystifying Death Certificate Completion: What You Need to Know - Dr. Lauren Huddle, North Dakota State Forensic Examiner's Office Smorgasbord: StrengthsFinder 2.0 and Beyond - Jason Anderson, Jason Anderson Consulting, LLC Syndemic: Penicillin and Partnership: The Tribal Health Response to Syphilis – Taylor Davidson & John Godoy, Great Plains Tribal Epidemiology Center

Day 2: May 6, 2026
	Breakfast on your own
8:30 AM – 8:45 AM	Welcome, Daily Announcements, Awards
8:45 AM – 9:45 AM	Plenary: Environmental Health Leading Public Health Prevention Larry Ramdin, National Environmental Health Association
9:45 AM – 10:30 AM	Break & Exhibit Hall Open
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM	Poster Session B
10:30 AM – 11:30 AM	Breakout C ATOD: Strengthening Clinician Capacity to Treat Youth Nicotine Dependence: Findings from the ACCESS Study – Dr. Allison Peltier North Dakota State University and Kelly Buettner Schmidt, North Dakota State University Community Health: Dementia – What is it? How Can We Break the Stigma? - Beth Nolan, Positive Approach to Care® General Environmental Health: Brief Insight into the World of Hazardous Waste - Robin Beyer, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality Food Safety: Wild Mushrooms (Virtual Presenter) - Tim Clemens, Ironwood Foraging Co. Infectious Disease: Current State of Public Health Laws in North Dakota: Laws and Legal Update for State and Local Public Health Workers- Allyson Hicks, State of ND, Office of Attorney General Smorgasbord: Building Better Programs: Lessons on What Works, What Doesn’t, and Creating Lasting Results – Ray Ann Kilen, Women Empowering Women Syndemic: Spilling the Tea on HIV Stigma and Survival - Jason Grueneich, Shine Bright & Live
11:45 AM – 1:00 PM	Lunch (Provided) Exhibit Hall Open
1:00 PM – 2:00 PM	Breakout D ATOD: Justice for Katarina: What Happens After the Sirens Fade -Nicole and Robert Louthain, Justice for Katarina Community Health: Well Parents, Well Kids: Growing Postpartum Support in North Dakota - Abby Lange, Fargo Cass Public Health General Environmental Health: EPHEPR Framework – Environmental Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response (Virtual Presenter) - Tim Hatch, Alabama Department of Public Health Food Safety: Epidemiology and Environmental Health in Enteric Disease Investigation in North Dakota - Samantha Janecek, ND Health and Human Services Infectious Disease: Utilizing Neuromarketing Testing to Guide Effective Vaccine Messages among American Indian and Alaska Native Communities – Dr. Allison Peltier, North Dakota State University Smorgasbord: Boosting your QI IQ - Building the knowledge, skills and confidence to lead meaningful improvement - Jo Gourneau, ND HHS Syndemic: How is Your STI Prevention Program? Evaluating Programs & Best Practices – Sarah Weninger, NDHHS
2:15 PM –3:15 PM	Breakout E ATOD: Building Your Prevention Capacity: Mapping, Connecting, Storytelling – Sylvia Miller, Prevention Support Services Community Health: Caring for the Whole Person - Dr. Brittany Snustad, Bella Health + Wellness General Environmental Health: The Importance of Pool Design - Matthew Selman and Hunter Volk, Associated Pool Builders, Inc. Food Safety: Value in Waste: Compliance in Nose to Tail Marketing - Natalie Bergquist, North Dakota Department of Agriculture Smorgasbord: Bridging Worlds: Using Culturally Grounded Metaphors to Build Capacity with Indigenous Evaluation Frameworks - Melanie Nadeau, University of North Dakota Syndemic: From Outbreak to Action: Maine’s Response to Emerging HIV Transmission – Alyssa Farmer, Maine CDC Infectious Disease: Avian Influenza Education and Outreach: A Statewide Partnership to Support High-Risk Agricultural Populations – Levi Schlosser, ND Health and Human Services and Jake Galbreath, North Dakota State University. Dr. Heidi Pecoraro from NDSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and Kylie Hall from NDSU CIRE, are additional panelists.
3:15 PM –3:45 PM	Break & Exhibit Hall Open (exhibit hall closes after this break)
3:45 PM – 4:45 PM	Breakout F ATOD: There Has Always Been Drinking in America: Alcohol, History, Culture, and What it All Means for Prevention - Rodney Wambeam, Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center Community Health: The Power of Prevention: ScreeND’s Impact on Rural and Tribal Communities in North Dakota - Nikki Medalen and Carolyne Tufte, Quality Health Associates of ND General Environmental Health: Wildfire Smoke and Air Quality in North Dakota - Jim Semerad, ND Dept. of Environmental Quality Food Safety: Balancing the Plate: Addressing Static and Dynamic Risks in Food Safety - Michael Lee, ND Health and Human Services Infectious Disease: Disease Investigation: Human Rabies in a North Dakota Healthcare Facility - Amanda Bakken and Jordan Taghon, ND Health and Human Services - Smorgasbord: Community Power: Driving Public Health Change Through Advocacy - Dr. Mark Strand, North Dakota State University, Melanie Gaebe, Shift Happens Consulting and Tony Burke, American Heart Association Syndemic: Refugee and Immigrant Health: Supports to Move From Surviving to Thriving - Donald Moncada, Bismarck Global Neighbors and Heather May, City of Bismarck

Day 3: May 7, 2026
	Breakfast on your own
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM	Breakout G ATOD: CredibleMind – Holly Scott, Fargo Cass Public Health, Daphne Johnson – Clarke, Upper Missouri District Health Unit Syndemic: Tracing the Trail: The Power and Practice of TB Contact Investigations (Part 1) - Dawn Tuckey, Hygieia Consulting Service Smorgasbord: Good Ideas, Messy Results: Why Public Health Efforts Don’t Always Go as Planned - Andrea Huseth - Zosel, North Dakota State University Infectious Disease: From Concern to Confidence: Responding to Common Vaccine Concerns from Parents and Patients - Kylie Hall, North Dakota State University CIRE Food Safety: Kwik Trip, Inc. (Kwik Star) Food Protection Risk Management Systems- Evan Powell and Jay Ellingson, Kwik Trip, Inc. General Environmental Health: Updates for Onsite Wastewater Treatment System Code – Elizabeth Tokach-Duran and Sarah Waldron-Feld, North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality Community Health: Education and Donor Milk Programs Strengthening Breastfeeding Support and Public Health Across North Dakota – Candi Smith, North Dakota State College of Science
9:45 AM – 10:45 AM	Breakout H ATOD: Emerging Drug Trends and the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) as a Public Health and Public Safety Collaborative Tool in North Dakota – Charolette Williams and Mike Ness, CDC Foundation Community Health: Cultivating Access: Expanding Local Foods in North Dakota – Amanda Olson, North Dakota Deptof Public Instruction and Jenna Nieters, North Dakota Dept of Agriculture General Environmental Health: Practical GIS for Environmental Health Practitioners – Bob Nutsch, State of North Dakota and Kaitlynn Bakken, North Dakota Association of Counties Food Safety: Risk-Based Inspection Methodology (Virtual Presenter) – Mike Nordos U.S. Food and Drug Administration Infectious Disease: Public Health and School Collaboration During the 2025 Measles Outbreaks in North Dakota – Danni Pinnick, HHS, Daphne Johson-Clarke, Upper Missouri District Health Unit and Lynn Douglas, Williston Basin School District Smorgasbord: The Family Resource Center Model: A Practical Framework for Advancing Community Wellbeing – Kristin Knorr, Creating Community Consulting Syndemic: Tracing the Trail: The Power and Practice of TB Contact Investigations (Part 2) - Dawn Tuckey, Hygieia Consulting Services
10:45AM – 11:00 AM	Snack Break
11:00 AM – 11:15 AM	Awards
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM	Plenary: For Such a Time as This: Championing Public Health Through Advocacy and Action - Dr. Nandi Marshall, President of American Public Health Association
12:15 PM	Closing