Meet Shannon Hoffman, the new Editor of the Healthy Turtle Blog

About a year has come and gone since we started the Healthy Turtle blog as a way to connect the students, faculty, staff and alumni of the School of Public Health. Starting this week, we'll have a new person to carry on that effort.

Shannon Hoffman, a new graduate student in the university, will take over Monday as the Editor of the Healthy Turtle (as well as the school's GA for Communications and Media Outreach). Bobby McMahon, the outgoing editor (and the one typing this post right now) talked with Shannon about her background and her ideas for taking the blog to the next level.

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Healthy Turtle: Where did you come from? What are you studying here at Maryland?

Shannon Hoffman: I graduated from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania this past spring, and I am originally from the area (central Pa.) as well. I'll be starting the Journalism Master's program at Maryland this fall (and I'm very excited about it!).

HT: On the blog, will we be seeing anything new?

SH: I hope to incorporate more video posts, including one that features a tour of the building renovations, highlighting the most exciting upgrades. I would also like to continue taking part in experiments, like the one you did with Kinesiology (see part 1 and part 2 of my day with the Cognitive Motor Neuroscience Lab), and then reporting on the experience.

I hope that we'll also start seeing more contributors on the site in the form of commenting, photos, stories, etc. Students, faculty, staff and friends of the SPH will also be able to go to the blog to find updates about all the exciting new things that are going on with the SPH: the student advisory committee, renovations, accreditation, the Center for Health Literacy, the Prevention Research Center and so on.

HT: What are some new things that you hope to create/expand this year?

For starters, I'd love to see the Facebook group and fan page become more popular, and increase the interactivity on all of the social networking tools. I'd also like to continue the work that's already been done in uniting the school as one community. I have a new special event or two in mind as well, but I'll wait a little longer before announcing those.

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For more information on how you can contribute to the blog or to suggest an idea, Shannon can be reached through the Healthy Turtle blog, through our Facebook pages (here and here) and through our Twitter site.

As for me, this is my last post with the Healthy Turtle. It's been a pleasure learning about the School of Public Health and working with so many engaged and talented people this year, and I hope you'll treat Shannon just as well as you've treated me. Thanks, and hopefully we'll cross paths again soon. --Bobby McMahon