Emerson Fellow
Meg Buckley
24th Class, 2017-2018
Meg attended Saint Louis University for her undergraduate and graduate degrees, studying public health with a concentration in behavioral science and health education. While at SLU, Meg studied abroad in Madrid, Spain, spent summers working for a nonprofit in Central Appalachia, and participated in a summer immersion program in Nicaragua where she had the opportunity to work with farmers, church leaders, and grassroots organizers. As a graduate student, she interned with the Child Health Advocacy and Outreach department of St. Louis Children’s Hospital and assisted refugees with healthcare access at The International Institute of St. Louis, a resettlement agency. She also conducted evaluation and outreach as the Community Engagement Fellow for the St. Louis MetroMarket, a nonprofit mobile farmer’s market committed to ending food deserts in St. Louis.
Field placement: Treasure Coast Food Bank
Fort Pierce, Florida
Meg worked to create a partner agency tier system as a way to create a consistent framework for improvement and evaluation for the food bank’s 300+ partner agencies. She also conducted research in the community to identify areas to expand TCFB’s child nutrition programs.
Policy placement: Food Research & Action Center
Washington, D.C.
At the Food Research and Action Center, Meg monitored congressional hearings regarding SNAP and assisted with the development of webinars and best practice guides on rural SNAP enrollment and best practices for employment and training programs. Additionally, Meg updated the Disaster SNAP guide to include lessons learned from the 2017 hurricane season.