DEAL Day showcases One Health in action

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 9, 2025) — The University of Kentucky’s South Farm came alive as more than 100 students participated in DEAL Day in late September. DEAL, which stands for Discover, Experience, Apply and Learn, is a hands-on career exploration event.  

The focus of this semester’s DEAL Day was One Health, which integrates the health of people, animals and ecosystems into a unified framework. Housed in the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment (CAFE), the initiative partners with colleges across UK’s campus and other state agencies. 

The UK College of Public Health (CPH) showcased the One Health approach at this annual event, underscoring the collaboration at the heart of the initiative.

“As a land-grant university, our role is to work in partnership with our communities, honoring the work they do and strengthening it through collaboration,” said Janie Cambron, director of land-grant engagement at CPH and the principal investigator (PI) of the grant that funded this event. “DEAL Day is one way we bring that spirit of partnership to life, and One Health is an excellent example of many people and organizations working together for a common goal.” 

Supported by a grant from the Office of Land-grant Engagement, the event blended teaching, research and service — pillars of UK’s land-grant mission. 

“One Health has many facets, and we are excited to showcase the many different topics to these students,” said Jeff Young, Ph.D., director for uban extension in Martin-Gatton CAFE and co-PI of the grant. “It is so exciting to see the resources of multiple colleges brought to bear on important topics like One Health." 

DEAL Day began in 2022 and has typically been held for students in CPH’s public health careers course — taught by Cambron — in partnership with the Kentucky Department for Public Health. Initially, the event focused on governmental career options, but CPH has been working to expand each semester to include new partners outside of traditional governmental public health roles as well as new facets of the public health system.  

“DEAL Day is always a valuable experience for our students because it brings public health to life through hands-on activities and engaging conversations at every station,” said Nicole Barber-Culp, experiential education director at CPH. “This semester, our exhibitors did an amazing job highlighting One Health through activities focused on the connection between animal and human health, agriculture and its impact on our environment. While there isn’t enough time to fully explore each career or pathway, we hope students walk away inspired, discovering what piques their interest and leaving with a genuine curiosity to learn more about those fields.” 

For the first time, high school students were added to the DEAL Day event. Approximately 30 students from Frankfort High School and Bryan Station High School in Lexington attended. 

“They’ve been very engaged in asking a lot of good questions and just seem super interested in the topics that are being presented,” said Gretchen Vaught, gifted and enrichment coordinator for Frankfort Independent Schools. 

Maddy Barrie, a senior majoring in health, society and populations, said the event was eye-opening. She said she was surprised by how many niche public health fields exist, from septic tank management to tick and mosquito tracking to engineering roles. 

“My biggest takeaway is to keep an open mind going into DEAL Day, because there are so many opportunities to learn about different careers and networks, especially with internships coming up,” Barrie said. 

Jeremyah Cabrera, a sophomore dual major in public health and nursing, said the event is a perfect opportunity for students to get connected. 

“History favors the bold,” Cabrera said. “And especially at DEAL Day, we have the very unique opportunity to be in our major and talk to the people in our element. If you really want to get connected and are serious about seeing how far this degree can take you, start talking to the people who are here.” 

Stations and highlights 

As part of the DEAL Day celebration, students rotated through interactive stations, each staffed by expert partners.

• One Health career pathways discussion (all stations, UK College of Public Health) 

• Microscope species identification, tick drag, internships and career pathways (Kentucky Department for Public Health) 

• Soils, septic systems and environmental health careers (Franklin County Health Department and Lexington-Fayette County Health Department) 

• Food systems, access and aquaponics (FoodChain) 

• Water quality (Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection) 

• Food systems, access, nutrition and cooking (The Food Connection) 

• Disaster preparedness and response efforts (UK Cooperative Extension) 

• Nutrition (Fayette County Family and Consumer Sciences, UK Cooperative Extension) 

• Disaster medicine simulation (UK College of Medicine) 

• Wastewater surveillance, Disease Detectives mobile unit (UK Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering)  

• Food safety and access (UK South Farm) 

Participation was high at every station, with students identifying ticks and mosquitoes through microscopes, tasting aquaponic microgreens, building their own healthy meals, examining water samples, analyzing soil pH and roleplaying emergency response scenarios. 

“My favorite station was the nutrition station led by Fayette County Family and Consumer Sciences and UK Cooperative Extension because it was a really fun activity of ranking how much sugar is in each drink, and I loved learning about healthier soda alternatives,” said Barrie. 

Impact and next steps 

By day’s end, students had not only learned technical skills but had also gained a clear vision of various career pathways, from agriculture and environmental science to clinical and community health roles.  

Organizers said they will integrate feedback from the evaluation session into the spring 2026 launch of the online One Health training modules — a component of the grant. These modules will be available for middle and high school students, as well as to anyone wanting to learn more about One Health.  

CPH plans to continue exploring ways to collaborate with Martin-Gatton CAFE and other partners to expand efforts for One Health learning.  

Reddy Palli, Ph.D., director of UK One Health, chair of the Department of Entomology in Martin-Gatton CAFE, state entomologist and The Bill Gatton Foundation Distinguished Professor, praised the event for the collaboration and in-depth learning.   

“DEAL Day showed how One Health touches communities, animals, our environment and organizations in so many ways,” Palli said. “We thank the UK College of Public Health for organizing this event and continuing its partnership with the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment to build pathways for students to explore careers in One Health.” 

Cambron hopes the event will leave a lasting impression and that DEAL Day will inspire students to imagine themselves in these fields.  

“What I love about my job is the opportunity to work with students that have so many varied interests and topics they want to explore. It’s exciting to try and bring in topics that everyone can explore,” she said. “By making the connections between agriculture, public health and the environment tangible, we want to show them that these are not just academic topics, but real career paths where they can make a difference in their communities. We want to expose them to careers they may not have even considered or known about and even if they don’t choose to go into this area of public health, we hope that they can increase their knowledge for One Health and how it’s all connected and takes multiple partners working together.”