< Previous50 UNIVERSITY NEWS AUBURNTIGERS.COM One Health is a concept that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health; it is built on the premise that the health of all living things and our planet may be improved when experts across different fields work together to solve complex health problems. One Health involves collaboration at local, regional, national and global levels — with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes for all. Public health focuses on preventing illness and injury and promoting health in populations such as neighborhoods, communities, regions or countries. Issues relevant to public and One Health include — but are not limited to — zoonotic and vector- borne disease, hunger, diet-disease linkages, biosecurity, occupational health and safety, pandemic preparedness, antimicrobial resistance and global health issues affected by climate. Collaboration is Key to Success Collaboration is essential for understanding and addressing complex health issues comprehensively. Auburn has a long-standing history of bringing educators, researchers, students and community members together in impactful ways to tackle health challenges. The College of Veterinary Medicine leads the One Health initiative with the involvement of seven additional colleges: Nursing, Liberal Arts, Sciences and Mathematics, Human Sciences, Education, Agriculture and Forestry, Wildlife and Environment. Transdisciplinary public health interventions have potential to produce more successful, sustainable health outcomes. Advancement of One Health requires that professionals in human health (physicians, nurses, public health specialists, epidemiologists), animal health (veterinarians, paraprofessionals, agricultural workers) and environmental science (ecologists, wildlife biologists), as well as biomedical scientists working in a host of related disciplines communicate, collaborate and coordinate their activities. Other relevant players in a One Health approach could include law enforcement, policymakers, agriculturalists, urban and rural communities and pet owners. Auburn employs a One Health approach by involving experts in human, animal and environmental health to understand and mitigate public health threats and to learn how diseases spread across species at the human-animal interface. By fostering interdisciplinary research and innovative educational strategies, Auburn is preparing the next generation of public health professionals for whatever challenges they may face. Training the Next Generation of Public Health Professionals This fall, the College of Veterinary Medicine will welcome its inaugural class in the Public and One Health (PAOH) undergraduate degree program. It is a unique public health program in that it promotes One Health as its guiding principle. This holistic approach prepares graduates of the program to proactively devise and implement solutions to tackle local, regional and even global health issues. Eight different colleges at Auburn contribute important courses that cover various topics including health communication, data skills, social and behavioral health, disease ecology, environmental health, nutritional impact, zoonotic diseases and more. “We are hoping this program is an important way Auburn can meet a critical societal need, addressing complex health challenges in today’s interconnected world,” said Andrea Perkins, co-director of the PAOH program. Perkins also promotes the concept’s emphasis on taking meaningful action to improve local and global health. “One Health is very focused on action: how we need to develop, implement, assess and modify. Ideally, we aim to promote more meaningful and actionable steps toward the long-term improvement of health,” she added. Students interested in health and health science are well-suited to this major. Graduates of this program will not only have the option to begin working in entry-level careers in public health, but they may also complete course requirements necessary to apply for medical, veterinary or other professional programs or graduate studies in public health or biomedical sciences. Auburn also offers a graduate student opportunity in One Health with the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment’s One Health graduate certificate. This program is cooperatively taught with the College of Veterinary Medicine and the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. UNIVERSITY NEWS BY: ABBI GARDNER SOLVING HEALTH ISSUES THROUGH ONE HEALTH129 E. Glenn Ave. (Downtown) (334) 209-6390 1673 Shug Jordan Pkwy. Suite A (334) 209-1295 1684 S. College St. (334) 209-1140 Serving Auburn for over 40 years “Bertha!”52 ON THE PLAINS AUBURNTIGERS.COM So much paper. Just paper every- where. Such is the challenge of being part of a major college football program, with inches-thick playbooks, binders, scout- ing reports and so forth everywhere. Innovative Auburn graduate defen- sive back Griffin Speaks came up with a solution for all that clutter. “One of my old teammates and me, we created this app,” Speaks said. “We’re incorporating machine learning. We’re giving players the ability to take notes, go on your playbook, take quizzes and make adjustments to the playbook dig- itally.” Along with his former Baylor team- mate Ben Hamilton, Speaks founded a company called GamePrep, and their app – The Player’s Playbook – is in de- velopment. The goal is for this app to be used by high school and college teams to store playbooks, meeting notes and other on-field information on a player’s tablet or phone, reducing the need to carry around huge binders. “We just saw a need for it,” Speaks said. “We figured out how much (col- lege) programs were paying for all these other software programs that tell us when to go to class or study hall or what- ever it may be. But there was nothing that actually helped us on the field.” By incorporating machine learning, Speaks said that his app could function similarly to academic study apps and could also keep coaches informed on how their players were memorizing and absorbing the playbook. While continuing to develop his soft- ware, Speaks has one more year to actu- ally play college football. After graduating from Baylor with a degree in entrepreneurship and corpo- rate innovation in the fall of 2022, the Auburn native and Auburn High gradu- ate still had two years of eligibility. And he got the chance to come home. “I finished my last season at Baylor, and I broke my ankle in the bowl game,” Speaks said. “I was on a scooter. And I had graduated that December and was ready to accept a job. I was supposed to report that upcoming June in Dallas, but I wanted to play so bad somewhere. I went on a visit to a couple of other schools “But then I get a call from Auburn. I called my dad and we went crazy. Once I got the call from them, I didn’t know how real it was. But once they invited me on the visit, and I was actually able to talk to the coaches, and I realized it was real, it was a no-brainer.” With most of his family still living in Auburn, it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. And being able to play for the school and the team he had fol- lowed his whole life was, as he said, “the cherry on top.” From the 2009 West Virginia “rain game” to waiting to greet Jason Dufner at the Auburn airport after he won the 2012 PGA Championship, Speaks has no shortage of Auburn memories. “I could talk for hours about the 2010 season,” he said. “We got the opportunity to go to the national championship. The Clemson game that year was amazing. “Obviously the 2013 season, I was like 14 years old. That’s when it was real- ly becoming real. That was the most in- credible season. Nick Marshall, Sammie Coates, the Georgia game, storming the field after the Alabama game -- it didn’t feel like real life.” He got the opportunity to be on that field for real during the 2023 season, ap- pearing in all 13 games, mostly on special teams. “That meant a lot to me,” Speaks said of the ability to get snaps last year. “My biggest goal when I was coming back was I didn’t want to just sit on the side- lines. I wanted to actually get on the field and contribute for Auburn. I wanted to make Auburn better.” Entering his final football season on the Plains, Speaks wants to continue to make an impact on the field but also continue to grow off the field. “I feel like this spring and summer, we really put an emphasis on trying to hone in on off-the-field relationships,” the en- gineering student said. “I’ve really gotten to know a bunch of guys that I usually don’t get to know on that level, and it’s been absolutely incredible. “But we’ve also been working and really getting after it. We’ve got some dudes out there. We’ve got a bunch of guys who are athletes on the field and are really investing in the off-field stuff, which is rare. I think we’ve got a bunch of pros.” ON THE PLAINS WITH GRIFFIN SPEAKS BY: WES TODD ‘I WANTED TO MAKE AUBURN BETTER’ORANGE AND BLUE ©2024 BLUE MOON BREWING COMPANY, GOLDEN, CO • ALE54 2024 STADIUM MAP 2024 STADIUM MAP AUBURNTIGERS.COM (NS PASS) NORTH STADIUM LOT SOUTH DONAHUE DRIVE HEISMAN DRIVE SOUTH DONAHUE DRIVE HEISMAN DRIVE BILL & CONNIE NEVILLE LOBBY SUITE TICKET PICK-UP 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 20 0 EXIT GATE STUDENT GATE STUDENT GATE SOUTH SERVICE GATE AUBURN PLAYER GUEST STUDENT GATE BROADWAY CLUB & MEDIA CREDENTIALS TIGER WALK CLUB ENTRANCE HIGH SCHOOL COACHES 11 10 1U VISITING PLAYER GUEST & VISITING FAN TICKET PICK-UP NORTH SERVICE GATE VISITING TEAM LOCKER ROOM FOOTBALL RECRUITING OLYMPIC SPORT RECRUITING TIGER WALK CLUB 1 1 2 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 12 12 14 15 14 13 15 16 16 17 17 18 1819 19 20 20 21 46 46 45 44 44 434241 43424140 4039 39 38 38 37 37 36 35 35 34 34 33 33 32 32 31 31 30 30 2929 28 28 114 113 112 111 110 109 108 107 106 105 104 103 102 21 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 ADA SHUTTLE PICKUP ADA SHUTTLE PICKUP HRC ONLY BROADWAY CLUB ONLY TICKET OFFICE TICKET OFFICE TICKET OFFICE GAMEDAY TRANSIT & FANFEST NEVILLE ARENA TICKET OFFICE Sales & Pick-Up BROADWAY CLUB SUITESSUITES NELSON CLUB BECKWITH CLUB Entry Gate Water Station Cooling Station LEGEND Medical Bag Entry Special Access Statues Guest Services ADA Shuttle Elevator First Aid Tiger Babies Charging Station Student Section Seating bowl closed to non-students Team ShopCIVIL CONSTRUCTION, DONE RIGHT56 2024 AUBURN PARKING MAP 2024 AUBURN PARKING MAP AUBURNTIGERS.COM WOODFIELD LOT (ADA Reserved with Tailgating) SEE NEXT PAGE FOR LEGEND Auburn University is a smoke-free campus. THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING. Map information is subject to change. Visit AUBURNTIGERS.COM for updates to this map and other game day information. SCAN FOR DIGITAL2024 AUBURN PARKING MAP LEGEND 57 2024 AUBURN PARKING LEGEND AUBURNTIGERS.COMWelcome to Delicious YOUR LOCAL CULVER’S RESTAURANT: Culver’s of Auburn 2080 E University Dr Auburn, AL 36830 (334) 209-2708 YOUR LOCAL CULVER’S RESTAURANT: Culver’s of Auburn 2080 E University Dr Auburn, AL 36830 (334) 209-2708 Empowering Your Financial Journey. 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