Lauren Kraemer, MPH is an Associate Professor of Practice in the College of Health with Oregon State University Extension Service in Hood River and Wasco Counties. Lauren’s work and research interests focus on three areas: Food Systems, Chronic Disease Prevention, and Climate Health & Resiliency.  

Lauren’s work in food systems includes serving as a Steering Committee member for the Gorge Food Security Coalition and managing the Mid-Columbia SNAP-Ed Program. Most recently, Lauren has initiated a community garden project at affordable housing sites in partnership with the Mid-Columbia Housing Authority and OSU’s Master Gardener Program. Lauren also manages a cadre of volunteers that support community nutrition outreach into food pantries, schools, farmers markets, and health clinics utilizing OSU’s Food Hero and Grow This! Programs.

Lauren’s work in chronic disease prevention overlaps with the nutrition and physical activity education and programs she provides alongside her role as the Statewide Ambassador and master trainer for the StrongPeople™ Program.

Lauren’s work in climate health and resiliency includes creating a community air quality monitoring initiative which has placed 20 monitors at schools, orchards, and other community organizations to improve air quality literacy as well as student and staff health. In this field, Lauren also researched and developed a comprehensive Community Response Plan for wildfire smoke in the Columbia Gorge. Lauren also led the development of an outreach and education campaign to promote accessible DIY air filtration devices. (Funding for these programs came from Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and OHSU Knight Cancer Foundation.)

Historically, Lauren helped to write and develop an online preparedness course for the Cascadia Subduction Zone Event (funding from USDA-NIFA) as well as a series of Survival Basics publications and regularly teaches community disaster preparedness classes focused on household preparedness of food, water, and waste management supplies.

Lauren is a systems thinker and passionate about understanding how to make connections between people and programs to help address complex public health challenges in an equitable, trauma-informed, and inclusive way.  Lauren is also interested in utilizing public health principles and theory to inform the interventions and programs we design, develop, and deliver through the Extension Service. Lauren would love to partner with campus-based college faculty to design, develop, deliver, and evaluate programs in her communities.