Yale University

Hailey is a PhD student in Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases at the Yale School of Public Health and an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Her research uses computational tools to improve how we predict infectious disease outbreaks - like forecasting the weather - so that communities can better prepare for and respond to health threats. She holds a B.S. in Global Health with a minor in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence from the University of Southern California. While at USC, Hailey was a competitive member of the Trojan Debate Squad and served as an Assistant Coach at the Marlborough School. 

Why Debate?

I first enrolled in policy debate as a freshman in high school to satisfy a speech requirement, knowing nothing about the activity - just that it seemed preferable to drama or public speaking. There is not enough space to articulate how much that decision has meant to me in the years that have followed. In short, debate opened the door to college, gave me lasting research and communication skills, and, most meaningfully, introduced me to my fiancé, Ben. I’m deeply grateful for the debate community, and I hope to give back by supporting the next generation of debaters.