Every Spring, the Midwest Center for Occupational Health and Safety Education and Research Center hosts an annual National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Symposium. This symposium brings together students, faculty, researchers, media, guest speakers, and other stakeholders to explore NORA-related topics in occupational health and safety.
UPCOMING
The 2025 Susan Goodwin Gerberich Symposium (formerly NORA Symposium) will be held in Spring 2025. Watch for an announcement in early 2025.
PAST SYMPOSIA
2024
Cannabis and Work
May 2, 2024
The 2024 Symposium (renamed the Susan Goodwin Gerberich Symposium) was held Thursday, May 2 in Cowles Auditorium at the Hubert Humphrey School of Public Affairs on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The event featured a research poster session, followed by the keynote presentation by Dr. John Howard, Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Dr. Howard spoke about the occupational health and safety considerations related to cannabis use and production, including the implications for workplace policies and practices in relation to shifting legal standards and changing cultural views.
- The event was recorded and is currently being edited. Watch for the view to be posted soon!
This event was co-hosted by MCOHS and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).
2023
Changing the Climate of Worker Health and Safety: A Forum on Lessons and Actions to Foster a Resilient Workforce
April 27, 2023
The 2023 NORA Online Symposium featured presentations and interactive discussion with a panel of experts on the effects of climate change on worker health and safety in a variety of industries and workplaces. Presented in an online format, the symposium began with a virtual poster session with presentations by students and researchers with MCOHS and UMASH, and a short Q&A session moderated by MCOHS Deputy Director, Dr. Susan Arnold. The poster session was followed by the panel presentation, moderated by UMASH Director, Dr. Jeff Bender.
This event was co-hosted by MCOHS and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).
2022
The Changing Nature of Work: The Impact of COVID-19 on our Health Care Workforce
May 5, 2022
Featured Speaker: Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Chief Well-being Officer and Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine
The 2022 symposium was again presented in an online format. It began with a virtual poster session with presentations by students and researchers with MCOHS and UMASH, and a short Q&A session moderated by MCOHS Deputy Director, Dr. Susan Arnold. The poster session was followed by Dr. Dyrbye’s keynote presentation, “Strategies to Address Burnout Among Clinicians” and a Q&A session with MCOHS Director, Dr. Marizen Ramirez. The symposium wrapped up with a panel presentation by experts from the healthcare workforce, moderated by UMASH Director, Dr. Jeff Bender.
This event was co-hosted by MCOHS and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).
2021
COVID-19 in the Workplace: Creating Safe Workspaces
April 22, 2021
Featured Speaker: Michael T. Osterholm, PhD – Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 NORA symposium was presented online in an interactive webinar. The symposium included a virtual poster session with presentations by students and researchers with MCOHS and UMASH, and a short Q&A session moderated by MCOHS Deputy Director, Dr. Susan Arnold. This was followed by a “fireside chat” style conversation with keynote speaker, Dr. Mike Osterholm, and Dr. Jeff Bender, UMASH Director. The symposium wrapped up with a panel presentation by experts representing healthcare, agriculture, retail, and community engagement organizations, and a Q&A session moderated by MCOHS Director, Dr. Marizen Ramirez.
This event was co-hosted by MCOHS and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).
2020
Productive Aging and Work: Creating an Age-Friendly Workplace
April 30, 2020
Featured Speaker: James Grosch, PhD – Senior Research Psychologist and Co-Director of the Center for Productive Aging and Work at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 NORA symposium was presented online in an interactive webinar.
This event was co-hosted by MCOHS and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH).
2019
Stressed Out from Work: An Occupational Hazard
May 2, 2019
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2018
Workplace Harassment: Ensuring Respect, Combating Harassment, and Improving Organizational Performance
May 3, 2018
Featured Speaker: Fran Sepler – President, Sepler & Associates
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2017
Prescription Opioid Use in Occupational Health Care: Reducing Risk and Improving Safety
May 5, 2017
Featured Speaker: Thomas Wickizer, PhD, Chair and Stephen F. Loebs Professor, The Ohio State University College of Public Health
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2016
Critical Challenges Facing Occupational Health and Safety – Today and Tomorrow
May 4, 2016
Featured Speaker: John Howard, MD, MPH, JD, LLM, Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2015
Total Worker Health
Why You Should Build a Program in Total Worker Health and How to Do It
May 6, 2015
Featured Speaker: W. Kent Anger, PhD, Senior Scientist, Associate Director for Applied Research and Professor, Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2014
Occupational Health of Immigrant Workers: Reducing the Disparities
May 1, 2014
Co-Presented by: Marc Schenker, MD, MPH, Distinguished Professor and Associate Vice-Provost for Outreach and Engagement, Public Health Sciences and Medicine, University of California, Davis; and Xóchitl Castañeda, Director, Health Initiative of the Americas School of Public Health, University of California Berkeley
This event was co-hosted by the MCOHS ERC and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH, Bruce Alexander, PI and Director).
2013
Gun Violence Prevention, with Implications for Occupational Health and Safety
May 2, 2013
Presented by: David Hemenway, Ph.D., Professor of Health Policy, Harvard School of Public Health; Director, Harvard Injury Control Research Center
2012
Bully-Free and Violence-Free at Work: Inspiring a Respectful Workplace
May 1, 2012
Presented by: Valerie Cade, CSP, Professional Speaker, Business Consultant and Author
2011
From Research to Policy: Using Science to Inform and Design Effective Injury Control Policy
April 27, 2011
Presented by: Linda C. Degutis, DrPH, MSN, Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention
2010
The Future of Work
April 15, 2010
Presented by: Dr. John Howard, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
2009
Where Are We with Occupational Safety and Health in the United States?
May 20, 2009
Presented by: Christine M. Branche, Ph.D., Acting Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
2008
Impact of the EU REACH Initiative on the United States
May 5, 2008
Presented by: Paul Hewett, PhD, CIH, Founder and President of Exposure Assessment Solutions, Inc.
2007
Occupational Health and Safety Research to Practice
June 13, 2007
Co-Presented by: Laura Punnett, Sc.D., Professor, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts Lowell; Center for the Promotion of Health in the New England Workplace; and Jane Lipscomb, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Director, University of Maryland Baltimore (UMAB) School of Nursing, Work and Health Research Center
2005
Health and Safety Issues in the Aging Workforce
April 21, 2005
Presented by: Dr. David H. Wegman, MD, former faculty of the Harvard School of Public Health, and Director of the Occupational Health Program; Chair of Occupational and Environmental Health at UCLA’s School of Public Health; Founding Chair of the Department of Work Environment in the Engineering College at the University of Massachusetts Lowell
Consequences of Thinking About Environmental and Occupational Health as Separate Entities (Pathways to Sustainable Development)
March 30, 2005
Presented by: Nicholas A. Ashford, JD, PhD, Professor of Technology and Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reaching the Hard to Reach: Outreach Programs for Vulnerable Working Populations
February 24, 2005
Presented by: Dr. Rosemary Sokas, MD, MOH, Professor and Director of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago
2004
Health and Safety Priorities for the 21st Century
May 26-27, 2004
Multiple presentations to promote dissemination of research on the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) priorities.