Brian McKenna

Brian McKenna was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., where he received a B.A. in communication arts and an M.A. in anthropology from Temple University. While in Philadelphia, he worked to shape public policy as a health analyst for the United Way's Community Services Planning Council and began a side career as a freelance journalist (City Paper, New York Guardian, University City Review). Before leaving Philadelphia for Michigan in 1991 to pursue his Ph.D. at MSU in medical anthropology, he taught political science and did a stint as development specialist for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross. McKenna completed his Ph.D. in 1998 and has coordinated a groundbreaking study on Lansing-area environmental health for the Ingham County Health Department for the past three years. His study on our water will be published this summer (2001). He also taught a graduate class at MSU last fall titled, Anthropology, Health and the Environment.