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November 2, 2016

Passion for public health inspires Ine to get involved

International student instrumental in creating campus health society

Ine Seljeseth’s passion for public health comes from a desire to effect change on a large scale.

The international student, who today (2 November) graduated with a Masters of Public Health, moved to Australia from her native Norway six years ago to study dietetics and nutrition.

But once she delved further into the field of public health, she realised that was where her true passion lies.

“I’ve always been interested in the role of nutrition on a person’s health and how that can help people, but when I started studying public health, I realised that I could have an influence on a larger scale,” Ine said.

During her years at UOW, Ine has harnessed that passion to create change for the student body and for the campus as a whole.

She was instrumental in setting up the Illawarra Public Health Society, which aims to encourage and engage with students to support healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

Among the society’s aims are to eliminate food waste, promote healthy lifestyles, get students moving, and improve students’ emotional and mental wellbeing.

It was through the society that Ine helped orchestrate one of the biggest changes to campus life to occur over the past few years – the push to make UOW smoke free.

“UOW didn’t have a student society for public health, so we decided to create one. In the first year I was elected Vice President and the following year I was elected President. I really enjoyed the responsibility and the experience,” Ine said.

“We were behind the push to have a smoke-free campus. It was my undergraduate project. I started a petition and got 800 signatures, and I presented that to the Vice-Chancellor. It was the push we needed from the student side to make it happen.”

Ine has a Bachelor of Public Health from UOW and said her decision to continue her studies was motivated by her love of public health and support from her supervisors, Dr Joanna Russell and Dr Bridget Kelly.

“I really enjoyed my undergraduate studies, and UOW was perfect for my needs. I had great support and I thought it was worth pursuing my Masters,” Ine said.

Now based in Norway, Ine is working towards a career in public health, where she can use her passion to help people and society as a whole.

However, she admits that she might be lured back to Australia.

“My family love having me home for now, I was away for six years,” she said. “But I do love Australia, so I might come back.”