Nicole Blanchard, DrPH, MPH, (she/her/hers) is the Director of the Schoharie County Department of Health and has a Doctor of Public Health and a Master of Public Health. With over 18 years of experience in Public Health, Dr. Blanchard specializes in population health and health equity. As a US Air Force Veteran, Nicole started her public health career providing emergency relief and infectious disease surveillance to Hurricane Katrina victims; from there, she served internationally, performing infectious disease surveillance and general public health duties in Europe. After the military, Nicole has served in private institutions, for non-profit entities, and at the local health level to promote health equity in rural communities while developing analytic tools for population health surveillance.