SER Member Insight: Taylor Mobley

What sparked your decision to become an epidemiologist?

I pursued an MPH in epidemiology because I was interested in learning about public health broadly, and I fell in love with epi methods coursework! As a student researcher and data analyst, I then had the opportunity to work with incredible mentors and learn more about social and lifecourse epidemiology, which led me to realize that I wanted to become a social epidemiologist.

Do you have any pets?

I have a grey house cat with adorable socks named Theo. He loves cuddles and poking holes in my shirts (to be fair, I provoke him).

Why did you join SER? What keeps you coming back?

I joined SER because my mentor encouraged me to. But I keep coming back because I have found the annual meetings to be incredibly supportive of student work and I very much look forward to hearing about the research being done by the field more broadly.

What advice do you give students who want to become epidemiologists?

You can take an epidemiology degree in many different directions, and it can be as interdisciplinary as you’d like it to be. I love that our field spans governmental and public health emergency response, public policy, academia, and more!

Outside of epidemiology what do you enjoy doing?

I am a sports fanatic! If I’m not working you can probably find me watching a game. My favorites include football (go Bears!) and women’s soccer (go ACFC!), but I could also easily go on about the WNBA, the NBA, college football and basketball, tennis, etc.

What is something that not many people know about you?

Sacramento, California is my favorite city! The city of trees, the farm to fork capital—whatever you name it, it has it all!