Friday, June 12 – Biking to Health

9:45-10:00 AM             Connect to Zoom

10:00-10:10 AM          Welcome & Introduce Ken McLeod — Doug Osborne

Doug Osborne, M.A., works as a Health Educator at the SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC). He is President of the Sitka Cycling Club and a League of American Bicyclist League Certified Instructor. Since 2004 Doug has been promoting walking and biking as an economical and environmentally responsible way to simultaneously meet needs for transportation, physical activity, and fun … all in one.

10:10-10:35 AM           Safer Biking for Better Health — Ken McLeod, JD

Ken McLeod, JD, leads the Bicycle Friendly State program as Policy Director for the League of American Bicyclists.  Ken also provides technical assistance to state and local advocates, and conducts research on a variety of topics, with an emphasis on how technology will affect the future of bicycling. Ken is the author of the Benchmarking Report on Bicycling and Walking, which supports the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Active People, Healthy Nation initiative to get 27 million people more physically active. Ken has a J.D. from William & Mary Law School and has a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College in Claremont, CA.

Bicycling is incredibly healthy, one of the best ways to get regular physical activity and  improve mental health. Places where more people bike have lower rates of traffic deaths and less pollution. The many known health benefits of bicycling can be enjoyed with successfully designed  infrastructure that reduces conflict with motorists. This presentation will discuss why the Center for Disease Control and Prevention prioritized biking (and walking) through its Active People, Healthy Nation initiative and how communities are taking action to help people be more physically active by biking and walking. Whether responding to COVID-19, or just wanting to improve the health of their communities, policymakers throughout the United States are taking action to promote biking and this talk will highlight those actions.

10:35-10:40 AM           Chat Room ‘Safer Bike’  – Doug Osborne

Introduce Dr. Alfgeir Kristjansson — Doug Osborne

10:40-11:30 AM           Substance Use Prevention for Adolescents:  The Icelandic Model  — Alfgeir Kristjansson, PhD

Alfgeir Kristjansson, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Public Health at West Virginia University and a Senior Researcher at the Icelandic Center for Social Research and Analysis at Reykjavik University. He earned his PhD in Social Medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2010, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Columbia University in New York City between 2010-2012. The central focus of his work is on the health, behavioral development and well-being of children and youth with particular attention to substance use prevention and community health promotion. During the last 15 years Dr. Kristjansson has acquired support for his research from the European Research Council, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers in scholarly journals within public health, health education, preventive medicine and multidisciplinary adolescent journals.

Dr. Kristjansson is an Associate Professor of Public Health at West Virginia University and a Senior Researcher at the Icelandic Center for Social Research and Analysis at Reykjavik University. He earned his PhD in Social Medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden in 2010, and was a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia University in New York City between 2010-2012. The central focus of his work is on the health, behavioral development and well-being of children and youth with particular attention to substance use prevention and community health promotion. During the last 15 years dr. Kristjansson has acquired support for his research from the European Research Council, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institutes of Health. He has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers in scholarly journals within public health, health education, preventive medicine and multidisciplinary adolescent journals. In his talk, Dr. Kristjansson will be focusing on the design, implementation and evaluation of the Icelandic Prevention Model, designed to prevent youth substance use through early engagement.

11:30-11:40 AM                 Chat Room ‘Substance Use Prevention for Adolescents’ — Doug Osborne

Introduce Charlie Lowell and Scott Menzies

11:40 AM-12:05 PM           Susitna Bicycle Institute- Kids These Days! Engaging Youths with Bikes is a Tool to Help Prevent Youth Substance Use — Charlie Lowell & Scott Menzies

Charlie Lowell is the Youth Program Director of Susitna Bicycle Institute. He has been a mechanic for seven years, and has been teaching classes since 2017. Charlie is certified by the Professional Bike Mechanic’s Association, and has traveled across the state to develop SBI’s outreach program.

Scott Menzies is the Executive Director and Founder of Susitna Bicycle Institute. He has 15 years of experience as a bike mechanic, and is certified by USA Cycling and the Professional Bike Mechanic’s Association. Scott has been a mechanics instructor since 2015.

The Susitna Bicycle Institute (SBI) is a non-profit bicycle mechanic education center providing structured activities through bicycle mechanic education to Alaska’s Youth in the effort to reduce youth substance use.  Come hear how SBI encourages relationships between local organizations to support bike mechanic school and education for youth. We collaborate with individuals, organizations, and communities  to create opportunities to engage youth in organized recreational and extracurricular activities across Alaska.  By making bike safety and repair classes widely available to youth in remote communities, we hope to create opportunities for creative problem solving, environmental mindfulness, and community engagement to help reduce youth substance use in your community too. Listen to how we demonstrate that being a bicycle mechanic is a viable and respectable career, and can teach students skills they need to pursue a career in bikes or in other fields in and out of Alaska. We have been working for the past two years to coordinate and connect public and private interests to establish a statewide network of community bike shops.

12:05-12:15 PM           Closing Conference Remarks, Chat Room — Doug Osborne