Camille Velarde raised in rural northern New Mexico, is a third year PhD Student studying health communication in Department of Communication & Journalism. She works as a TA teaching various undergraduate communication courses including public speaking, organizational communication and health communication. Currently, Camille serves as the graduate student board member for the IRB on UNM’s Main campus office and works as a graduate assistant at OMBUDS for faculty.

She proudly received both her BA and MA from the University of New Mexico, where her undergraduate work focused on organizational communication which Camille applied in the field as a legal secretary for several years and minored in psychology which she applied in her master’s work which was centered around mental health communication.

As a PhD student, Camille has won two top paper awards for her work titled “Critical Socioecological Model: A Critical Perspective to Historicize Health Inequities” at both the The International Association of Applied Demography Conference and at Western States Communication Conference both in 2019  and has presented her work at various popular culture, health, and communication conferences. Her current research interests tend to intersect digital media and mental health.

As native New Mexican, Camille feels a connection and responsibility to the students and community she serves at the University of New Mexico which is evident in her teaching and research practices.