CRPH Staff Spotlight: Meet Samantha Slinkard-Barnum

Samantha Slinkard-Barnum has been a staple of the CRPH staff since November of 2021. Until recently, she worked as the Rural Research Coordinator.  

Slinkard-Barnum says her time at the center has been invaluable, “my best memories? I make them quite often; every day I am in the office is a great time.” 

In September, Slinkard-Barnum’s role here shifted as she moved up to a Lead Evaluator, the first the center has ever had. 

Evaluations were previously split across Slinkard-Barnum, CRPH Director Dr. Bennett, and Research Project Manager Samantha Renaud. However, in the last couple of years, the center has increased the number of external contracts to conduct program evaluations, creating a need for a dedicated evaluator.  

“Slinkard-Barnum has always had a keen eye for evaluation,” Renaud said. “Her experience with qualitative and quantitative data and her ability to work and collaborate with all levels of the program team makes her exceptionally qualified to take on this role.” 

As Lead Evaluator, Slinkard-Barnum will conduct internal and external evaluations for the center and many of our programs.  

Program evaluation is something Slinkard-Barnum developed a strong passion for throughout her academic career, “being able to do it as my day-to-day job has been a great blessing in my mind,” she said.  

Born and raised in Las Vegas, Slinkard-Barnum attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas for a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and then continued there for a Master of Public Health, Social Behavior Health.  

Early in her academic career, Slinkard-Barnum was passionate about bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, originally planning to get a PhD in anthropology. Through involvement in a global health initiative at UNLV, medical anthropology courses, and a professor’s recommendation, her eyes were opened to public health. Quickly after completing her B.A., she began her MPH.  

Slinkard-Barnum found great value in her work in anthropology but quickly became passionate about a future in public health, “I want to make an impact on people who are living and breathing and creating history today.” 

In 2021, Slinkard-Barnum made the 2000+ mile move to South Carolina, a huge culture shock for the self-proclaimed West Coast girl.  

Coming from life out west and now working in South Carolina, Slinkard-Barnum sees something special in South Carolina’s rural health initiatives. " There are a lot of lessons learned and a lot of lessons to be learned in South Carolina,” she said. "There are some models that can definitely be implemented elsewhere, even in Nevada.” 

Slinkard-Barnum describes the first few months as Lead Evaluator as equally challenging and rewarding. As she continues in this position, she hopes to build an internal evaluation structure to measure the center’s impact and expand the availability of external evaluations for our partnerships.  

CRPH Director Dr. Kevin Bennett, says this new role is vital for the center to fully understand our impact and provide feedback for future programs.  

Bennett says Slinkard-Barnum's well-honed ability to see the big-picture impact of each program will make her incredibly successful as she continues in this position.