Public Health Faculty and Staff
Dr. Betsy Aumiller
Public Health Scholar in Residence
D.Ed. in Education – Penn State University
aumiller@etown.edu | 717-361-4768
Betsy Aumiller is a public health professional and Scholar-in-Residence in the Etown Public Health Department, with a focus on advancing community health, education, and applied research. Her work centers on connecting academic insight with real-world health challenges, supporting initiatives that promote population well-being, prevention strategies, and health equity. Through her role, she contributes to teaching, mentoring, and collaborative projects that strengthen public health practice and workforce development. She teaches Principle of Public Health, Determinants of Health and Health Equity, Senior Seminar, and Public Health Field Instruction.
Dr. David Bowne
Chair, Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences
Professor of Biology
Ph.D. in Environmental Science - University of Virginia
bowned@etown.edu | 717-361-1317
Dr. Bowne joined the faculty of Elizabethtown College in 2008. He teaches General Ecology, Conservation Biology, Geographic Information Systems, and the introductory biology courses Molecules, Cells, and Animal Systems and Principles of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity of Life.
Dr. Diane Bridge
Professor of Biology
Ph.D. in Biology - Yale University
bridged@etown.edu | 717-361-1177
Dr. Bridge joined the faculty of Elizabethtown College in 2000. She teaches Principles of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity of Life; Invertebrate Zoology; Developmental Biology and laboratory sections of Molecules, Cells, and Animal Systems.
Dr. Nathan Gibson
Assistant Professor of Political Science
gibsonn@etown.edu | 717-361-1252
Dr. Nathan Gibson is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Elizabethtown College. He received a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Vanderbilt University and M.A. and Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University. His research focuses on how managerial and political factors affect policymaking in the executive and legislative branches. Dr. Gibson teaches courses on American government, the presidency, Congress, public policy, and public administration.
Before to coming to Elizabethtown, Dr. Gibson served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, drafting his book manuscript, The Policies Presidents Make: When and Why Presidents Centralize Executive Branch Policymaking. Prior to this fellowship, Dr. Gibson spent a semester as a Postgraduate Research Associate and Lecturer at Princeton University.
Dr. Gibson’s research has been published in Congress & The Presidency, The SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, and the Social Science Research Council’s volume, Can America Govern Itself? His dissertation, Presidential Use of Centralization and Politicization, won the American Political Science Association’s 2022 George C. Edwards III Dissertation Award in executive politics for its examination of how presidents use White House staff and political appointees to manage policymaking in the executive branch.
John J. LoCurto, J.D.
Director of Legal Studies and Pre-Law Advisor
locurto@etown.edu | 717-361-1139
John J. LoCurto, J.D., practiced law for 20 years, devoting most of his career to public service at the United States Department of Justice. He first served as a Trial Attorney in Washington, D.C., and later as an Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) for the Western District of Texas in San Antonio, Texas. As an AUSA, John’s practice focused on health care fraud, whistleblower cases and controlled substances investigations. He rose through the ranks at the United States Attorney’s Office to become Deputy Chief of the Civil Division. In this role, he managed the District’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement, Civil Health Care Fraud, Civil Drug Diversion and Parallel Proceedings programs.
John began his career in higher education in 2018. He is an interdisciplinary educator who teaches legal writing as well as public health law, policy and ethics. His scholarship focuses on health care fraud, waste, and abuse; public health policy; and bioethics.
He earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law and his B.A. from the College of William & Mary.
Adam J. Swartzendruber, DHEd, CSCS, *D, NSCA-CPT, *D
Director of the Exercise Science Program
swartzendrubera@etown.edu | 717-361-1711
Dr. Swartzendruber is Director of the Exercise Science program at Elizabethtown College. He has been a certified professional in the field of Exercise Science since 1999, having worked as a personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, fitness facility director, exercise physiologist and research assistant, and professor of exercise science. Dr. Swartzendruber earned his Doctorate in Health Education from A.T Still University of Health Sciences along with his Master of Science in Exercise Physiology and Bachelor of Science in Health & Physical Education from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Lauren E. Toote
Associate Professor of Chemistry
tootelauren@etown.edu | 717-361-1544
B.S., Chemistry, Music minor, Murray State University, summa cum laude, 2012
Ph.D., Chemistry, Vanderbilt University, 2017
Deborah Waltermire-Burton, Dr.PH, OTR/L
Associate Professor
Program Director for the B.S./M.S. Program
walterda@etown.edu | 717-361-1173
Dr. Waltermire joined Etown’s OT department in 1997 as the full-time fieldwork coordinator. She subsequently served the department as a part-time lecturer from 2005-2018. In 2018, she was appointed as a full-time assistant professor, and in 2022, Dr. Waltermire was promoted to associate professor and appointed as the B.S./M.S. program director.
Her primary clinical background is in adult psychiatry, especially adults with schizophrenia and other severe and persistent mental illnesses. She also has worked as a consultant and manager in an acute care medical center with a physical rehabilitation program. Her experience also include coordinating clinical fieldwork programs for OT students as well as supervising many fieldwork students.
Dr. Debra L. Wohl
Chair, Health Professions Advisory Committee
Professor of Biology
Ph.D. in Ecology - University of Georgia
wohld@etown.edu | 717-361-1326
Dr. Wohl joined the faculty of Elizabethtown College in 2004. Dr. Wohl serves as Chair of the Department of Biology and the Health Professions Adivsory Committee. She teaches honors and introductory biology courses Molecules, Cells, and Animal Systems, general microbiology classes, and a course in pathogenic microbiology.
Rabindra C. Willford, MA
Adjunct Lecturer, Public Health
willford@etown.edu
Rabindra is an adjunct lecturer at Elizabethtown College and teaches community-based participatory research and intervention methods in the field of public health. He is a medical and sociocultural anthropologist, and currently a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of California San Diego. Rabindra’s research brings social science perspectives to the study of snakebite, a critical global health issue in developing countries, and focuses on how authority and expertise are negotiated between local communities and global and public health regimes. He has conducted ethnographic research in India since 2019, working with a range of stakeholders including local community members, government officials, conservation ecologists, and pharmaceutical experts to understand and address the challenges associated with the development of snakebite therapeutics. Rabindra completed a Master of Arts in Anthropology from UC San Diego in 2020 and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Cornell University in 2017.
