Melissa Chadwick

Office Manager

Melissa earned her Bachelors degree in Media Arts and Animation from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. She has extensive experience as an Administrative Assistant and has worked for the USM Muskie School with the Mainely Nutrition Network and Central Maine Power to name a few. She handles the maintenance of the website, graphic design, and provides administrative support to the staff and consultants of MCPH.

Karen Foster

Interim Chief Executive Officer

Karen Foster has an independent consulting practice serving clients in the arts, social services, healthcare, land management and education.  She focuses on helping non-profit boards with strategic planning, governance and board development.  She also specializes in executive transitions and has served as interim executive director for Frannie Peabody Center, Maine Civil Liberties Union, Portland Symphony Orchestra and Abbe Museum.  She has served on numerous nonprofit boards and has designed and delivered board development workshops for The Board Network and Institute for Civic Leadership. 

Between 1978 and 2000, Karen held multiple management and senior executive positions at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine where she was responsible, at various times, for strategic and business planning, product development, market research, sales and marketing, benefit plan consulting, and worksite wellness programs. 

She has a bachelor of science degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of New Hampshire.

Sarah Levin Martin, PhD

Research Associate

Sarah has over 20 years of experience in the Public Health arena, beginning with the Pawtucket Heart Health Project in RI in the late 1980's.  She has a doctoral degree in epidemiology, and specializes in the program evaluation.  Sarah is the lead author of the "Physical Activity Evaluation Handbook" which she wrote in her tenure as a health scientist for the CDC's Physical Activity and Health Branch. Her career spans health promotion and research projects with youth in the Northeast, Native Americans in the Southwest, African Americans in the Southeast, the Catawba Indian Tribe of the Carolinas, and the entire nation in her role with the federal government.  Sarah is the lead author of over 25 peer-reviewed journal articles.

Jessica Shaffer, MS, CHES

Evaluation Specialist/Research Associate

Jessica is currently the lead evaluator for the Communities Putting Prevention to Work programs. Prior to joining MCPH, she spent 10 years planning and implementing health promotion and education initiatives aimed at addressing senior health issues and has spoken on the design and execution of community-based fall prevention programs at the International Council of Active Aging annual conference. She also completed a graduate internship at the National Cancer Institute, during which time she helped design consumer health communication initiatives. Jessica has a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from McDaniel College and a Master’s Degree in Health Promotion Management from American University. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.