College of Public Health
UNMC_Acronym_Vert_sm_4c
University of Nebraska Medical Center

Todd Bartee, PhD

Associate Dean, Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex for Public Health, UNMC College of Public Health
Professor, UNMC Department of Health Promotion

Roderick Bartee

Todd Bartee, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Associate Dean of the Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex where he serves as a member of the Interdisciplinary Leadership Team. Dr. Bartee oversees the College of Public Health's initiatives related to the Kristensen Complex including spearheading the development of innovative rural health programs, fostering capacity-building efforts, strengthening existing partnerships and establishing new collaborations with primary care providers and public health organizations across rural Nebraska.

For over three decades, Dr. Bartee has worked with rural communities, school systems, universities, worksites and health systems to build capacity and plan, implement and evaluate health promotion programs.

  • PhD: Philosophy, Health Education and Promotion, 2000
  • MA: Health Studies, University of Alabama, 1996
  • BS: Education, Community Health Education, UNL, 1994
  • AA: Central Community College-Platte, 1992
Dr. Bartee's research focuses on the process of planning, implementing and evaluating sustainable interventions that positively impact health behaviors and valued, non-health outcomes, using a community-based approach. He also approaches his research through a socio-ecological lens, which considers the social, organizational, community and policy influences on individual decision-making and behaviors.
 
Dr. Bartee's main area of research has been in school settings, with particular emphasis on physical activity. Early in his career, he concentrated on applied research in worksite health promotion and epidemiology. Throughout his professional journey, Dr. Bartee's led or been a part of projects funded by foundations, insurance companies and government at the local, state and federal levels exploring physical activity’s role in health outcomes and implementing theory-based interventions. Working closely with community organizations, he has applied community-based participatory research principles, establishing strong relationships with community stakeholders to enhance individual and organizational capacity to integrate health promotion into schools, school districts and communities.
  • Golden, C. A., Estabrooks, P. A., Heelan, K. A., Bartee, R. T., Porter, G. C., Pereira, E. L., Abbey, B. M., Michaud, T. L., & Hill, J. L. (2025). Developing an implementation fidelity measure for a family healthy weight program. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 22, 53. 
  • Bartee, R. T., Heelan, K. A., Golden, C. A., Hill, J. L., Porter, G. C., Abbey, B. A., George, K., Foster, N., & Estabrooks, P. A. (2023) Adaptations of an Effective Evidence-Based Pediatric Weight Management Intervention. Prev Sci 25(S1):72-84.
  • Bartee, R. T., Heelan, K. A., Dority, B. L. (2018). The Influence of Aerobic Fitness and Academic Ranking on the Association Between Improvements in Students’ Aerobic Fitness and Academic Achievement. Journal of School Health, 88(9):644-650. 
  • Carr, L. J., Bartee, R. T., Dorozynski, C. M., Broomfield, J. F., Smith, M. L., Smith, D. T. (2008). Internet-delivered behavior change program increases physical activity and improves cardiometabolic disease risk factors in sedentary adults: Results of a randomized controlled trial. Preventive Medicine, 46, 431–438. 
  • Bartee, R. T., Winnail, S. D., Olsen, S., Diaz, C., Blevens, J. A. (2003). Assessing Competencies of the Public Health Workforce in a Frontier State. Journal of Community Health, 28, 459-469.
  • American Public Health Association
  • Society for Public Health Education
  • Public Health Association of Nebraska
UNMC College of Public Health

Kearney Health Science Education Complex
2402 University Drive
Kearney, NE 68849-4514

Publications