Richard Southee

Richard Southee earned a Bachelors in Linguistics & a Bachelors in Arabic from the University of Arizona in 2019 and earned a Masters in Linguistics & Applied Linguistics from Arizona State University in 2021. He is now a 3rd Year PhD Global Health PhD Candidate in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. Prior to starting his education, Richard was a medic in the Army serving for 4 years and completing one tour overseas. Richard's research focuses primarily on utilizing both linguistic and anthropological approaches to better understand how trauma impacts service utilization decision making for people experiencing homelessness with a focus on healthcare services. Richard's interests are in establishing ways homeless service providers can more effectively deliver services to their service population in a trauma-informed manner. 



Richard has collaborated with organizations through Maricopa County, Pinal County, and Pima County in Arizona to train them on how trauma impacts their work with people experiencing homelessness, and works to teach the basics of the neurobiology and psychology of trauma to human services workers in an accessible and relevant way to improve how front-line workers interact not only with their service population, but fellow staff as well. Richard is informed largely by his experience working directly with people experiencing homeless in both medical and shelter settings. As well as collaborating with both state and county agencies through the Continuum of Care.