Nicholas Swope, MS, MCHES, RPCV, is an applied AI practitioner and public health educator, founder of Backyard-AI Public Health, and a Doctor of Public Health student at East Tennessee State University. With over a decade of experience in public health practice, teaching, and program leadership, he specializes in the practical, responsible integration of artificial intelligence into research, education, and community health. At ETSU, he founded the university's AI interest group and serves on the AI task force, building tools that help faculty, researchers, and community organizations put AI to work. His applied projects include Jesse AI, a substance use recovery chatbot developed for Recovery Resources Tennessee, as well as custom research workflows that compress weeks of manual qualitative analysis into hours for partners such as the National Coalition of STD Directors. Drawing on earlier roles leading public health teams in North Idaho and teaching in a CEPH-accredited MPH program, Swope brings a rare blend of frontline practice, graduate instruction, and hands-on AI development to his work advising health departments, nonprofits, and universities on mission-aligned AI adoption.