Dr. Berenji is a board certified Occupational and Environmental Medicine Physician and General Preventive Medicine Physician based in Long Beach CA. She is Chief of Occupational Health at VA Long Beach Healthcare System. She is Clinical Assistant Professor at UC Irvine School of Medicine and Public Health. She is lead for Academic and Community Partnerships at UC Center for Climate, Health, and Equity. She is a member of Climate Health Now and Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles.

Dr. Abby Davids is the Family Medicine Program Director and the HIV & Viral Hepatitis Fellowship Director at Full Circle Health / Family Medicine Residency of Idaho - Boise. She grew up in rural Ohio, graduated from Ohio State with a dual MD/MPH in 2011, and completed family medicine residency at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center near Boston, MA in 2014. She subsequently headed to Boise, completed an HIV fellowship, and became a broad spectrum faculty member at FCH - teaching residents and doing inpatient, outpatient, and full spectrum OB care ever since. Her clinical expertise lies in the care of newly arrived migrants and refugees, global medicine, and the intersection of infectious disease and primary care. Outside of work, she is happiest on a mountain trail, exploring the magic of the outdoors with her dog, Juniper.

Thoin Begum is an environmental epidemiologist and a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Asian Health at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University. Her primary research focus examines health disparities associated with cancer health outcomes among Asian American, Black/African American, and Latinx communities. Dr. Begum holds a Ph.D. and Master’s degree in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Albany. She is passionate about conducting research with minority populations and believes that everyone should have a voice in research to make impactful social and political changes.

Samira Khan is the President of the South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA). Established in 1999, SAPHA promotes the health and well-being of South Asian communities through advocacy, collaboration, and communication. Since then, SAPHA has received national recognition for its efforts to raise the health profile of South Asians in the United States. Samira is also the Assistant Director of Research and Clinical Initiatives at Mount Sinai in New York, where she has been working with divisional leadership on clinical integration and care standardization at the Respiratory Institute by developing inpatient and outpatient health dashboards, tracking quality metrics and health outcomes, implementing quality improvement projects, and assisting with the development of new research initiatives. In addition to this, she simultaneously continues in her role as a research manager for Dr. Neomi Shah’s lab, where she significantly contributes to clinical research operations, grant applications, project development, and data management. She received her Masters in Public Health from Hofstra University.

Gloria E. Barrera currently works as a certified school nurse at a public high school outside of Chicago, and visiting clinical associate professor of nursing at UIC. She is committed to being a lifelong learner and continues her efforts in improving child health outcomes in our most vulnerable populations through her current practice, advocacy, and teaching.

Barrera was elected as the first Latina President of Illinois Association of School Nurses (IASN) in 2020 and served during the COVID-19 pandemic. She is an active representative of Hispanic nurses on the Nursing Coalition on Climate Change and Health, and a Fellow (2022-2023) of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE). She’s been recognized for her leadership and community work by several organizations, both locally and nationally and most recently was named 40 Under Forty in Public Heath by de Beaumont Foundation.

You may connect with Gloria via LinkedIn.

http://linkedin.com/in/gloriaebarrera

Dr. Claire Paduano is a family physician in her home city of Boston MA. She went to University of Pittsburgh for medical school and completed her residency at Boston Medical Center. She now provides primary care at Cambridge Health Alliance in Revere, MA. Her clinical interests include preventative and lifestyle medicine, and she is passionate about breaking down barriers between health care institutions and the communities they are part of. She is a climate activist in Boston area community organizations.

Dr. Newcomb currently serves as a nurse scientist in the Texas Health Resources healthcare system. She is a native Texan, born in Fort Worth (cowtown) where she resides after growing up in Mississippi and New Orleans. Her nursing career includes service as a play therapist for a private child psychiatrist, hospital nursing in pediatric oncology and general medicine, over 20 years service as a pediatric nurse practitioner, faculty at Texas Christian University and University of Texas, and over 10 years performing research in her current position. She is experiencing first-hand the prolonged and extreme heat and drought attributed to climate change.

Stephanie Bailey has a background as a bedside RN in cardiac telemetry and NICU for 30 years. After completing her BSN in 2013, she discovered an interest in pursuing research, culminating in defending a PhD in Nursing in 2019. Dr. Bailey is now working on various nursing research projects as a Nurse Scientist at Texas Health Resources.

Shirley Martin works as a nurse scientist at Texas Health Resources. She has been in healthcare for over 34 years. As a nurse scientist, Martin guides many healthcare workers through the steps of research and evidence-based practice in a variety of projects. Her interest in decarbonization springs out of a recognition that global climate change is affecting the health of people across the globe. She seeks to study creative solutions that can enhance the health of humans and prevent damage to the earth.

Laura Porter, PhD, is a clinical psychologist with Cherokee Health Systems (CHS), a large, non-profit comprehensive community healthcare organization that is both a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and licensed Community Mental Health Center in east Tennessee.

In addition to her work as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Porter is CHS’ Director of Continuing Education, a member of committees focused on heath equity, literacy, and an academic-practice partnership, and a grant-writer who is also involved with the implementation of multiple grants.

Across her professional roles, Dr. Porter has many opportunities to lead and support educational and clinical initiatives that maximize the health and safety of Tennessee communities and transform practices to close gaps in care and improve health outcomes.

Environmental sustainability is a personal value that has guided Dr. Porter’s choices and lifestyle practices since adolescence. She is energized by opportunities to integrate this priority into her professional work and looks forward to developing CHS’ strategic plan and protocols related to climate resilience with her team.

Amanda Millstein, MD is a pediatrician practicing in Richmond and Oakland, CA. She is a co-founder of Climate Health Now, a state-wide climate health advocacy organization, and co-chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Chapter One's Committee on Climate Change and Child Health. Dr. Millstein earned her BA and MD from Stanford University and completed residency at UC San Francisco. She lives in the East Bay with her husband, two children, and cat.

Catherine Graeve is a Program Director and Associate Professor in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program at St Catherine University in Minnesota. Catherine also works as a Hospice Nurse. She serves as a mentor for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments (ANHE) fellowship program and Co-Chairs the policy committee for the Minnesota Cancer Alliance. Catherine has also worked as a community liaison for a research effort to better understand how environmental factors affect health beginning before birth. She is committed to work that aims to decrease the inequities in our environments and healthcare systems.

Bret Andrews, DO is a community neurologist. He was Associate Chief of Neurology with Kaiser Permanente and associate faculty with the Kaiser-UCSF Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship Program in Oakland California. He is a cofounder of Neurologists Interested in Climate and Health. He testifies to government boards and legislators, and he is a speaker to physicians on climate, neurological health and health equity.

Dr. Komal Bajaj is an innovator and advocate in the Bronx, NY, catalyzing quality improvement transformation across all facets of healthcare delivery. Dr. Bajaj serves as the Chief Quality Officer of NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi/NCB. She is Clinical Director for NYC Health + Hospitals Simulation Center and a Professor of Obstetrics & Gynecology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bajaj is an inaugural National Academies of Medicine Diagnostic Excellence Scholar and sits on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality National Advisory Council. She passionate about applying contemporary quality/safety principles to advance healthcare decarbonization and promoting health equity.

Emma Tyano is a nurse practitioner currently working at El Rio Health in Tucson, AZ. In addition to being a clinician, Emma is a military spouse and a Pat Tillman Scholar. Prior to working in healthcare, Emma worked for the Centers of Disease Control in community health and also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso.

Alex has spent the last ten years working as a Social Work Complex Care Manager at the Cambridge Health Alliance, a safety net hospital system outside of Boston, MA. Originally from Chicago, Alex received a Master's in Social Work from Simmons University and has enjoyed living in the Boston area ever since. She is passionate about supporting people living with complex health challenges to access and navigate their medical and mental health care. She specializes in working with substance use disorders, trauma, and major mental illness and is often a frontline witness to the harmful impacts of climate change on marginalized populations. She is committed to climate justice and finding ways to help the healthcare systems achieve a more sustainable future.

Tiffany Priest works in public health and climate change at the Tennessee Primary Care Association. Her work centers on promoting climate change resilience and decarbonization in the health care sector, along with climate justice and health equity for people experiencing disproportionate impacts from global warming and social inequality. Prior to her current work, Tiffany worked as a women's health physical therapist, and she remains active in state-level maternal health efforts.

Dr. Roop is a Family Medicine Physician at Full Circle Health in Boise, Idaho. Her work consists of primary care to the underserved across all ages with a special passion for working with the Hispanic community. She also gets to spend time teaching medical students and Family Medicine residents. In 2022 she started a Planetary Health Interest Group as well as a Sustainability Committee at Full Circle Health. She is a board member of Idaho Clinicians for Climate and Health and hopes to complete her Diploma in Climate Medicine through University of Colorado in 2024.

Dr. Jose Manuel Gonzales is currently a Clinical and Health Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow at Cherokee Health Systems. Dr. Gonzales’ research interests include violence prevention, childhood exposure to violence, and cultural considerations in behavioral health. Regarding primary clinical interests, Dr. Gonzales focuses on systems, trauma, and attachment through a value-driven lens. Primarily trained in counseling psychology, Dr. Gonzales currently serves as a behavioral health consultant in Knoxville and Blaine, TN.

Dr. Tuazon has a successful track record in nursing practice, academia, and executive leadership. His involvement in professional associations and boards has influenced nursing practice, nursing education, and public policy. As founder of the San Antonio Nursing Consortium, he actively participates in public awareness campaigns and humanitarian projects related to climate change. As a Fellow of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, he focuses on integrating environmental health and environmental justice into nursing practice, curriculum, public education, and health policy. Dr. Tuazon is currently the Vice President & Associate Chief Nursing Officer, University Health in San Antonio, Texas.

Heather is a Nurse Care Coordinator and works in Tucson, Arizona at a Federally Qualified Health Care Center. She has been a nurse for 17 years and has worked in a variety of settings including Critical Care, Nursing Education, Nursing Leadership and Case Management. In her current role she collaborates with Primary Care Providers, Community Health Advisors, and colleagues across Tucson to support the most vulnerable with complex medical conditions. She has undergraduate degrees in History and Nursing, an MSN in Nursing Leadership and she is a Certified Gallup Strengths Coach. Heather is passionate about the health and wellbeing of people and our planet. At the end of the day she is very grateful for her pack of people, and her pup, who share the things that mean the most to her, big laughs, long walks, and a good book!

Jo is a Doctor of Nursing Practice student at the University of Minnesota specializing in Health Innovation and Leadership with a focus on climate change and planetary health. Jo’s background in nursing has given her a unique lens from which to understand the connections between human and Planetary Health. Jo works as a Quality Improvement Consultant at a large academic medical center. Jo has worked on several climate-focused projects including a large-scale, health system decarbonization project and developing content for leading climate organizations. She is a Board Member of Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate, a climate change and health consultant, and has provided planetary health and environmental justice lectures and presentations at hospitals, academic institutions, webinars, and conferences globally. Jo is passionate about educating communities about the intersections of planetary and human health and hopes to create systemic changes that inspire everyone to honor and advocate for the sustainability of our planet.

Sarah Carter, is a family nurse practitioner at an FQHC at El Rio Community Health Center in southern Arizona where she is associate faculty for the APRN residency program. She is currently completing certification in American College of Lifestyle Medicine and a fellowship from the Environmental Health Research Institute. She has worked overseas in Haiti, Sierra Leone and various other countries witnessing the atrocities of global health inequity. Sarah is passionate about decreasing health care’s ecological footprint by decarbonization, and mitigating the health effects of climate change by creating robust and resilient communities. In her free time she loves the outdoors, rock climbing, or on those rare rainy days in Tucson curling up on the couch with her sweet pitbull, Kismet, and getting lost in a good book.

Anto Paul currently serves as a Population Health Nurse at Catholic Health Services of Long Island. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Health and Community Health Nursing from Hunter College in New York in 2014. Over the past decade, he has been deeply engaged in the field of chronic disease management, taking on various roles.

Anto Paul holds certifications as a Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) as well as a Board Certified Advanced Public Health Nurse (PHNA-BC). From 2008 to 2010, he worked as a diabetes educator in a South Asian community-based research program. This experience significantly broadened his perspective on chronic diseases, enabling him to comprehend the multifaceted influences of social and environmental factors on health within the South Asian community.

His time as a diabetes educator shaped his academic and professional trajectory, prompting him to concentrate on public health and issues related to immigrant health. Presently, he plays an active role as a board member of the South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), an NGO committed to advancing the health and well-being of South Asian communities in the United States through collaborative efforts in advocacy and communication.

Rachel Weinstock is a family medicine resident physician at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center in Lawrence, MA. She attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Though newer to the world of climate change organizing, she has experience in organizing around political causes, reproductive justice, and residency unionization. She is especially interested in learning about direct community engagement and facilitating partnership between patients and their health care providers in the face of health challenges related to climate change.

Tlalli is a resident physician at the Lawrence Family Medicine Residency in Lawrence, MA. She attended Yale University for her undergraduate studies and completed her medical degree at Dartmouth School of Medicine. Along with her incredibly passionate colleagues, she formed the resident-led Planetary Health and Climate Change Committee at LFMR. She is a leader of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee as well as a Union Organizer at her program.

Melissa Thone is a Minneapolis-based infection preventionist specializing in high-consequence infectious diseases and emerging pathogens. This spring she will complete her Doctorate of Nursing Practice in Health Innovation and Leadership as well as an MPH from the University of Minnesota. She balances her professional and academic work with travel and time in nature. Melissa is more than halfway to her goal of seeing all 63 of America's National Parks.

Dr. Lara Musser is the Deputy Chief Quality Officer at Jacobi and North Central Bronx Hospital, and a practicing Emergency Medicine Physician. She completed her residency at Metropolitan/Harlem Hospital in New York City, and completed the New York City Health + Hospitals Clinical Leadership Fellowship in the Office of Quality & Safety. She is dedicated to improving systemic issues facing our current health care system.

Laura is a community health practitioner, researcher, and advocate, with a passion for collaborating with communities to unravel systemic drivers of health inequity and design, implement, and evaluate solutions. As the Community and Population Health Epidemiologist at Cambridge Health Alliance, she develops assessment, evaluation, and learning systems that center health equity and social determinants of health, including CHA’s Wellbeing Assessment & Improvement Cycle. Laura brings an interdisciplinary perspective, having served in leadership and management roles with Health Horizons International, an NGO dedicated to strengthening community health and primary care systems in the Dominican Republic, and LIFT, a U.S. non-profit working to end intergenerational poverty by investing in families. She brings additional skills in health policy analysis, community-engaged public health research, qualitative and quantitative evaluation, and teaching. Laura holds MSW and MPH degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in social and economic development and epidemiology, and a BA in Community Health and Spanish from Tufts University.

Jack Gordon (he/him), originally from California, works as a family medicine resident physician in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Jack and his colleagues Tlalli, Tala, and Rachel, are working to turn their community health center into a platform for environmental justice.

Outside of work, Jack loves going to the beach, and after residency he plans to more actively pursue his interests in surfing and chasing seagulls.

Cjloe Vinoya-Chung is a public health professional passionate about system-level change in improving health and wellness for our most vulnerable populations. Throughout her career, she has developed and implemented various population health initiatives, from department-level research trials and improvement projects to health system-wide programs to state agency collaboratives. Cjloe is currently an Associate Director of Quality Management at NYC Health + Hospitals | Jacobi and North Central Bronx, where she gets to help build the hospital-wide Quality & Safety infrastructure and promote large-scale change in healthcare delivery and its role in the Bronx community. She is excited to use her public health, improvement and implementation science lenses to help actualize movement on the climate crisis.

Hannah Moreira is an Emergency Medicine physician at New York-Presbyterian Westchester/Columbia University. She went to Albert Einstein School of Medicine and returned home to Brooklyn to complete her residency training at Kings County/SUNY Downstate. She has a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University with a focus on health policy and management. She currently lives in Yonkers, New York where she enjoys kayaking on the Hudson, strolling with her dog and is a member of the Groundwork Hudson Valley Climate Safe Yonkers Task Force.

Dr. Tania Castro is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine physician who has been practicing medicine for ten years. She completed her residency at St. Barnabas Hospital. She wants to help advocate for change given the climate change crisis we are experiencing.

Tala Radejko is a resident physician at the Lawrence Family Medicine Program at an FQHC in Lawrence, MA. She completed her undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature at the University of Chicago and her medical school at Dartmouth. She has a longstanding interest in maternal and reproductive health, and is pursuing a concentration in surgical maternity care. She is proud to be a member of her resident union bargaining committee and is a cofounding member of her residency’s Planetary Health and Climate Change Committee.

Kristie Hadley is an emergency physician practicing in NYC and Chinle, AZ as well as a program manager at the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education. She completed fellowship training at Columbia University in Global Emergency Medicine where she earned a Master in Public Health, specializing in the global impact of climate change on human health. In her work, she focuses on the intersection between climate change, environmental degradation, food security, and migration with an emphasis on social justice, both in the US and globally.

Bianca is a first-generation Asian American. She has been a registered nurse for 11 years and works as a Palliative Care Coordinator in Denver, Colorado. She is pursuing a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree at the University of Minnesota, focusing on Planetary Health. Bianca advocates for data based health policy that nurtures the planet and the life it supports. She strives to bring an honorable balance between people and their environment.