The changing climate includes a broad range of areas that intersect with health in many sectors: housing, food systems, healthcare, transportation, land use planning, etc. Experts discuss collaborations for climate change and health, including collaborations for policy solutions, working with tribal communities, and other strategic efforts for climate resilience and health. Guests: Diane Garcia-Gonzales, PhD, MPH, Shasta Gaughen, PhD, Melissa Miyashiro, JD
Learning Objectives:
- Recommend strategic collaborations for climate change and health.
- Identify resources for climate action and health promotion.
- Discuss collaborative projects for climate adaptation and health.
Target Audience: Public health professionals
Duration: 40 minutes
Continuing Education Information: 0.75 Category 1 Credits for CHES
CHES Provider number: 99036Format: Podcast, Self-Study
Recorded: 7/2023
Hosted by: Allison Root, DrPH, MS, RDN, MCHES®
Guest Bios:
Diane Garcia-Gonzales, PhD, MPH is an air quality and climate change scientist interested in the impacts between the environment and human health. She currently works at the UCLA’s Center for Health Climate Solutions (C-Solutions) as a project manager and researcher on various projects aimed at addressing the climate issues most relevant in the state of California including, but not limited to, extreme heat, wildfires, and energy storage. Dr. Garcia-Gonzales is also involved in the Aliso Canyon Health Research Study which aims to access the health impacts of the 2015-2016 methane blowout, the largest uncontrolled release of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) from a single source in US history.
Shasta Gaughen, PhD is the Environmental Director and the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Pala Band of Mission Indians in San Diego County, California. She has worked for Pala since January 2005, and established Pala’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office in 2008. Dr. Gaughen received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of New Mexico in 2011 and a Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous Peoples Law from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2021. She is Secretary of the Board for the Native American Environmental Protection Coalition, chair of the Tribal Working Group for the Climate Science Alliance, and a member of the Institute of Tribal Environmental Professionals’ Climate Change Advisory Committee. Dr. Gaughen oversees the Tribal Climate Health Project, a grant-funded education and outreach project that includes a website, resource clearinghouse, webinars, videos, and in-person presentations on climate change and health adaptation in Tribal communities.
Melissa Miyashiro, JD is Executive Director at Blue Planet Foundation, a nonprofit based in Honolulu that is committed to making Hawai‘i a model of global climate solutions through bold advocacy, creative storytelling, and impactful community programs. She received a law degree and a certificate in Environmental Law from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and bachelor of science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Denver. She serves as a board member for Volunteer Legal Services Hawai‘i and Women in Renewable Energy (WiRE). Prior to Blue Planet, Melissa worked as a litigator in private practice and as a post-graduate legal fellow assisting state agencies with invasive species policy and inter-agency coordination. She has authored papers on climate justice and taught persuasive writing and legislative advocacy at Hawai‘i’s law school.
Disclosures: The planners, reviewers, and authors have no declared conflicts of interest.
