Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity

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Because of historic and ongoing discriminatory policies and practices, certain populations - namely people of color, Indigenous people, and low-income communities - disproportionately suffer from the adverse impacts of extreme weather and other disasters that are exacerbated by climate change. To examine actions that could help improve climate-related health outcomes in disproportionately impacted communities, the Environmental Health Matters Initiative, a program spanning all major units of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, convened a two-day workshop Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity - State-Level Implementation on May 24 and 26, 2022. The workshop brought together representatives from state and federal agencies, universities, community-based organizations, state and national advocacy organizations, foundations, and private sector organizations. This publication highlights the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

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12 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-69293-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/26693

Suggested citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2022. Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity—State-Level Implementation: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Jeanne Herb

Jeanne Herb is Executive Director of the Environmental Analysis and Communications Group, a center of service, research and practice at the Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. Jeanne leads initiatives at the intersection of social and environmental determinants of health, health equity, environmental sustainability, public policy, and inclusive, participatory decision-making. She Co-Directs the state’s Climate Change Resource Center, a statutorily established and academically housed service center providing support to communities, state and local decision-makers and the private sector to advance equitable and science-informed climate change solutions. Prior to joining Rutgers in 2010, Jeanne spent more than two decades at the state Department of Environmental Protection, most recently as the Assistant Commissioner of Policy, Planning and Science where she oversaw multidisciplinary programs related to environmental health, sustainable planning and development, Environmental Justice, climate change, and coastal management. She is an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leaders Program and the Rutgers Leadership Academy. She is a 1981 alumnus of Rutgers University and has a Master’s degree in Science, Health and Environmental Journalism from New York University.

Brad R. Colman

Brad R. Colman is the Director of Weather Strategy for The Climate Corporation. In this role, he oversees and guides the design and execution of the Bayer & Climate Enterprise weather programs. As such, he coordinates across multiple business units to set Enterprise priorities and then works closely with vendors, engineers, and scientists to map out the optimal course necessary to meet these priorities. The program spans across global weather stations, data acquisition and validation, data repository architecture and dissemination, and domain expertise. Central to this effort is Dr. Colman’s close collaboration with The Climate Corporation’s Weather Science Team (a team of statisticians, machine learners, and atmospheric scientists), which develops unique weather, climate, and decision support information for the global agricultural industry. Before Climate, Dr. Colman worked for nearly two years on a Microsoft team chartered to grow a new Microsoft consumer weather service to serve the entire Microsoft ecosystem. Prior to joining the private sector, Dr. Colman enjoyed a long and diverse career with NOAA where he worked at The National Weather Service’s forecast office in Seattle, Washington; NOAA’s Environmental Research Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado; and was the Acting Director of NOAA’s Meteorological Development Laboratory in Silver Spring, Maryland. Dr. Colman is an Affiliate Associate Professor in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Colman holds a Sc.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Earth Sciences and Mathematics from Montana State University. He has published numerous articles in the scientific journals, written several book chapters, and has co-edited an award winning two-volume handbook on Weather, Climate and Water published by Wiley Press. He is a member and Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and has served in a number of different roles within the Society. Dr. Colman is a member of the Washington State Academy of Sciences and is currently Co-Chair of NOAA’s Science Advisory Board’s Environmental Information Services Working Group.

Natasha DeJarnett

Dr. Natasha DeJarnett (she/her) is an assistant professor in the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville Division of Environmental Medicine researching the health impacts of extreme heat exposure and environmental health disparities. In addition, she is a professorial lecturer in Environmental and Occupational Health at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health. Previously, Dr. DeJarnett was interim associate director of Program and Partnership Development at the National Environmental Health Association, leading research, climate and health, and children’s environmental health. She also previously served as a policy analyst at the American Public Health Association (APHA), where she led the Natural Environment portfolio, including air and water exposures along with climate change. Dr. DeJarnett is a member of the EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, is chair of the Governing Board of Citizens’ Climate Education, a president-elect of the Board of Directors of Physicians for Social Responsibility, chair-elect for APHA’s Environment Section, member of the Advisory Board of APHA’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity, a member of the Board of Trustees for the BTS Center, special advisor to the Environmental Health and Equity Collaborative, and a Steering Committee member of the International Transformational Resilience Coalition.

Deborah Kim Gaddy

Kim Gaddy is the Founder and Director of the South Ward Environmental Alliance, a grassroots Environmental Justice organization of residents and community based organizations whose mission is to create healthy and vibrant neighborhoods by ensuring residents' voices are heard and are active participants in decision making regarding policies that impact their neighborhood. In addition, Kim Gaddy is the National and New Jersey Environmental Justice Director for Clean Water Action. She has been advocating for communities impacted by industrial pollution and the goods movement system in Newark and across the country for 21 years. Kim develops and implements Clean Water Action/Clean Water Fund's grassroots environmental justice campaigns and coalition building efforts in New Jersey. She is a former Newark School Board Member; the first City of Newark female Chief of Staff for Councilwoman Mildred Crump; the New York/New Jersey Regional Representative for the Moving Forward Network; was appointed by Governor Phil Murphy to serve as Vice-Chair of the NJDEP's Environmental Justice Advisory Council and member of the New Jersey Green Jobs Council; a former Chair of both the Newark Environmental Commission and the Essex County Environmental Commission; and a founding member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance and the South Ward Environmental Alliance, her local community Environmental Justice organization. Kim was recognized as the 2021 Russ Berrie Making a Difference Honoree for New Jersey, 2021 International Black Women's Congress Oni Award Recipient, 2021 Weequahic High School Hall of Distinction, 2020 UUFaith in Action Environmental Justice Award, 2020 New Jersey Governor’s Richard J. Sullivan Environmental Excellence Award, 2018 Newark Women from Suffragettes to the Statehouse, 2017 selected as 100 People of Newark and a 2007 recipient of the Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Environmental Community award.

Carolyn Joyce Hanson

Carolyn Hanson has served as Deputy Executive Director of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) since 2008 after joining the association in 2002 as a Project Manager. At ECOS she has worked on many environmental issues including chemicals management, water quality, compliance and enforcement, waste and remediation, cleanup of federal facilities, and research needed for policy decisions. With nearly two decades in the field, she has built an extensive network and has a broad knowledge of what is happening in the state and federal environmental agencies and who is doing it. Prior to her career at ECOS, she worked in science education as a high school chemistry teacher and in curriculum development at the Smithsonian Institution. Combining her education in chemistry and work in public policy, she has become an expert in state and federal environmental policy understanding science and politics involved. She holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Davidson College, and a master’s degree in public administration and a certificate in nonprofit management from George Mason University.

Linda Helland

Linda Helland, MPH, CPH, is chief of the Climate Change and Health Equity Section at the California Department of Public Health’s Office of Health Equity. The Climate Change and Health Equity Section works across agencies and with communities to embed health and equity into California climate change programs, policies, and investments; provides data and tools to identify and reduce the health effects of climate change and maximize the health equity benefits of climate action; and increases the capacity of public health departments and tribes to address climate change and health equity. Linda’s 22 years of public health practice have focused on increasing health equity through policy changes to achieve equitable social, economic, and environmental conditions for all. Before joining CDPH in 2015, Linda managed the Prevention and Planning Unit at Mendocino County Public Health in northern California, overseeing 20 preventive health programs including chronic disease prevention; alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention; youth empowerment and capacity-building for disadvantaged and LGBTQ youth; health impact assessments; and input to land use and transportation policies. Linda is an awardee of the Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation Environmental Fellowship, is Certified in Public Health, and is a long-time member of the American Public Health Association. Linda received her Master of Public Health degree from San Jose State University, her Bachelor of Arts degree in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College, and a Certificate in Land Use and Environmental Planning from University of California, Davis.

Abraham George Kulungara

Abraham G. Kulungara is the Senior Director of Environmental Health at the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO). Abraham has been working at ASTHO for 15 years and manages the delivery of activities for CDC & EPA funded Cooperative Agreements in the areas of Climate and Health, Food Safety, Water Safety, Environmental Health Infrastructure, Environmental Public Health Tracking, Environmental Health Informatics, and Vector Control. Abraham holds a dental degree from the Manipal College of Dental Sciences in India, and a Master of Public Health degree from the Texas A&M Health School of Public Health. In 2007, Abraham was inducted by Texas A&M into the local chapter of the Delta Omega Honorary Society in Public Health.

Ana Mascareñas

Ana Mascareñas brings extensive experience in government, academic, and nonprofit organizations. Her work is centered in equity and justice for marginalized communities, and she has expertise in environment and health, policy and program development, regulations and legislation, and community engagement. She is currently a consultant at the new Center for Anti-Racism and Community Health, based in the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. From 2015 to 2021, she served as the first Governor-appointed Assistant Director for Environmental Justice at the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control. From 2008 to 2013, she served as Policy and Communications Director at Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles. Ana graduated from Brown University with bachelor’s degrees in human biology and sociology and received a Master of Public Health in environmental health sciences from the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. She currently serves on the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s ad hoc committee examining the chemical processes that occur during fires at the wildland-urban interface, the identity of resulting chemicals, and what is known about human exposure pathways.

Matt McKillop

Matt McKillop is a Senior Health Policy Researcher and Analyst. He is the lead writer on selected TFAH reports and helps to manage TFAH’s overall research and strategic communications program. Before joining TFAH, McKillop managed research on state health and fiscal policy at The Pew Charitable Trusts, including examinations of spending on care for people in prisons and jails, whether and how care quality was monitored, and promising practices for facilitating continued care after incarcerated people were released. He also led advocacy and community organizing campaigns for So Others Might Eat, a nonprofit organization that serves poor and homeless residents of the District of Columbia. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Kalamazoo College and a master’s in public policy from George Washington University.

Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer

Jackie Qataliña Schaeffer, an Iñupiaq from Kotzebue, Alaska, is the Community Development Manager at the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium. For a decade she has worked across Alaska holistically infusing indigenous knowledge into a variety of sectors she has experience in, including comprehensive planning, energy, housing, water security, and sanitation and climate change adaptation for rural communities. Her passion is to serve the indigenous people of Alaska and provide an indigenous perspective to all her work, including the importance and recognition of traditional philosophies, knowledge and lifestyles. Qataliña has co-authored six regional Energy Plans for the State of Alaska, the Oscarville Tribal Adaptation Plan, 2019, and continues to work with Newtok and Kivalina on community relocation due to climate change. She was instrumental in the implementation of the Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS) and MINI PASS in rural Alaskan communities.

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Communities, Climate Change, and Health Equity - State Level Implementation

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