Climate Change and Health Boot Camp: Building Skills and Knowledge for Effective Engagement

June 12-14, 2024 | Livestream, virtual

Registration is open! Join us for the next livestream Climate Change and Health Boot Camp on June 12-14, 2024. 

The Climate Change and Health Boot Camp is a three-day intensive course that will prepare clinicians, scientists, and other members of the research, health, and public health communities for informed, effective engagement with climate change issues in their professional lives. 

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Jump to:  Overview  |  Audience and Requirements  |  Instructors  |  Scholarships  |  Location  | TestimonialsRegistration Fees  |  Additional Information

Boot Camp Overview

Summer 2024 dates: Livestream, online training June 12-14 2024; 10am EDT - ~5:00pm EDT

Climate change is having substantial impacts on the health - effects that are expected to become more extreme in coming decades. This training will give participants knowledge and skills that will help them improve clinical care and public health practice, prepare for climate change impacts, and integrate climate change information into long-term research or management decision-making.

This three-day intensive boot camp combines content on the mechanisms and health impacts of climate change with practical approaches to mitigation and adaptation that participants can apply to their professional work. Led by physicians and public health experts with specialized training in Climate Change and Health, this workshop will integrate content-oriented lectures, skills-oriented class exercises, and group discussion of broader themes, challenges, and opportunities. Upon completion of the course, participants are expected to have an understanding of key topics in climate change and health and a personal action plan for engagement with these issues in their professional work.  

By the end of the workshop, participants will be familiar with the following topics:

  • Causes of climate change and the contribution of the health system to climate change
  • Current, evidence-based mechanisms connecting climate change to health impacts
  • Implications of climate change for health equity
  • How to access climate projections, information on projected health impacts, and information to support long-term planning and research
  • Clinical actions to consider in climate-affected patients
  • Principals of healthcare system and public health resilience planning in the context of climate change
  • Principals of climate and health communication with a variety of stakeholders
  • Case studies on successful engagement with climate and health issues by individuals, institutions, and communities

Audience and Requirements

Professionals from any institution and from all career stages are welcome to attend, and we particularly encourage trainees and early-stage investigators to participate. There are two requirements to attend this training:

  1. Participants are expected to attend all sessions and come prepared to participate in group discussions, undertake brief in-class exercises, and share their experience/expertise with other learners.
  2. Participants will be expected to have a working laptop or tablet with video and audio capabilities.

Instructors

The 2024 instructor lineup is still being finalized. Instructors are subject to change, but will have similar expertise as the 2023 instructors listed below.

Training Co-Director: Cecilia Sorensen, MD, Associate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Sorensen is the Director of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE) at Columbia University and is an Emergency Medicine physician-investigator in the area of climate change and health. She is a member of the Colorado Consortium for Climate Change, a scientific advisor for the Citizens Climate Lobby, and is the course director for the nations' first medical school course on climate change and human health. She also co-directs the National Climate-Health Fellowship program at the University of Colorado, a post-residency training program for physicians. Her recent work has spanned from heat stress and worker health in Guatemala, wildfires and health care utilization in the United States, the emergence of Zika virus in Ecuador following the Earthquake of 2016, climate change and women's health in India, and mortality following hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

Training Co-Director: Stefan Wheat, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. With the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington, Dr. Wheat works to understand the scope of the health threats posed by climate change, promote healthcare system adaptation and emergency preparedness, and inform policies to keep people safe in a rapidly changing world. He completed a fellowship in Climate & Health Science Policy at the University of Colorado where he worked as a Physician-Fellow at the Department of Health and Human Services in their Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) and as an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University’s Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education. His work has included founding ClimateRx, a tool designed to help health professionals to connect with patients and colleagues on how we can respond to the health risks of climate change, and promoting digital health solutions to promote climate change health system resilience and sustainability. 

Rupa Basu, PhD, MPH, Chief of Air and Climate Epidemiology Section at the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California Environmental Protection Agency. 

Yvonne Collins, MD, Chief Medical Officer, CountyCare.

Shanda Demorest, DNP, RN, PHN, Associate Director, Climate Engagement and Education, Health Care Without Harm. 

Linda Helland, MPH, CPH, Office of Health Equity, California Department of Public Health.

Julie Herbstman, PhD, ScM, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. 

Jeremy Hess, MD, MPH, Professor, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Global Health and Emergency Medicine, and Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, University of Washington. 

Adele Houghton, FAIA, MPH, LEED AP, DrPH, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Kristina Kintziger, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental, Agricultural & Occupational Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center. 

Anita Krishnan, Ed.M., Teaching Fellow and Narrative Coach, Harvard University. 

A. Desiree LaBeaud, MD, MS, FASTMH, Professor, Pediatrics (Infectious Diseases), Stanford University.

Natalia Linos, MSc, ScD, Executive Director, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard University. 

Lisa Patel, MD, MESc, FAAP, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Stanford University; Executive Director, Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. 

Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH, John P. Holton Chair of Health and the Environment Vilas Distinguished Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

Nick Seaver, Vice President and Co-Director, Training Programs, Burness.

Latoya Storr, MD, Research Fellow, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Arianne Teherani, PhD, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. 

Rev. Vernon Walker, Program Director, Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW). 

Josh Wortzel, MD, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellow, Brown University.

Former Instructors

2023 Climate Change & Health Boot Camp Instructors:

Jessica Beagley, Policy Lead, The Global Climate & Health Alliance. 

Robin Cooper, MD, Steering Committee member, Climate Psychiatry Alliance; Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco. 

Jessica Fanzo, PhD, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Global Food & Agricultural Policy and Ethics, Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University. 

Ed Maibach, PhD, MPH, Director, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University. 

 

2022 Climate Change & Health Boot Camp Instructors:

Marcalee Alexander, MD, Founder, Sustain Our Abilities, & Editor in Chief, The Journal of Climate and Health, & Clinical Professor, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Department of PM&R, & Research Associate, Department of PM&R Harvard SOM. Marcalee Alexander, MD is Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Climate Change and Health and President of Sustain Our Abilities. A specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, her passion to work in climate change caused her to transition from a full time academic practice into full time advocacy, education and research work related to climate change, disability and the need for community. She is currently working to establish research related to heat protection for persons with SCIs and to have the international community in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation attend to issues related to climate change.

Gaurab Basu, MD, MPH, Co-Director, Center for Health Equity Education & Advocacy (CHEEA) and Health Equity Fellow at Harvard C-CHANGE. Gaurab Basu is a physician, health equity educater and climate advocate. As co-director of CHEEA, he co-leads the Climate Health Organizing Fellows program. He has been named to the Grist 50, has written numerous op-eds, and been engaged in various advocacy projects related to Massachusetts climate policy.

Gary Belkin, MD, PhD, MPH, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Jesse Bell, PhD, Director, Claire M. Hubbard Professor of Water, Climate, and Health Program, University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Jonathan Buonocore, ScD, Research Scientist, Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE). Dr. Jonathan Buonocore is currently a Research Scientist at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His research focuses on building and applying methods to understand the health benefits of climate policies and energy strategies, including cap-and-invest strategies for transportation, carbon pricing, renewable energy deployment, and building electrification. He also applies these methods to energy systems, largely focused on oil & gas extraction and midstream infrastructure, and on geoengineering through stratospheric aerosol injection.

Amy Collins, MD, Medical Director of Physician Engagement and Education, Health Care Without Harm. Dr. Amy Collins is an emergency medicine physician in the Boston suburbs and a sustainable health care professional. She founded the sustainability committee at MetroWest Medical Center in 2007 and led the sustainability efforts there for seven years. Under her leadership, MetroWest Medical Center received numerous Environmental Excellence Awards from Practice Greenhealth, including the Environmental Leadership Circle Award, the most prestigious award offered. She also worked as a sustainable health care consultant for Vanguard Health Systems and implemented sustainability programs at Vanguard’s 26 hospitals nationwide. She now serves as the Medical Director of Physician Engagement and Education at Health Care Without Harm leading their Physician Network, with a goal to support physicians and medical students who are interested in promoting environmentally responsible, climate-smart health care. She speaks internationally about the intersection between climate change, health and health care and the role of the health care sector in leading climate solutions.

James Crooks, PhD, MS, Associate Professor, National Jewish Health. Dr. Crooks is an environmental epidemiologist and data scientist at National Jewish Health, a research hospital in Denver, Colorado. His research focuses on the impacts of climate and air pollution on health.

Maria Diuk-Wasser, PhD, Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology, Columbia University & Faculty, Climate and Health Program, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Professor Diuk-Wasser's research investigates the environmental and anthropogenic changes driving the emergence of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases such as Lyme disease. Her interdisciplinary approach addresses how climate and land use change impact pathogens' natural transmission cycles as well as human ecology and behaviors linked to exposure and disease vulnerability.

Kristie Hadley, MD, Instructor in Emergency Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Dr. Kristie Hadley is an Emergency Physician working in New York City, a current fellow in Columbia’s Global Emergency Medicine fellowship, and will be starting with the GCCHE in the fall. In her work, she focuses on the intersections between food security, environmental degradation, social justice and migration both in the US and globally.

Kim Knowlton, DrPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health & Senior Scientist, Science Office, Natural Resources Defense Council. Kim Knowlton is a health scientist specializing in the human health impacts of climate change, particularly air pollution and extreme heat. She served as co-convening lead author for the human health chapter of the US Third National Climate Assessment; as a member of the 2nd and 4th New York City Panels on Climate Change; and participated in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 Fourth and 2013 Fifth Assessment Reports. She now works with community partners in the U.S. and India to adapt to the changing climate, connect the dots between climate and health, and put science in the service of advocacy to demand action & protect people and planet.

Vijay Limaye, PhD, Senior Scientist, Science Office, Natural Resources Defense Council. Dr. Limaye is an environmental epidemiologist interested in addressing international environmental health challenges—quantifying, communicating, and reducing the risks associated with climate change—with a focus on the public health burdens of air pollution and extreme heat. At NRDC, he leads economic valuation research and advocacy to understand and address the significant health costs of climate-sensitive events.

Beth Mark, MD, MES, Psychiatrist, Student Counseling, University of Pennsylvania and Steering Committee Member Climate Psychiatry Alliance. Dr. Mark is a staff psychiatrist at the Student Counseling Center of the University of Pennsylvania,  She is a steering committee member of the Climate Psychiatry Alliance and a member of the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry Climate Committee. Dr. Mark writes and presents on climate change and mental health, and has a particular interest in climate change education in the classroom including how best to support teachers and students with the emotional aspects of teaching and learning about this topic.

Nicholas Nassikas, MD, Instructor in Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Dr. Nassikas is a pulmonary and critical care physician scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His research focuses on climate change, air pollution, and respiratory diseases.

Jeff Shaman, PhD, Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences & Director, Climate and Health Program, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health & Chair, Faculty of the Earth Institute, Columbia University. Jeffrey Shaman is a Professor of Environmental Health Sciences and Director of the Climate and Health Program at the Mailman School of Public Health.  He is also Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the Columbia Climate School and Chair of the Faculty of the Earth Institute.  His research includes studying large-scale waves in the atmosphere and the health impacts of climate change and variability.

Marisa Traniello, Senior Humanitarian Assistance Officer, USAID. Marisa Traniello works for USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance responding to natural disasters and complex emergencies. She previously worked at the UN World Food Program and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. Her current work focuses on addressing food security and nutrition needs during international disasters and climate adaptation in humanitarian assistance.

Homan Wai, MD, Associate Professor of Medical Education, UVA School of Medicine Inova Campus. Dr. Wai is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist Physician at the Inova Health System. He is a founding steering committee member and Co-Chair of Education of Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action (VCCA).  Dr. Wai was integral in the creation of Virginia Climate and Health Education Collaborative (VCHEC) where two annual summits have been held.  The VECHC aims to share ideas among local clinician training programs in order to make progress in the curriculum integration of climate change and health.  At UVA, Dr. Wai has co-directed a two-week climate and health elective for senior medical students.

Stefan Wheat, MD, Emergency Medicine Physician, University of Colorado Anschutz Emergency Department. Dr. Wheat is a Climate & Health Science Policy Fellow at the University of Colorado. He works as a Physician-Fellow at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity. He also serves as an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to advance the mission of the Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education.

Julie Wormser, Senior Policy Advisor, Mystic River Watershed Association. Wormser co-founded and co-facilitates the Resilient Mystic Collaborative, a voluntary partnership among 20 cities and towns working together to protect people and places from extreme weather. As Executive Director of The Boston Harbor Association, Julie was instrumental in drawing attention to Boston's need to prepare for coastal flooding from extreme storms and sea level rise. Julie holds a BA in biology from Swarthmore College and an MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.

Lew Ziska, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Ziska is a plant physiologist who studies the intersection between plant biology, rising CO2 and climate change within the public health context.  He has focused on climate/polinosis, CO2 and food allergies, CO2 and rice nutrition, climate and food safety, chemical pest management, inter alia.

Scholarships

Training scholarships are available for the Climate Change and Health Boot Camp.

Location

Summer 2024: The Climate Change and Health Boot Camp is a livestream, remote training that takes place over live, online video on June 12-14, 2024 from 10am EDT - ~5:00pm EDT. Please note this training is not a self-paced, pre-recorded online training.

Testimonials

"This boot camp exceeded my expectations. It included high level professionals who taught us the advances in the work on climate change and the interference of this in every moment of our daily and professional lives." - Staff member at ICAP, 2023

"This is a course that everyone should take to understand the full spectrum of how climate change and health are inextricably linked. The expanse of knowledge that I gained in three days was incredible and I feel much more equipped to navigate this information." - Staff member at PSE Heathy Energy, 2023

"Absolutely essential for anyone interested in teaching climate change and health or working in this field.  This course covered all essential aspects and I was especially impressed with the discussions of equity and acknowledgement of disproportionate impacts on populations at risk!" - Faculty member at Albany Medical Center, 2023

"The training was comprehensive and evidence based, led by very well respected leaders in their field. I appreciated the global camaraderie and different perspectives depending on both geographic location and professional background." - Attending physician at Advocate Aurora Health, 2023

Additional Testimonials

"This training provided an incredible overview of the overwhelming number of ways in which climate change is already impacting human and planetary health - in a highly unequal manner. It has inspired me to consider how I can use my unique background and position as a health professional to increase scientific evidence needed to inform mitigation and adaptation strategies, and to strive to reduce the catestrophic effects of climate change on human health moving forward." - Fellow at National Cancer Institute, 2022 

"This was an eye opening course with ample opportunity to learn and to network. It was informational, honest and heartfelt. Inspirational and aspirational. Great job." - Faculty member at UCLA, 2022

"Deep dive into technical, academic, practical and applied health issues related to climate change and health. Great opportunity to hear from a variety of practioners across fields working on this truly wicked global problem. Great faculty and excellent discussions." - Staff member at Public Health Agency of Canada, 2022

"The boot camp created a safe space to learn about climate change, how it impacts health, what is currently being done about it, and what you can do to address the issue. I met people from all over the world who are similarly passionate about this topic and was able to learn from their experiences as well." - Resident Physician at JPS Health Network, 2022

"A comprehensive, intensive training providing a strong foundation on the science of climate change, impact on human physical and mental health, and what this may mean for the future of our communities and society. The training provides numerous resources to continue learning after the boot camp as well as opportunities to build new connections with others in the field." - Staff member at Columbia University Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, 2022

Registration Fees

  Early-Bird Rate (through 4/10/24) Regular Rate (4/11/24 - 6/5/24) Columbia/GCCHE Discount*
Student/Postdoc/Trainee      $1,195 $1,395 10%
Faculty/Academic Staff/Non-Profit Organizations/Government Agencies  $1,395 $1,595 10%
Corporate/For-Profit Organizations $1,595 $1,795 NA

 

*Columbia/Global Consortium on Climate and Health Education (GCCHE) Discount: This discount is valid for any active student, postdoc, staff, or faculty at Columbia University or active member of GCCHE. To access Columbia discount, if paying by credit card, use your Columbia email address during the registration process to automatically have the discount applied. If paying by internal transfer within Columbia, submit this Columbia Internal Transfer Request form to receive further instructions. Please note: filling out this form is not the same as registering for a training and does not guarantee a training seat.  To access the GCCHE discount, please email ColumbiaSHARP.Climate@gmail.com.

Invoice Payment: If you would prefer to pay by invoice/check, please submit this Invoice Request form to receive further instructions. Please note: filling out this form is not the same as registering for a training and does not guarantee a training seat.

Registration Fee: This fee includes course material, which will be made available to all participants both during and after the conclusion of the training.

Cancellations: Cancellation notices must be received via email at least 30 days prior to the training start date in order to receive a full refund, minus a $75 administrative fee. Cancellation notices received via email 14-29 days prior to the training will receive a 75% refund, minus a $75 administrative fee. Please email your cancellation notice to ColumbiaSHARP.Climate@gmail.com. Due to workshop capacity and preparation, we regret that we are unable to refund registration fees for cancellations <14 days prior to the training.

If you are unable to attend the training, we encourage you to send a substitute within the same registration category. Please inform us of the substitute via email at least one week prior to the training to include them on attendee communications, updated registration forms, and materials. Should the substitute fall within a different registration category your credit card will be credited/charged respectively. Please email substitute inquiries to ColumbiaSHARP.Climate@gmail.com. In the event Columbia must cancel the event, your registration fee will be fully refunded.

Additional Information

The Climate Change and Health Boot Camp is hosted by Columbia University's SHARP Program and Columbia University's Global Consortium on Climate Change and Health Education. View more courses from Columbia University's Global Consortium on Climate Change and Health Education.


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