Contact
Associate Professor, School of Public Health
Overview
About
My research investigates associations between weather and Indigenous health in the context of climate change. I collaborate with Indigenous partners to prioritize climate-related health actions, planning, interventions, and research.
I am co-lead the Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC) program, an international research initiative that works closely with Indigenous peoples and their organizations in the Canadian Arctic, Ugandan Impenetrable Forest, and the Peruvian Amazon. The program aims to utilize science and Indigenous knowledge to strengthen health systems in light of a rapidly changing climate, within three areas of foci: food security; malaria; and foodborne and waterborne disease.
Degrees
PhD, University of Guelph, 2013
MSc, University of Guelph, 2009
Keywords
- climate change and health
- climate change adaptation
- Indigenous peoples' health
- community-led research; community-based, participatory research
- social and environmental epidemiology
- mixed (qualitative and quantitative) research methods
- Inuit Nunangat; Uganda; Peru
Research Service
- Lead Author on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC)
- Lead Author on the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report (AR6-WG2)
- Gender Task Group for the IPCC
- Editorial Review Board for Epidemiology and Infection.
Announcements
Courses
SPH 556 - Climate Change and Human Health
Climate change has severe and wide-sweeping consequences for humanity with important threats to human health and wellness. With health impacts ranging from heat-related deaths to infectious diseases (e.g., waterborne, foodborne, vector borne, and zoonotic diseases) to malnutrition to mental health to health service disruption and beyond, climate change is considered one of the biggest health challenges of the 21st century. This course focuses on how climate change is already impacting our health, and how we can diminish those impacts. Students will examine how past and future climate change hazards, exposures, and vulnerabilities shape health risks. Case studies will demonstrate how health equity, intersectionality, and social determinants of health can mediate or amplify risks. Students will apply vulnerability assessment tools to identify and prioritize effective and feasible adaptation and mitigation actions. Through discussion, teamwork, and real-world examples, students will apply principles of transdisciplinary, systems thinking, equity and justice, sustainability, complexity, Indigenous Peoples' Rights, and community engagement to not only understand climate change impacts on health but to also move into the solution space.
Scholarly Activities
Research - Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC)
Ended: 2021
Funded by CIHR Team Grant
IHACC