Sherilee Harper, MSc, PhD

Associate Professor, School of Public Health

Contact

Associate Professor, School of Public Health
Email
sherilee@ualberta.ca

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



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.


Browse more courses taught by Sherilee Harper

Scholarly Activities

Research - Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change (IHACC)

Ended: 2021

Funded by CIHR Team Grant

IHACC

Publications

Adaptation financing for projects focused on food systems through the UNFCCC

Author(s): Conevska, A., Ford, J., Lesnikowski, A., Harper, S.L.
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Climate Policy
External Link: https://doi.org/10.1080/14693062.2018.1466682

How are perceptions associated with water consumption in Canadian Inuit? A cross-sectional survey in Rigolet, Labrador

Author(s): Wright, C.J., Sargeant, J.M., Edge, V.L., Ford, J.D., Farahbakhsh, K., Shiwak, I., Flowers, C., Gordon, A.C., RICG, IHACC Research Team (Berrang-Ford, L., Carcamo, C., Llanos, A., Lwasa, S., Namanya, D.B.), Harper, S.L.
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Science of The Total Environment
Volume: 618
Issue: 15
Page Numbers: 369-378
External Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717329625

Multiple non-climatic drivers of food insecurity reinforce climate change maladaptation trajectories among Peruvian Indigenous Shawi in the Amazon

Author(s): Zavaleta, C., Berrang-Ford, L., Ford, J., Llanos-Cuentas, A., Carcamo, C., Ross, N., Lancha, G., Sherman, M., Harper, S.L., IHACC Research Team
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: PLoS ONE
Volume: 13
Issue: 10
External Link: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0205714

Participatory scenario planning and climate change impacts, adaptation and vulnerability research in the Arctic

Author(s): Flynn, M., Ford, J., Pearce, T., Harper, S.L., IHACC Research Team
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Environmental Science & Policy
Volume: 79
Page Numbers: 45-53
External Link: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1462901116309212

Preparing for the health impacts of climate change in Indigenous communities: The role of community-based adaptation

Author(s): Ford, J.D., Sherman, M., Berrang-Ford, L., Llanos, A., Carcamo, C., Harper, S.L., Lwasa, S., Namanya, D.B., Marcello, T., Maillet, M., Edge, V.
Publication Date: 2018
Publication: Global Environmental Change
Volume: 49
Page Numbers: 129-139
External Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378016304447