Climate & Human Health
Fellowship Activities
The Climate and Human Health Fellowship is offered in partnership with Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard C-CHANGE, and the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. The fellowship trains physicians to become leaders in climate and human health research, education, communication, and advocacy.
COP28 Climate Negotiations
Past and current Fellows attended the COP28 climate negotiations in Dubai, UAE.
Wildfire risk research featured in The Washington Post and other media
Research on wildfire threat to inpatient healthcare facilities in California was covered by The Washington Post, Fox News Health, and other media.
Climate & Health Lecture in Edipsos, Greece
Climate Fellow Tess Wiskel gave a talk on climate change and the healthcare system at the Interdisciplinary School of Environmental Crisis in Edispos, Greece
Panel on social determinants of health at COP27
Climate fellow Dr Tess Wiskel spoke about how wildfires and other climate-related hazards are related to place-based health risks during a panel at the Climate Justice Pavilion at COP27
Climate & Sustainability @BIDMC
Fellow Dr Tess Wiskel and Emergency Chief Resident Dr Gevvie Stone presented their work on climate health impacts and hospital sustainability at the 2022 Climate & Sustainability Lunch & Learn at BIDMC.
Welcoming the 2022 Fellows
We are excited to welcome our incoming fellows, Dr Humphrey and Dr Wiskel, who will be joining the Climate & Human Health Fellowship in July 2022
COP26: Glasgow, Scotland
Fellowship faculty attended COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, with colleagues from Harvard, the Climate & Health Foundation, the CU Climate Medicine program, and other climate & health organizations.
Housing and Health in a Changing Climate
Fellowship faculty gave lectures on the relationships between health, housing, and climate hazards for students at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London in late 2021 and early 2022.
RAMS Roadmap: Climate Change and Health
SAEM RAMS Roadmap for medical students and residents seeking to build careers that address the intersection of climate change and human health.
Climate Change and Distress Migration
Dr Dresser and Dr Balsari spoke on climate change and distress migration for students at Harvard Medical School
1st Prize Poster Maps Risk to Patients with Medical Devices During Hurricanes
This poster, showcasing work by MPH student Emma Webb as part of a project with the fellowship, won 1st prize in the poster competition at the 2021 Clinical Climate Change Conference hosted by the Mt Sinai Institute for Exposomic Research.
Climate Change for the Emergency Clinician
Harvard Press Conference on Climate and Health
Climate Crisis and Clinical Practice Symposium
Our fellow joined other healthcare professionals from the greater Boston area who gathered in mid-February for a symposium on the implications of climate change for clinical practice, hosted by The New England Journal of Medicine, Harvard Global Health Institute, Harvard C-CHANGE, Harvard Medical School, and Partners Healthcare, with sponsorship from Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Massachusetts General Hospital, Tufts Medical Center, and UMassMemorial Health Care, in partnership with Beth Israel Lahey Health, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Medical Center, and the Massachusetts Medical Society. The wide array of organizations involved in the event was mirrored by the diverse and extensive list of participants.
American Meteorological Society Centennial Conference
Dr Dresser joined Dr Balbus and presenter Dr Pulwarty for a talk entitled “Extremes, Health, and Change: Developing a Collaborative Framework between Research and Management”, which explored the implications of climate change for collaborative management of risks resulting from the hazard of hydrological disasters.
Workshop on Adapting to Climate Change in South Asia and West Africa
Stakeholders from both regions joined in a series of workshops on how to plan for and adapt to the impacts of heat, sea level rise, and other hazards.
Salata Grant for Research on Climate Change & Migration in South Asia
A team from across Harvard that includes Fellowship Director Satchit Balsari was one of five recipients of the first grants awarded by Harvard’s Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability.
Harvard Panel on Takeaways from COP27
Fellows and faculty shared health perspectives on COP27 during a report-back event co-hosted by Harvard C-CHANGE and the Harvard FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, which reached more than 120 participants during the live event. A recording will be available in the near future.
COP27: Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt
Climate Fellows Dr Wiskel & Dr Humphrey joined members of the Climate & Human Health Fellowship, the Climate & Health Foundation, the Committee on Women, the CU Climate Medicine Program, GCCHE, GCHA, the Journal of Climate Change and Health, Sustain our Abilities, and other climate-engaged health professionals at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Talk Show Interview
Climate and Human Health fellow Dr. Tess Wiskel speaks on the multi-platform medical talk show Medical Matters Weekly about her path in medicine, how climate change impacts health, and what we can do about it.
BIDMC Jane Matlaw Environmental Champion Award
BIDMC awarded a Jane Matlaw Environmental Championship Award for recent research on climate-vulnerable patients that “elevate[s] the need to consider climate change in our emergency preparedness efforts”.
NEJM Perspective on Data in Crisis
Fellowship faculty shared views on rethinking disaster preparedness in the United States in a perspective published in the New England Journal of Medicine
SAEM Panel: Professional Engagement with Climate & Health
BIDMC C&HH Fellow starts at 09:21
Presenters:Hanna Linstadt, MD, Caleb Dresser, MD, Jonathan Slutzman, MD, Gayle Koukalis, MD, Harleen Marwah, MD, Moderators: Caitlin Rublee, MD, MPHTracy Cushing, MD, ...
Climate Change and Human Health: An Introduction
Dr Dresser gave the introductory lecture for the 2021 UMass Medical School Climate Change and Health Elective.
Research on Emergency Shelter Utilization During Disasters
State House Legislative Briefing
In addition to their long-term effect on the climate, burning fossil fuels has immediate health impacts. Dr Dresser delivered remarks on the health impacts of fossil fuel use and climate change to legislators and their staff at the Massachusetts State House. Topics included the effect of particulate matter produced by burning fossil fuels on respiratory health, the healthcare implications of increasing heat wave frequency and severity, and changing landscape of vector-borne disease in Massachusetts.
Public Health Externship: Mystic River Watershed Association
Climate change is both global and local. As part of his public health training, Dr Dresser is completing an externship with the Resilient Mystic Collaborative / Mystic River Watershed Association. In addition to assisting with assessments for these organizations, he is participating in meetings with municipal officials and local organizations exploring approaches to resiliency in the Mystic River watershed, located just north of Boston, MA.
Consultative Workshop in Manila, Philippines
Stakeholders gathered to provide feedback on adaptation of materials for the climate resilience for frontline clinics toolkit for use in the Philippines.
Forecasting Healthy Futures Global Summit in Dubai
Dr Kimberly Humphrey speaks on changing education needs for a climate-resilient health workforce.
Training Workshop in Grand Bahama
Assistant Fellowship Director Caleb Dresser helped run training workshops on climate change and health with EarthMedic&EarthNurse, GCCHE, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare of the Bahamas
Research Presentation at CleanMed 2022
Dr Caleb Dresser speaks on applied research as a means to address health impacts and inequities at CleanMed 2022 in Kansas City, MO
Community Engagement: Heatwaves and Health in Brockton, MA
Fellowship faculty participated in two community workshops in Brockton, MA focused on heatwaves and health with colleagues from C.R.E.W, the Brockton Library, and local community groups.
Television Appearance with Chris Conte
This interview explaining connections between climate change and health appeared on television networks in California, Colorado, and elsewhere December 2021.
Winter Weather Webinar Hosted by CREW
Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW) hosted an event on community preparedness for extreme winter weather featuring speakers from Lawyers for Civil Rights, FEMA Region 1, and the Climate and Human Health fellowship.
Lecture: Human Health in a Changing Climate
CME Lecture on the Clinical Implications of Climate Change
Climate Change and Health Consequences: Through the Lens of a Climate and Health Fellow
View the recording here.
Clinical Climate Change Conference
Dr Dresser joined the University of Colorado Climate & Health Science Policy Fellow, Dr Rublee, at the 2nd Annual Conference on Clinical Climate Change hosted by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai at the New York Academy of Medicine. Their poster, titled “Emergency Department Sepsis, Cardiac, and… HEAT Alerts in the Era of Climate Change”, won 2nd prize in the poster competition.
Policy Externship in Washington, D.C.
Our current fellow spent four days in Washington, D.C. learning about federal policy approaches to climate & health policy from leading experts.
Along with two fellows from the University of Colorado, he describes his experience in “Training the Next Generation of Physicians on Climate and Health Science Policy”, published in the Global Environmental Health Newsletter of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.