The climate crisis is a health crisis and climate action is a health solution.

Image: Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital During The 2020 Wildfire Provoked Orange Sky (Image Source: Justin Sewell MD PhD)
Education is an essential element of the global response to climate change - Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development Programme, UNESCO.

Image: University of California-wide Climate and Health Education Faculty Development Initiative
"Tackling climate change could be the greatest global health opportunity of the 21st century" -The Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change

Image: Global Climate Strike in September 2019 (Image Source: Bennett Kissel)
UCSF Director of Sustainability, Gail Lee addresses the audience at the Annual Sustainability Awards recognizing faculty and staff contributions
UCSF Students and Faculty Meeting with Senator Feinstein's Office to discuss climate policy
"The climate crisis is a health crisis: Medicine must reckon with the coming catastrophe" by Cyril Manning, UCSF Magazine
https://www.ucsf.edu/magazine/climate-crisis-health-crisis
"The climate crisis is a health crisis: Medicine must reckon with the coming catastrophe" by Cyril Manning, UCSF Magazine
https://www.ucsf.edu/magazine/climate-crisis-health-crisis

There has never been a more critical time for climate solutions that promote health and equity.

The University of California Center for Climate, Health and Equity housed at UCSF aims to harness the expertise and leadership of the health sector to drive ambitious climate action that prioritizes the health, equity and respect of all communities.

 

Announcements

The rapidly warming climate is the "greatest threat" to global public health, more than 200 medical journals are warning in an unprecedented joint statement that urges world leaders to cut heat-trapping emissions to avoid "catastrophic harm to health that will be impossible to reverse."

 

Current Opportunities

Application Opportunity: Climate Health Organizing Fellows Program

This program is open to any U.S. based health professional (physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, social workers, PAs, psychologists) who provides direct patient care and to community partners working with health professionals (public health professional, non profit leader, environmental justice advocate). 

Applications will be accepted by groups of 3 people who are already working together on climate projects. Each group should include either 3 health professionals or 2 health professionals and 1 community partner (public health professional, non profit leader, environmental justice advocate, etc). There will be 1 application per group. Applying as a group enables home organizations to develop a larger cadre of individuals trained in community organizing and will allow greater impact on their projects. Working with a community partner gives the health professionals an opportunity to more deeply connect with community initiatives.

Applicants who would like to apply as an individual or different size group can contact program leadership with this request.

Please see https://www.healthequity.challiance.org/climate-health for more details

Call for Papers: Climate Change and Mental Health Education

Academic Psychiatry is developing a special topical collection of papers related to climate change and mental health education under the direction of Guest Editor Andreea Seritan, M.D., and Deputy Editor John Coverdale, M.D., M.Ed. This collection will include not only a special print issue but also an online collection that will begin right away and continue to be curated and grow.

All submissions will undergo review via the journal’s Editorial Manager platform, and publication is not guaranteed.

Types of papers:

  • Quantitative and qualitative research and scholarship (Empirical Reports, In Brief Reports)
  • Rigorous analyses (Systematic and Other Reviews, Annotated Bibliographies, Commentaries)
  • Educational Case Reports
  • Columns (“Down to Earth” Academic Skills, Media, Missions)
  • Perspectives (Faculty Viewpoint, The Learner’s Voice, Letters to the Editor, Poetry)

For details on the submission process and manuscript formatting, please see the journal’s Instructions for Authors. Submissions for the collection are requested by January 15, 2022.

Contact the collection editors and/or the journal editorial office with questions or ideas to discuss:

Dr. Andreea Seritan: [email protected] and Dr. John Coverdale: [email protected]

Journal Editorial Office, Ann Tennier, Managing Editor: [email protected]

Application Opportunity: Climate Health Fellow

 The national office of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has an exciting job opening for a Climate Health Fellow.

The Fellow – a medical, nursing, health or public health student, resident, or recent graduate – will reach out to their peers to help them advance climate education, mitigation and/or adaptation in their school or community. 

This is a paid position with a commitment of 10 hours per week.

For further information, email [email protected] with the subject line "Climate Health Fellow.

 

Application Opportunity:  University of California Healthy Campus Network Student Lead

Health, equity, and the environment, including the climate, are deeply interconnected, thus health, inequity, and environmental and climate change require intersectoral and collaborative solutions. Healthy food, healthy buildings, and active transportation are just some examples where health, sustainability, and equity are synergistic. In this area of sustainable practice, the Healthy Campus Network (HCN) leadership has committed to explore the integration of health and well-being throughout the UC Sustainable Practices Policy (UC SPP) using a Health in All Policies (HiAP) approach. 

HCN is hiring 11 students (one per UC campus and one for UC ANR) for the GFI HCN Fellowship Program, to complete the policy review in collaboration with the HCN Campus Lead and a selected mentor by June 2022. By September 2022, the HCN will present the HiAP analysis of the UC SPP and make recommendations. 

To learn more about the program and apply please contact UCSF Director of Sustainability, Gail Lee at [email protected]