Immersion Workshop: Public Health 

Dr. Kathryn Fiorella is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences and the Masters in Public Health Program at Cornell University. She is also a faculty fellow of the Atkinson Center for Sustainable Future and the Center for Health Equity. Kathryn holds a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, a master's in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and an AB from Princeton University in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She was an Atkinson Postdoctoral Fellow at Cornell University and a Postdoctoral Immersion Fellow at the Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC).

Kathryn is an environmental scientist and epidemiologist, and her research aims to understand the interactions among environmental change and livelihood, food, and nutrition security. Her work is focused on global fisheries and the households that are reliant on them to access food and income. She uses interdisciplinary methods and her work aims to foster a deeper understanding of how ecological and social systems interact, the ways communities and households adapt to and mitigate environmental change, and the links between human health and ecological sustainability. Around Lake Victoria, Kenya, her work has analyzed how fish declines affect childhood nutrition and cognitive development, assessing how fisher health alters the sustainability of fishing practices, and describing how declining fish catch alters power dynamics within transactional fish-for-sex relationships. In Cambodia’s rice field fisheries, her work examines how community fish refuges are shaped by community governance and ecological monitoring, the role of refuges in provide diverse diets and nutrition to local households, and how biodiversity within the system is valued by local households. 

External Links:
https://research.cornell.edu/researchers/kathryn-j-fiorella

Dr. Gregory N. Bratman is an Assistant Professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences at the University of Washington, and the Doug Walker Endowed Professor of Nature, Health, and Recreation. His work takes place at the nexus of psychology, public health, and ecology, with a research focus on examining the ways in which nature experience benefits aspects of mental and physical health. Through empirical and theoretical approaches, he seeks to understand the pathways that underlie the association of nature contact with cognitive function, mood, and other aspects of health, particularly in urban environments. Gregory has employed a variety of methods to characterize and develop theoretical models for how people are influenced by their environments. He has published studies and reviews about the impacts of the environment on mental health, and also works to put science into practice in ways that benefit marginalized and other populations. This includes leading a project in which he is examining the ways in which wilderness experience may help veterans with PTSD; investigating ways to reduce inequities in health through increased access to nature for underserved populations; and looking to build community partnerships in ways that advance both stakeholders’ well-being and scientific knowledge. Additionally, he is leading an international working group undertaking the formulation of a framework in which mental health is conceptualized and operationalized as an ecosystem service. 

Dr. Jennifer Vanos holds an interdisciplinary faculty appointment spanning environmental and human health within the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University. Her research within human biometeorology centers around extreme heat and exertional heat illness, air pollution exposure, and children’s health in urban areas. She utilizes both empirical measurement and modeling of atmospheric and physiologic parameters to understand links between the ambient environment, bioclimatic design, and human health. She is currently running numerous field projects in Arizona and collaborates with schools, government, and non-profits in community-based research. 

Jennifer is an active member of the Urban Climate Research Center at ASU and an affiliate faculty in the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. She is a Scientific Advisor for the Korey Stringer Institute and the National Program for Playground Safety, as well as vice-chair of the Board on Environment and Health for the American Meteorological Society. She recently won the 2017 Tromp Scientific Award from the International Society of Biometeorology.  Previous appointments include assistant professor positions at the University of California San Diego and Texas Tech University. She completed her postdoctoral training at Health Canada and received her PhD from the University of Guelph in Canada.