Published: Sept. 25, 2018 By

The Earth from spaceGlobally and locally, critical issues like the spread of disease, water scarcity and nutrition are intimately related to the changing climate, making it essential for researchers studying human health to be fully engaged in inquiries and policy deliberations related to climate impacts.

With CU Boulder's Grand Challenge Initiative acting as a catalyst, the University of Colorado Boulder and CU Anschutz are partnering to bring together researchers, public health practitioners, students and other stakeholders to learn more about the critical intersection of climate and health, and move this conversation forward. 

Climate-Disease Connections public talk

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Research & Innovation Week

The 2018 CU Climate & Health Research Summit, part of the university's first Research & Innovation Week, will include an evening event for the public at Fiske Planetarium. The talk, by Dr. Jeff Shaman, Director of the Climate and Health Program, Columbia University, is entitled "Climate-Disease Connections: Associations, Processes and Incorporation in Infectious Disease Forecast" and will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. Registration is requested

The "working" components of the summit, which feature invited guests who are working to build collaborative infrastructure and priorities, include cutting-edge research talks, a panel discussion on research and education in climate and health, and meet-and-greets with colleagues.

The summit builds on several smaller efforts that brought this collection of influencers together, including a symposium held in March, which drew more than 100 researchers, students, representatives from the public and private sectors, and community members. Among the constituencies represented in March were CU Anschutz, CU Boulder, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Public Health, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, National Jewish Health and Groundwork Denver.

About Dr. Shaman

Jeffrey Shaman, PHD, focuses on climate, atmospheric science and hydrology, as well as biology, and studies the environmental determinants of infectious disease transmission and infectious disease forecast. For the former, Dr. Shaman investigates how hydrologic variability affects mosquito ecology and mosquito-borne disease transmission, how atmospheric conditions impact the survival, transmission and seasonality of pathogens, and, how meteorology affects human health, in general. For the latter, he is engaged in developing mathematical and statistical systems for generating forecasts of infectious disease outbreaks at a range of time scales. In addition, Dr. Shaman studies a number of climate phenomena, including Rossby wave dynamics, atmospheric jet waveguides, the coupled South Asian monsoon-ENSO system, extratropical precipitation and tropical cyclogenesis.

Contact Julie Kazimer with questions.