As Earth Day approaches on April 22, a stand-out group of the world’s leading climate change experts and environmental advocates will gather at Bastyr University on April 11 for a climate change discussion that goes beyond its effects on the weather.

Titled, “Climate Change and Health – More than Getting Hot,” the panel will explore the impact global warming has had on personal and public health and how it could continue to have a negative effect on global wellness.

Panelists will cover cutting-edge topics that should be useful for a range of clinicians and public-health practitioners:

• Overview of how a changing climate affects human health
• The changing ecology of infectious disease
• Effects on reproductive health
• Planning in Washington State
• Ways to think about loss, grief and hope related to a changing climate

World-renowned for its curriculum in science-based natural medicine, Bastyr University will host the panel at its primary campus in Kenmore. A pioneer in natural medicine since its inception, Bastyr continues to be in the forefront of developing the model for 21st-century medicine.

Experts joining the panel include:

• Jennifer Atkinson, Ph.D: Jennifer Atkinson is a senior lecturer at the University of Washington, Bothell, where she teaches courses on environmental humanities, environmental ethics, American literature, and eco-grief and climate anxiety. Her forthcoming book, Gardenland: Nature, Fantasy, and Everyday Practice, explores American garden literature as an arena where people enact everyday desires for sustainability, community, and contact with nonhuman nature.
• Marnie Boardman, MPH: Marnie Boardman serves as Climate Change Coordinator in the Built Environment program in the Division of Environmental Public Health at Washington DOH. She works to foster cross sector partnerships to assess, prevent and respond to the broad array of threats climate change poses to the public’s health and well-being.
• Oriana Chegwidden: Oriana Chegwidden is a research scientist and Ph.D student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on the hydrology of the Pacific Northwest.
• Cory Morin, Ph.D: Cory Morin is acting assistant professor in the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington. His research uses data-driven models to simulate mosquito population and virus transmission in order to identify climate and meteorological conditions that foster epidemics. His recent work focuses on using weather and climate forecasts to predict dengue and Zika outbreaks.
• Sam Sellers, Ph.D: Sam Sellers is a Senior Fellow with the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE) at the University of Washington, working on various projects concerning climate change and human health relationships. His research interests center on interactions among human populations, family planning, health, and environmental change.

“Climate Change and Health – More than Getting” is a free event and will take place at Bastyr University, 14500 Juanita Drive NE, Kenmore in Room 133, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Bastyr University is a nonprofit, private university offering graduate and undergraduate degrees, with a multidisciplinary curriculum in science-based natural medicine. Recognized globally for its rigorous curriculum and strong research, the University has a primary campus in Kenmore, Washington, and a second campus in San Diego, California. Bastyr’s international faculty teaches the natural health sciences with an emphasis on integrating mind, body, spirit and nature.

For more information please visit: http://www.bastyr.edu/