Linda rudolph, M.d., M.p.h.

Linda Rudolph, MD, MPH, is a nationally recognized thought leader on the integration of health and health equity into climate policy. She serves as Senior Advisor on Climate, Health and Equity for the Public Health Institute and for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health, and  provides consultation to local jurisdictions and non-profits.

Previously, Linda served as the deputy director for Chronic Disease Prevention and Public Health in the California Department of Public Health, and the health officer and public health director for the City of Berkeley, CA. While at CDPH, Rudolph served as founding chair of the California Strategic Growth Council's Health in All Policies Task Force and the California Climate Action Team's Public Health Work Group.She has also served as chief medical officer for Medi-Cal Managed Care, medical director for the California Division of Workers’ Compensation, and a physician for the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers’ International Union.

Dr. Rudolph received her MD from the University of California, San Francisco, and MPH (Epidemiology) from UC Berkeley. She is board certified in Occupational Medicine.

Talk: Climate, Health and Equity: A Call to Action

Breakout Session #1 (9:05 - 9:50 AM)

This presentation will provide an overview of the nexus of climate change, health and health equity, and the health benefits of climate solutions. Additionally, the speaker will discuss the range of policies that simultaneously promote health and climate mitigation and resilience, and the role of health professionals in advocacy for these policies.

Katrin Kuhn, ph.d.

Dr. Kuhn has a specific research interest in the interplay between animals, the environment and infectious diseases, and in particular using novel ways of detecting and describing infectious disease outbreaks. She worked for almost 15 years at the national Danish institute of infectious diseases as a senior epidemiologist in charge of One Health collaborations, national surveillance of Campylobacter and Shigella and as principal investigator on register-based analyses and case-control and cohort studies. Together with her group, she has generated new and important knowledge on the transmission, distribution and seasonality of campylobacteriosis and solved numerous outbreaks caused by food-and waterborne pathogens.

Since transitioning to the Hudson College of Public Health in 2020, Dr. Kuhn has worked with public health, city and municipality leaders to manage COVID-19 across Oklahoma. She is also one of the founders of the cross-disciplinary OU Wastewaster Surveillance team, working to detect ‘hotspots’ of COVID-19 for guiding testing and vaccination efforts. The recent expansion of the wastewater surveillance to include vector-borne and food-and waterborne pathogens signals an important new development for the State of Oklahoma as a supplement to traditional disease surveillance.

Dr. Kuhn has served as an expert consultant on infectious diseases and climate change for the World Health Organization and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change as well as a nominated expert on food-and waterborne diseases and antimicrobial resistance for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.

TALK: Monitoring and Predicting Infectious Diseases in a Changing World

Breakout Session #1 (9:05 - 9:50 AM)

Over the past few years, we have become increasingly aware of how the world is changing and the effects this can have on the infectious diseases that are transmitted in our communities. In this lecture we will explore how changes in climate, environment and population structures alter the distribution of different infectious diseases, with a focus on mosquito-borne infections. To highlight the importance of preparedness, the lecture will also cover future scenarios, including novel methods of disease detection and surveillance.

Lisa Doggett, M.D., M.P.H., & Don Williams, M.D.

Lisa Doggett is an Austin native and a board-certified family physician who has dedicated her career to caring for underserved communities. She worked in Austin’s community clinics for 13 years and now serves as senior medical director for HGS Population Health Management Solutions/AxisPoint Health where she provides clinical oversight to care management programs across the country. She is our Saturday Keynote Speaker.

Donald Williams, MD is a pediatric hospitalist at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, TX, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Dell Medical School at the University of Texas in Austin. Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, majoring in Chemistry. He earned his Doctor of Medicine from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and then completed a combined residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati/Cincinnati Children's Medical Center. He is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Hospital Medicine, and Internal Medicine. He is married to Dr. Lisa Doggett, and has two teenage daughters. He enjoys remodeling projects, live music, and international travel.

Talk: Air & Water Pollution

Breakout Session #1 (9:05 - 9:50 AM)

They will be speaking on air pollution, which causes millions of premature deaths each year and increases the risk of cardiac and respiratory disease, early miscarriage, neurologic disease, poor mental health, and much more. Water pollution also jeopardizes our health, with almost half of U.S. rivers and streams classified as unsafe for swimming and fishing. Both are inextricably linked to climate change. Drs. Lisa Doggett and Don Williams will review the health consequences of pollution and the role of health professionals in advocating for change.

Jooyeon Hwang, ph.d.

Dr. Jooyeon Hwang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, Hudson College of Public Health. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial Hygiene and M.S. in Environmental Health Sciences from the University of Minnesota. Dr. Hwang was as a postdoctoral fellow at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Hwang is an occupational exposure scientist with a background in the development and application of exposure-associated microbiome and epigenetics to the study of firefighters’ health. Her research has focused on evaluating the relationships between occupational exposure to specific contaminants and adverse health effects in several different industries, including mining, agriculture, and manufacturing.

talk: Health risks to firefighters: smoke from climate change

Breakout Session #1 (9:05 - 9:50 AM)

The risk of wildfire is increasing due to climate change. Firefighters have an elevated risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, even cancer, which is suspected to be caused by occupational and environmental exposure to fire smoke. Wildfire smoke is a complex mixture of air contaminants. We will discuss firefighters’ potential exposures during fire suppression.

LAUREN E. MULLENBACH, PH.D.

Lauren Mullenbach is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. Lauren is a scholar of urban environmental justice, focused on climate adaptation, parks and green spaces, gentrification, and wellbeing. Her current work assesses health equity in climate change adaptation; explores social equity practices in urban greening; identifies strategies to prevent environmental gentrification; and documents injustices related to urban built and natural environments. She received her Ph.D. from Penn State in 2020, and her MS and BS from the University of Georgia.

Talk: Effects of climate change on vulnerable populations: Health equity & gentrification

Breakout Session #1 (9:05 - 9:50 AM)

kirsten de beurs, ph.d.

Kirsten de Beurs is a Presidential Professor in Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on the analysis of earth observation data to detect, assess, and attribute ongoing changes in terrestrial ecosystems. She is an author on 92 research papers and peer-reviewed book chapters, and she has been the PI or Co-PI on several successful nationally competitive proposals totaling more than $3 million. She is also an editor for AGU’s journal Earth’s Future.

Land Use Patterns and Political Instability as Predictors for the Re-Emergence of Malaria in the Caucasus

Breakout Session #2 (9:55 - 10:40 AM)

Malaria is not usually considered a health risk in temperate regions such as the Caucasus, but seasonal epidemics were common in the Caucasus in the early twentieth century. We combine qualitative historical research with geospatial analysis to create an in-depth study of the ways ethnic conflict reconfigured local ecologies to facilitate the re-emergence of P. vivax malaria in epidemic form. Ongoing tensions in the region, combined with the repopulation of key vector species (specifically An. sacharovi) as a result of land use and climate change suggest that contemporary populations remain vulnerable to resurgent conflict and new epidemics of this ancestral vector borne disease. We highlight two types of land use change impacts that are important for the re-establishment of malaria in the region and we show how the regional malaria infection rates coincide with the studied land cover changes.

LETICIA NOGUEIrA, PH.D., M.P.H.

Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH, is a researcher at the Surveillance and Health Equity Science Department at the American Cancer Society. Her research focuses on cancer disparities that can be addressed by policy, including those caused by social determinants of health and climate change. She is currently the American Cancer Society representative at the Society of Behavioral Medicine presidential workgroup on Climate Change and Health Disparities and the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health.

Dr. Nogueira holds a doctoral degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master of Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. She received the Woman in Cancer Research Award in 2013, and the Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award in 2010, both from the American Association for Cancer Research. She also received the Fellows Award for Research Excellence from the National Institutes of Health in 2014. In 2018, Dr. Nogueira was inducted into the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences Hall of Honors, and in 2020 she received the Outstanding Young Texas Ex award.

talk: climate change and cancer

Breakout Session #2 (9:55 - 10:40 AM)

Climate change is already impacting exposure to health hazards, access to care, and cancer outcomes. Individuals diagnosed with cancer, and individuals from communities targeted for marginalization, are vulnerable populations to the health hazards of climate change.

thomas g. coon, Ph.d.

Thomas G. Coon joined Oklahoma State University as vice president, dean and director of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources in 2014. Before that, he was director of Michigan State University Cooperative Extension and a professor of fisheries and wildlife at MSU. He received his doctorate from the University of California-Davis and served on the faculty at the University of Missouri before his move to Michigan State.

As vice president, he is responsible for integrating the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station, the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service and the Ferguson College of Agriculture. These three entities embody the land-grant mission that is the heart of OSU Agriculture, and include more than 230 faculty, 375 Extension staff and 325 support and administrative staff, both on campus and in 77 county Extension offices and 18 research stations across the state.

TALK: CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO HUMAN HEALTH

Breakout Session #2 (9:55 - 10:40 AM)

This talk will discuss agriculture and climate change as it impacts human health, while introducing information about anti-microbial resistance in the broader context of how climate interacts with One Health approaches to health and environmental management.

Nicole Hill, M.p.h.

Nicole Hill, MPH (she/her), serves as the Research and Marketing Manager for ecoAmerica. Nicole received her MPH at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health with a specific focus on Environmental Health Science and Policy. In her current role, she researches climate perspectives in the United States and reports on how attitudes have changed year over year. Nicole is a recent co-author of the Mental Health and Our Changing Climate report, released by ecoAmerica and the American Psychological Association.

Talk: mental health & our changing climate

Breakout Session #2 (9:55 - 10:40 AM)

Climate change impacts mental health and psychological well-being — and there are solutions at hand. This breakout session will explore the interconnected relationship between mental, physical, and community health, and how each of these are affected by climate change. With a particular focus on the findings from the new report, Mental Health and Our Changing Climate, we will discuss steps to resiliency and solutions that individuals, communities, and health professionals can help accelerate.

isaac rutel, ph.d.

Isaac Rutel, Ph.D, DABR is the president of the Oklahoma Sustainability Network (OSN), a group dedicated to pursuing the “3 E’s” of sustainability for all Oklahomans. OSN serves to connect, educate and be a catalyst for improvement for Oklahoma’s economy, ecology, and equity. He is also employed as a medical physicist at OUHSC/OUMC in Oklahoma City, OK, working to ensure high image quality and low radiation dose for physicians and patients using medical imaging modalities. His research interests include AI, workflow improvements, nanoparticles, and bomb squad imaging.

Talk: How Sustainable is Oklahoma’s Fossil Fuel Energy Industry? A consideration of Oklahoma’s population health under the smokestacks and behind the tailpipes.

Breakout Session #2 (9:55 - 10:40 AM)

An introduction to sustainability and the impacts climate change will likely wield on the Oklahoma region, and more globally. The talk also investigates Oklahoma fossil fuel energy production/use and the impacts to health using a sustainability framework for analysis. Suggestions are provided to reduce anthropogenic impact through selection of metrics, personal choices and industry investment.

Maxton harris, M.R.C.P

Maxton Harris is an Associate Planner with the City of Oklahoma City Planning Department in the Transportation Planning Program. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Geography from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master of Regional and City Planning degree from the University of Oklahoma. Max has worked in multimodal planning, assisting with the completion of the City’s first bicycle and pedestrian master plan, bikewalkokc, as well as the implementation of the bike, trail, and sidewalk projects it created.

talk: sustainable transportation & healthy cities in OKC

Breakout Session #3 (10:45 - 11:25 AM)

lindsey pever, J.d.

Lindsey Pever is in an attorney for A New Energy, where she represents a diverse array of clients in navigating legal, regulatory, and public policy issues. With a focus on renewable energy and utilities, much of her practice takes place before the Corporation Commission. Lindsey is a founding member and currently serves as President of the Oklahoma Solar Association, where she and a team of advocates work to advance solar energy in Oklahoma. She also has experience in land use and zoning issues, family law, and guardianships.

Prior to law school, Lindsey was the Director of Development for Arts Council Oklahoma City for nearly a decade, where she helped shepherd significant positive changes such as major increases to contributed income, and efforts that resulted in Festival of the Arts, the annual Oklahoma City event, becoming one of the largest zero-waste events in the country. Earlier in her career, Lindsey worked in government relations and lobbying at the Oklahoma State Capitol, and later as a campaign manager for a state Senate campaign. She is a graduate of both Leadership Oklahoma City Signature and LOYAL Programs, serves as Chair of the OCU Law School Alumni Board and the board for her neighborhood association, is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Oklahoma City, and volunteers for homeless initiatives in OKC. She lives in Oklahoma City with her husband and children.

Talk: solar energy knowledge is power

Breakout Session #3 (10:45 - 11:25 AM)

We all know that certain types of electricity are better than others for the environment and our health, but where does one even begin to understand what individual citizens can do, and how to parse fact from fiction? This session will offer: a primer on electricity generation, data and discussion about how the different types of power generation effect health, climate, and economics, what choices consumers have in the matter, and an overview of Oklahoma’s storied energy past and hopeful future.

maureen heffernan

Maureen Heffernan is the CEO and President of Scissortail Park Foundation as well as the Myriad Gardens Foundation. She was previously director of the Coastal Maine Gardens in Boothbay, Maine, and has worked for other gardens including Blooms of Bressingham in Europe, a great castle estate in Ireland, Cleveland Botanical Garden, and New York Botanical Garden. Maureen grew up in Ohio on a large family farm as a “free-range child” and was surrounded by outdoor spaces and Concord grape farming. She received her bachelor's in sociology from Fordham University and then studied horticulture at Ohio State University. Shortly after graduating from Fordham, Maureen spent time in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps working on projects serving poor, underserved areas, including working on experimental farms. Maureen has overseen the addition of movies, outdoor concerts, movies, and a carousel to the garden. She describes Myriad Botanical Garden as a hybrid between a botanical garden and an open park, and appreciates that this space is somewhere people can come to admire beauty but also learn about the plants processes going on there.

Talk: scissortail park & sustainable development

Breakout Session #3 (10:45 - 11:25 AM)

justin reedy, Ph.d.

Dr. Justin Reedy is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and research associate in the Center for Risk & Crisis Management.

Professor Reedy studies political communication and deliberation, mass and digital media, and group and organizational communication. In particular, his research focuses on how groups of people make political and civic decisions in online and face-to-face settings. In one of his current projects, he and his colleagues are applying theories of group communication to the context of terrorism, with the aim of building a stronger understanding of group dynamics and decision-making in terrorist cells and leadership groups. He is also working on a project examining the norms of political discussion in the United States, and how Latino immigrants in the U.S. develop their understanding of political conversation in their new society. His work in the Center for Risk & Management focuses on how people and policy makers can come together to deliberate and make better decisions on public policy issues that involve significant societal and personal risk.

Dr. Reedy earned a B.S. degree from Georgia Tech in 2000, and earned a master’s degree (2008) and then a Ph.D. (2013) in communication, with a certificate in political communication, at the University of Washington. Prior to graduate school, he was a media professional, working as a reporter and columnist at daily newspapers in the Atlanta area, and then as a media relations specialist and science writer for the UW Medicine system of the University of Washington.

talk: Having productive conversations on climate: Dialogue on climate change in a polarized nation

Breakout Session #3 (10:45 - 11:25 AM)

Talking with others about climate change and its numerous effects on human health is vital to addressing this problem as a society. But how can we do this in such a politically polarized environment and on such a controversial issue? Public deliberation and dialogue, an area of research and practice focused on thoughtful and respectful discussion of problems, offers some useful guidance for how to have productive conversations with others on touchy subjects like climate change and its effects.