Posted on

Energy Opportunity Forum: Catalyzing Energy for Development and Social Progress

Over half of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa has no access to electricity. Hospitals in these regions struggle to provide healthcare, food, and vaccines get wasted due to lack of cooling, And businesses struggle to improve productivity. At the same time, a third of United States households experience energy insecurity – many forgo food or medicine to pay utility bills, live in unhealthy conditions, or face utility disconnections altogether. Governments,…

Continue reading “Energy Opportunity Forum: Catalyzing Energy for Development and Social Progress”

Posted on

HEI announces 2023 Walter A. Rosenblith awardees

HEI is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Walter A. Rosenblith Award: Dr. Yoshira Ornelas Van Horne, Columbia University, Project Title: What’s in the air? Engaging Native American youth in the Northern plains to reduce air pollution and Dr. Rachel Nethery, Harvard University, Project Title: Designing optimal policies for reducing air pollution-related health inequities. The Rosenblith Award provides 3 years of funding for early career investigators studying the health effects of air pollution.…

Continue reading “HEI announces 2023 Walter A. Rosenblith awardees”

Posted on

Book: Kneeling Before Corn

Recuperating More-than-Human Intimacies on the Salvadoran Milpa The cultivation of the three sisters (corn, beans, and squash) on subsistence farms in El Salvador is a multispecies, world-making, and ongoing process. Milpa describes a small subsistence corn farm. It is derived from the word milli (‘field’, or a piece of land under active cultivation) in Nahuatl. The milpa is a farming practice that uses perennial, intercropping, and swidden (fire and fallow) techniques…

Continue reading “Book: Kneeling Before Corn”

Posted on

The ‘Natural’ Accord of DuBois and Washington: An Environmentally Racialized Consciousness

The conflict and discord between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B DuBois regarding their premise and approach to racial uplift for Black Americans have been very well documented. While Washington sought equality with accommodation, DuBois functioned through agitation. However, their biophilic accord and unity within the natural environment have been both underrecognized and underappreciated. As an honor to these esteemed racial and social justice giants, this special issue article reveals the…

Continue reading “The ‘Natural’ Accord of DuBois and Washington: An Environmentally Racialized Consciousness”

Posted on

The need to promote sleep health in public health agendas across the globe

Healthy sleep is essential for physical and mental health, and social wellbeing; however, across the globe, and particularly in developing countries, national public health agendas rarely consider sleep health. Sleep should be promoted as an essential pillar of health, equivalent to nutrition and physical activity. To improve sleep health across the globe, a focus on education and awareness, research, and targeted public health policies are needed. We recommend developing sleep…

Continue reading “The need to promote sleep health in public health agendas across the globe”

Posted on

Welcome to the Mountain West Climate-Health Engagement Hub

A collaborative partnership to promote climate resilience and health equity for rural and urban communities This project seeks to understand how rural and urban communities in the Mountain West are experiencing climate stressors (drought, air quality, and wildfires), and what current and future actions they envision to build climate resilience and advance health equity. Funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by a Colorado School of Public Health based team,…

Continue reading “Welcome to the Mountain West Climate-Health Engagement Hub”

Posted on

PROFESSOR SPOTLIGHT: ANNIE BELCOURT

Dr. Annie Belcourt, professor in the Public and Community Health Science department and chair of Native American Studies, returns to Confluence to round out our coverage of the M-HOPES grant: Mental Health Opportunities for Professional Empowerment in STEM. JPB Senior Fellow Annie hits home the importance of trauma-informed approaches, reframing thoughts, and cultural context. And she brings with her a great sense of humor. Find the podcast here.

Posted on

How UM is increasing faculty diversity | READER COMMENTARY

I write to underscore the important work to be done across higher education to increase the diversity of faculty who teach our students and prepare them for the workforce and future academic pursuits. We all stand to benefit from more faculty who reflect the diversity of our student body (”Black and Hispanic faculty underrepresented in Maryland public universities, data system shows,” Oct. 26). One way we’re working to address this at…

Continue reading “How UM is increasing faculty diversity | READER COMMENTARY”

Posted on

Global call to action on sleep health published in The Lancet Public Health

A global call to action was published in The Lancet Public Health Sept. 28 to recognize sleep health as a foundation of human health. Decades of research across disciplines make this fact abundantly clear, and now is the time to begin leveraging sleep health to improve human health and wellbeing worldwide. Authored by an international group of experts — including NIEHS scientist Chandra Jackson, Ph.D. — on behalf of World Sleep Society…

Continue reading “Global call to action on sleep health published in The Lancet Public Health”

Posted on

Emerging forever chemicals found in drinking water and humans

A newly released study led by researchers from Emory University‘s Rollins School of Public Health was one of the first to find an emerging class of “forever chemicals” in the homes, drinking water and bodies of United States residents. Key takeaways More than 300 samples from the homes, drinking water and blood and urine of 81 participants were studied. Elevated levels of ultrashort- and short-chain PFAS were found in most household dust samples,…

Continue reading “Emerging forever chemicals found in drinking water and humans”