The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health has experts available for comment and reaction to the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021.

These include renowned scientists with expertise on the impact of climate change on human health and the natural and built environments, including:

  • the threat climate change poses to human health, and the links between health and the environment;
  • extreme heat, and mitigation strategies in urban areas;
  • longer, more intense wildfire seasons, inclduing long-term exposure to smoke;
  • coastal flooding and sea level change

Experts include:

  • Dr. Michael Jerrett, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor of environmental health sciences, with expertise across a wide range of disciplines, including air pollution exposures and health effects; the built environment; and climate change, generally. Dr. Jerrett is co-director of the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions and is among the top 1% of all authors in the fields of Environment/Ecology in terms of citation by other researchers.
  • Dr. Richard Jackson, professor emeritus of environmental health sciences at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, with expertise across the spectrum, including climate change and medicine, public health, sustainability, urban design and architecture. Dr. Jackson is a faculty affiliate of the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions and a former director of the U.S. CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.
  • Dr. Dana Hunnes, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health assistant professor of community health sciences, with expertise in climate change-driven food insecurity, famine and famine relief, sustainable agriculture, and nutrition. Dr. Hunnes has expertise in how the impacts of global climate change and variability affect the ability to grow sufficient food and calories in developing countries, and has worked in East Africa.
  • Dr. Lara Cushing, the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health’s Jonathan and Karin Fielding Presidential Chair in Health Equity and assistant professor of environmental health sciences. Dr. Cushing's research focuses on patterns and consequences of social inequalities in exposure to environmental hazards, including the impact of sea level change, air quality, oil and gas drilling, and water quality and availability.
  • Dr. Richard Ambrose, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health professor emeritus of environmental health sciences, with expertise in the impact of climate change in the coastal environment. His service includes work for the (U.S.) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the California Coastal Commission, and the California State Water Resources Control Board.

For any of these faculty, and experts on other elements of climate change, please do not hesitate to reach out to the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.