July 20 — July 27, 2024 | Location: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA
Students dove into issues of climate change, equity, and public health alongside peers, educators, and leading professionals from the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE). They chose an Action Focus based on their interests and explored how climate change is intertwined with public health, medicine, social justice, equity, economics, and policy. They gained perspective from scientists, health practitioners, policymakers, youth activists, climate creatives, and clean energy innovators at the forefront of tackling the climate crisis. Each student took what they learned and transformed it into a Community Action Plan, returning home ready to address these issues in their own community.
The annual Harvard Chan C-CHANGE Youth Summit trains students to be leaders in their communities through workshops, field-based activities, and meetings with scientists, health and policy experts, academics, energy innovators, and more.
The Youth Summits combine Putney’s extensive history of designing educational and innovative student programs with Harvard Chan C-CHANGE’s leadership putting health and equity at the center of climate actions.
The Harvard Chan C-CHANGE summit presented an opportunity to connect with youth from across not just the US but the globe. Our summit occurred in parallel to the hottest temperatures ever recorded on earth, fires and floods battering every corner of the planet, and continual inaction from politicians and the fossil fuel industry. We did not let this stop us, paralyze us, rather we took it as an opportunity to generate community and optimism—the energy that will fuel our movement.
Finn Does, a 17 year old from San Francisco, California
Speaker Information
Barrak Alahmad MD, MPH, PhD
Research Fellow in the Exposure, Epidemiology and Risk (EER) Program at the Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Nicholas Arisco, MS PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Global Health and Populations, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Gaurab Basu MD, MPH
Director of Education and Policy at Harvard Chan C-CHANGE<br>Primary Care Physician and Co-Director of the Center for Health Equity Education and Advocacy at Cambridge Health Alliance<br>Instructor, Harvard Medical School
Aaron Bernstein MD, MPH
Director, National Center for Environmental Health & Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<br>Former Director, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE
Lindsey C. Burghardt, MD, MPH., FAAP
Chief Science Officer at the Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University
Philip Dahlin
Global Director of Sustainability, Johnson & Johnson
Caleb Dresser MD, MPH
Director of Healthcare Solutions, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE<br>Emergency Medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Ann-Christine Duhaime, MD
Pediatric Neurosurgeon, Massachusetts General Hospital<br>Associate Director, MGH Center for the Environment and Health<br>Nicholas T. Zervas Distinguished Professor of Neurosurgery, Harvard Medical School
Skye Flanigan, MS
Programs Director, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE
Sappho Gilbert, MPH, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Osasenga Idahor
Harvard College Student<br>EPA National Environmental Youth Advisory Council (NEYAC) Member
Howard Koh MD, MPH
Former Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services<br>Professor of the Practice of Public Health Leadership, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Kennedy School
Elise Joshi
Executive Director, Gen-Z for Change
Michael Mezz
Economist, Entrepreneur, and Educator
James McKowen
Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School & Massachusetts General Hospital<br>Co-Chair Massachusetts General Hospital Climate Mental Health Initiative<br>Associate, Center for Environment and Health Massachusetts General Hospital
Kari Nadeau, MD PhD
Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<br>John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<br>Interim Director, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE
Nile Nair, PhD, MSc, MBBS
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<br>Harvard Chan C-CHANGE Student Ambassador<br>Health and Human Rights PhD Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University
Ella Niederhelman
Harvard College Student<br>Communications Ambassador, Harvard Chan C-CHANGE
Maya Penn
Environmental justice activist, founder, artist, speaker, and author
Tom Polton, MS
Associate, Leader’s Quest<br>Co-chairs the Harvard School of Public Health Climate Advocacy Alumni Association<br>Former lead of Pfizer’s environmental sustainability and product stewardship programs
Jeffrey Sánchez
Senior Advisor, Rasky Partners<br>Former Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Ramon Sanchez PhD
Chief Knowledge & Innovation Officer, Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy<br>Faculty, Harvard Extension School
Elizabeth (Liz) Sherr
Ocean Scientist, Activist & Storyteller
Jacob Simon
Climate Writer, Content Creator, Reporter, and Storyteller
James Stewart
TV Personality, Climate & Science Expert
Kathryn “Katie” Tomsho, PhD MPH
Research Fellow & Senior Pedagogy Advisor, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Franziska Trautmann
Co-Founder & CEO at Glass Half Full
John Quackenbush, PhD
Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Biostatistics<br>Chair, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Mary B. Rice, MD, MPH
Director, Institute for Lung Health, Massachusetts General Hospital<br>Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Idongesit Sampson
MPH, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health<br>Harvard C-CHANGE Student Ambassador
K. “Vish” Viswanath, PhD
Lee Kum Kee Professor of Health Communication in the Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health
Joseph Wilson, Jr.
PhD Student, Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Tevin Wooten
First Alert Meteorologist, NBC10 Boston
Jeremy Wortzel, M.D, M.P.H., M.Phil
Psychiatry Resident, Brigham and Women’s Hospital<br>Author, <em>The Climate Talk</em>
Harvard Chan School seeks to bring in speakers with a wide range of experiences and perspectives. They’re here to share their own insights; they do not speak for the school or the university.
