Congratulations to Mya Sherman: People's Choice award at the Global Climate & Health Alliance

Mya Sherman's abstract was selected as one of the top 3 abstracts submitted to the Global Climate & Health Alliance research prize, which was part of the Climate and Health Summit in Lima, Peru (December 6th, 2014). She was invited to give an oral presentation on her research work in the Peruvian Amazon. Selected candidates were given the opportunity to have their climate and health research work viewed and critiqued by some of the biggest names in the field. Mya was awarded the  Best presentation and People’s choice – best presentation. To read more about the prize, click here. Congratulations Mya!  

Mya Sherman to present her work at the Climate and Health Summit, Lima Peru

Mya Sherman will be presenting her Master's thesis work at the 2014 Climate and Health Summit in Lima, Peru on December 6th 2014.

Organized in parallel with the 20th session of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP 20), the third annual Climate and Health Summit will raise awareness about climate change's negative effects on health and mitigation's potential to create a "cleaner, healthier and more equitable world". The Summit aims to ensure health considerations are included in negotiations toward a 2015 agreement on climate change. The Global Climate and Health Alliance, organizer of the Summit, hopes to galvanize the international health community in advance of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and COP 21 in 2015. The Summit will exhibit climate change best practices that improve public health. The event will bring together government ministers from health, development, energy and environment departments, other policy makers, technical experts, academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and civil society, medical and health professionals, local health and environment authorities, UN staff and youth.

Date:6 December 2014  Venue:Swissotel, Miraflores, Av. Santo Toribio 173-Via Central, Centro Embresarial Real Via Principal 150, Lima 27  Location:Lima, Peru

read more: http://climate-l.iisd.org/events/2014-climate-and-health-summit/

COP20 Side Event in Peru, December 3rd: Indigenous peoples, health and community-based monitoring systems

Co-organized with Tebtebba, the Indigenous Peoples’ International Centre for Policy Research and Education, IHACC researchers will be presenting at the COP20 side event "Indigenous peoples,health, and community-based monitoring systems" in Peru.

Date: Wednesday December 3rd,2014 Time: 15:00-16:30 Room: Maranga(130)

Dr. James Ford awarded CIHR Applied Public Health Chair

Dr. James Ford recently became one of twelve CIHR Applied Public Health Chairs in Canada. This award supports Dr. Ford's research and the Evaluating Health Adaptation to Climate Change (EvHACC) program. The objectives of the Applied Public Health Chair initiative are to:

• Support high quality and focused programs of policy and program intervention research of national relevance to public health
• Foster formal linkages with the public health system to support the timely and effective application of research into policies, programs and practice.
• Support Canadian universities to develop graduate and continuous education programs in public health
• Stimulate innovative approaches in public health intervention research, mentorship, education and knowledge translation
• Educate and mentor the current and next generation of public health researchers (trainees, post-graduate students and junior faculty), practitioners and policy makers.

To read more about this specific award, please click here.

To read more about the CIHR Applied Public Health Chair initiative, please visit their website.

Project abstract

Climate change has been described as the greatest threat to public health this century, with Indigenous populations identified as 'highly vulnerable'. The global response to the risks posed has been to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is imperative yet the science shows that we will not be able to avoid climate change, with the World Health Organization estimating that the direct health impacts alone will cost $2-4bn/yr by 2030 globally. For this reason, finding ways to adapt our health systems and behavior to reduce the risks of climate change is imperative, and is reflected in the increasing urgency with which governments at various levels in Canada and internationally are beginning to prioritize adaptation. Yet what can we do to adapt? How can we reduce the risks posed by climate change? What evidence is there on what will work? Unfortunately we have few answers to these questions, particularly for Indigenous populations including Canada's Inuit who are living in a region experiencing the most dramatic climate change anywhere. Indeed, the health community has long neglected climate change as a risk and is only beginning to recognize the magnitude of the problem. Canadian research is at the vanguard of such developments, and Dr Ford's team have spent over a decade working with Indigenous communities examining the risks posed by climate change to health and identifying risk factors. The program of research proposed here will take this to the next step, evaluating specific interventions for reducing the health impacts of climate change for 3 Indigenous populations: Inuit of Canada, Shipibo in the Amazon, and Batwa of Central Africa. The project builds upon ongoing research projects held by Dr Ford from the IDRC & tri-councils, has strong buy-in at multiple levels of health governance, and will work with decision maker partners to systematically and rigorous evaluate and prioritize potential health adaptations.

Marie-Pierre Lardeau presents at the Beringia Center in Whitehorse, Yukon

The IHACC (Indigenous Health Adaptation to Climate Change) project manager, Marie-Pierre Lardeau, presented at the Communicating Climate Change Adaptation lecture series at the Yukon Beringia Centre in Whitehorse on October 2nd 2014. Her presentation Community Based Approaches to Adaptation to Climate Change, Experiences from the Field: Stories from the Arctic discussed community-based adaptation from the research perspective showcasing four case studies in Inuit Arctic communities.

During the fall of 2014, the Beringia Centre, in partnership with the Yukon Arts Centre and the Yukon Development Education Centre, is proud to be presenting a film and lecture series on climate change adaptation. This lecture series is part of a larger Yukon Government project on climate change adaptation issues facing the Yukon, and is funded by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada's Climate Change Adaptation Program.

Watch Marie-Pierre's presentation below, and learn more about this event by visiting their website.