Mapping and Understanding Heat Health Vulnerability Webinar
September 26th, 2019
Longer, stronger, and more frequent heat waves have galvanized public health, climate science, and planning professionals into action to prepare for their impacts. Urban areas present a unique challenge to building heat resilience, particularly because of the differential impacts on vulnerable populations. How do we best understand how extreme urban temperatures and population vulnerability vary across the built environment? The presenters will share experiences working on community-based participatory action research campaigns and with local health departments to assess exposure to extreme heat, estimate population vulnerability, and inform climate resilience policy.
Presenters:
Dr. Jeremy Hoffman is the Chief Scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia and Affiliate Faculty in the Center for Environmental Studies at the Virginia Commonwealth University, where he leads community-centered research campaigns to connect audiences to our changing environment. He holds a Ph.D. from Oregon State University and has served as a Science Communication Fellow for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the Mitchell Hamline School of Law.
Dr. Jaime Madrigano is a policy researcher at the RAND Corporation and an affiliate faculty member at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Her research focuses on environmental and social determinants of health, including environmental pollution, extreme weather and disasters, and the built environment. Dr. Madrigano has particular expertise in using epidemiologic methods to inform policy and her research has been cited in multi-agency climate and health preparedness efforts within New York City. She has worked with local health departments and community-based stakeholders to conduct health and environmental needs assessments and leads a study to assess whether community resilience mitigates the health impacts of natural disasters. Dr. Madrigano is also interested in how people perceive risk as it relates to climate change, public health, and health care decision-making, and has conducted research on public health risk perception and communication. Prior to joining RAND, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University’s Earth Institute and was an assistant professor at Rutgers University. Dr. Madrigano received her Sc.D. in epidemiology and environmental health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
