Invitation to Participate in the Consortium on Climate Change and Population Health
SeaTrust Institute and our global research partners invite you to participate in the online international Consortium on Climate Change and Population Health. Responding to the unprecedented need for collaboration between climate scientists and health professionals, this Consortium’s primary mission is to engage in meaningful research on human health and climate change that informs policy decisions.
Conceived in 2009, the Consortium was introduced during the UN Climate Change Meetings in Copenhagen and framed its agenda through links with the developing a Coalition for Health and the Environment: Climate Change Initiative during the 2010 meetings in Cancun, Mexico. Participants are now in the planning stages for their work groups, and the online collaborative research will begin in 2011 with outlets for interim results through the Coalition at COP17 in Durban, South Africa. All projects that work at the nexus of climate and human health are invited to apply. We are especially searching for new consortium participants crossing climate and health issues related to drought, sea-level rise and ocean chemistry changes, extreme heat, food quality and quantity, and changes in vector-borne and waterborne illnesses.
How does the Consortium work?
Research teams consist of representatives from universities, governmental and nongovernmental organizations and private practitioners based in both developing and developed countries. Participants will develop structures and produce synergetic work dedicated to the discovery and analysis of potential solutions that link climate change adaptation and population health concerns with special emphasis on populations at greatest risk, such as those in geographically vulnerable regions, children, and seniors.
The research teams will generate specific scenarios in small working groups representing different intellectual disciplines and regional orientations. Each group will focus on a specific issue involving climate change and population health. Through synchronous and asynchronous online discourse and GIS mapping, working groups will actively evaluate currently accepted baseline climate and health information and assumptions (e.g. WHO, ESSP, IPCC reports) as they relate to the specific issue under investigation. Participants will interconnect the scenarios and maps of their respective working groups with those of other groups, integrating the best available information on climate and medical science, social conditions and policy. Quarterly public online events will highlight progress. Each team will contribute a chapter for publication in a research and teaching resource for academic institutions. Consortium directors particularly encourage the development of new and future research partnerships across disciplines and cultures. The process will culminate with an in-person conference to spur further collaborations.
What is different about this project?
By addressing the thorny issues of climate change and human health collaboratively and across boundaries using the latest online technology, the Consortium will build the capacity of local, regional and global leaders to make proactive rather than reactive responses to climate change and population health through:
- Connecting climate change issues to specific at-risk population health concerns
- Creating developing country/developed country teams around key issues
- Identifying risks and opportunities for adaptation and mitigation
- Creating new policy-relevant interdisciplinary knowledge streams and questions
- Identifying and prioritizing research needs to address those questions
- Disseminating results through online and traditional media
- Contributing to communications strategies for policy effectiveness
An important goal of the Consortium is to further interdisciplinary research efforts that inform policy decisions rather than make policy recommendations.
What is the selection process?
Participant selection will be based on content expertise, a desire to collaborate in a virtual environment, and an adherence to the social mission of this project. Consortium composition will span disciplines, geographic regions and cultures, knowledge perspectives, and a theoretical-practical application continuum.
Successful participants will demonstrate the following:
- Ph.D., M.D. and/or doctoral candidate with relevant publications or research projects; or a practitioner directly involved with clinical health or in decision-making related to climate and population health issues
- Interdisciplinary research interests
- Willingness to work in an online environment
- Interest in global implications even if work is on a local /regional scale
What kind of time will participation entail?
Throughout this two-year project, participants should expect to spend approximately two hours twice per month in online sessions with the work groups and / or contributing to the quarterly public events. We anticipate that engaging in this process will greatly enhance and promote participants’ research at an international level. At the conclusion of the project, teams will contribute a book chapter based on their collaborative work.
How do I participate?
If this opportunity excites your passion for innovative research and contribution, please follow the submission instructions below and a qualifying questionnaire will be emailed to you. Please submit the following information to Dr. Lynn Wilson
- Name
- Affiliation
- Institution
- Research Interest
- Email address
A short questionnaire about your specific research interests will be sent to you. Your provisional acceptable will be confirmed within two weeks of receiving the completed questionnaire.
Thank you! We look forward to hearing from you and answering any questions you may have. Please contact Dr. Lynn Wilson at lwilson@nasw.org for more information.
-SeaTrust Institute and the Global Research Team