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Student collaboration earns $10,000 to implement pilot project addressing climate change

Student collaboration earns $10,000 to implement pilot project addressing climate change

Valerie Tran (MUP/MPH) along with fellow student Angela Wan, BSN (SPH/SNRE) won $10,000 from the first-ever Climate Change and Health Contest for Nurses sponsored by Health Care Without Harm.

The students will partner with the Fresno County Dept of Public Health to implement a pilot project to address climate change titled, “Nurses for Cool and Healthy Homes.” As part of the project, public health nurses will conduct home environmental assessments to assess their home-visit patients’ vulnerability to heat-related illness during extreme heat events. These nurses will serve as a resource to connect these patients to public works, utility assistance programs, and weatherization strategies that are affordable, practical, and climate-friendly.

Tran added, “My work with Larissa Larsen (Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning) on building weatherization and heat-vulnerability inspired me to take this route for our project. It’s been great to see this intersection between public health, urban planning, and climate change come to life.”

As a result of the award, Tran and Wan will also have an opportunity to present their project at the June 2014 CleanMed conference in Cleveland, Ohio.

Image: Valerie Tran (right) with Angela Wan (left) in front of the School of Public Health.